Test ToneTest Tone

Featuring: Che Chen (from New York) + Tetuzi Akiyama Mukai Chie + Nobunaga Ken Hattori Masatsugu + Ikezawa Ryusaku DJ: Evil Penguin [Test Tone Homepage](http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/) Artist information: ##Che Chen (from New York) + Tetuzi Akiyama  Following a whirlwind tour of Western Japan with improvising pioneer Mukai Chie, New York sound artist Che Chen will be landing in Tokyo just in time to join forces with ramblin' guitar-man Tetuzi Akiyama on this special evening. Using stringed, wind, reed and percussion instruments, reel to reel tape machines, oscillators and other musical and "non-musical" objects, Che's work explores his interest in a range of perceptual phenomena and global folk music traditions. Aside from his solo work and collaborations, Che also plays in a duo with multi-instrumentalist Robbie Lee, in Jozef Van Wissem's Heresy of the Free Spirit, and in True Primes, his duo with singer/percussionist Rolyn Hu. Part-iconoclast, part-bluesman, and one of the leading players in modern Japanese improvisation, Tetuzi Akiyama has taken his guitar far and wide, gaining a large international following while influencing countless younger musicians in the process. With a certain stark minimalism, Akiyama forged a name for himself in the onkyo scene in the late 1990s with the likes of Otomo Yoshihide and Toshimaru Nakamura. These days, he explores the full resonance of his instrument from a myriad of musical gateways, from primitavist leanings to drone and even some hypnotic guitar boogie. [Che Chen myspace](http://www.myspace.com/sunhopfat) [Tetuzi Akiyama: Improvised Music from Japan](http://www.japanimprov.com/takiyama/) ##Mukai Chie + Nobunaga Ken  For the past 25 years, Chie Mukai has been an active force in the free improvisation scene both in Japan and around the world. Since taking up the kokyu (a traditional Japanese stringed instrument) in the mid-70s, Mukai has earned a reputation as a powerful and original voice on her instrument, from her captivating solo performances to her improvised and song-based work with a number of legendary groups (East Bionic Symphonia, Ché-SHIZU, Enkidu, dadunr). Over the past decade, she has been examining collective improvisation in a large-scale format as curator of the Perspective Emotion international multimedia art festival and workshop. In the collaborative spirit of her work, Mukai will be making an appearance at Test Tone accompanied by percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Nobunaga Ken. Aside from his wide range of music-based work with a number of bands (Tetragrammaton, 00, hisspiss, etc.), Nobunaga also collaborates with dancers in the contemporary and butoh styles, visual artists, 'ikebana' flower arrangers and filmmakers. His musical activity has taken him worldwide, previously touring in Spain, Germany, Korea, Hong Kong and China.  [Mukai Chie Homepage](http://www.kilie.com/mukai) [Nobunaga Ken myspace](http://www.myspace.com/nobunagaken) ##Hattori Masatsugu + Ikezawa Ryusaku  With a firm grasp of jazz tradition, drummer and vibraphonist Masatsugu Hattori took his percussion work straight into the new millennium with a range of projects, such as electroacoustic unit Ryusenkei Body, jazz-electronica unit Zycos, and conceptual electronica with Aktion Directe. These days he has taken a minimal musical approach while focusing on solo and collaborative work. As such, he'll match his modus operandi to the mercurial drumming of Ryusaku Ikezawa (aka Giev Rutang), another multi-faceted musician who keeps his playing schedule jam-packed with a number of other improvising projects, such as Oncenth Trio, Denki Slime and Real Blue. Head-to-head, this twosome might just take their kits some otherwise inaccessible places. [Hattori Masatsugu Blog](http://blog.livedoor.jp/drumless) [Ikezawa Ryusaku Homepage](http://two-moons.chicappa.jp/ryusaku) ##Evil Penguin  Master of disguises, Mexican top-hats, ambient rockabilly to minimal Hawaiian Kumulipo chants, the Evil Penguin poses the primordial question of evanescence against a backdrop of New Wave folk. Celebratory, subliminal, moment-to-moment. A Tasmanian treasure with a penchant for open spaces. ##About Test Tone  A monthly experiment offering irregular art, music and performance in Tokyo. The Test Tone series aims to offer a venue for diverse and challenging artists to bring their ideas to a larger community. As a free event open to the public, we hope to bypass the old economies in order to create new ones, while encouraging collaboration in all forms. A collage of media, sound and art in a space available to anyone off the street, the event is a bazaar of potential collisions, where passersby are treated to the unexpected. For all of this, we found our home base at Super Deluxe, a unique space in Tokyo's midtown, providing a relaxed atmosphere within its modular interior. The event continues to be a celebration of off-kilter creativity in the city: from installation pieces to performance art and visual collaborations; from noise, electronica, ambient sounds and free rock to disorderly jazz and manipulated field recordings. To date, close to 500 artists have been a part of the event, together creating opportunities for unexpected improvisation, collaboration, and festival spirit. [Cal Lyall and Yasufumi Suzuki Special Interview!! (JP only)](http://sdlx.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post.html)