"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Jazz Night at the Ark. Thank you all for joining us on our opening night." The pianist had his hands on the keys even as he spoke into the mike. "We hope you will enjoy your evening here with us."
The sound of applause faded as the jazz band started their first piece for the night, an eclectic jazz piece that got the attention of all in the small cosy bar. It was the bar's opening night, and it was already packed. Small groups of comfortable benches and chairs surrounded low tables lit by tub candles, and the walls were draped with sashes of dark translucent cloth. Intricate paper and silver lanterns of different sizes hung all around, highlighting the deep purple walls. At one end, a small short platform made from dark wood planks made for an informal stage, and then loosely surrounded by an artistic arrangement of chairs, sofas and low tables, leaving space to move about and to dance in front of the stage. At the other end were unassuming doorways to the exit, kitchen and toilets, and one side wall was entirely taken up by a long bar, complete with a bow-tied bartender and alcoholics and non-alcoholics of all types.
The piece was a bass-driven, drum-based spin-off from one of the classics, with plenty of improvisation. At points the audience would clap uncertainly, the format of eclectic jazz too unexpected to understand completely. But the players were at perfect ease. The bassist had his eyes closed most of the time, the top part of his semi-long hair pulled back to a short ponytail, his black loose t-shirt and loose jeans defining the ultimate jazz chic. His large hands moved over the fretboard and the strings easily, his left leg on the bottom rung of his bar stool tapping to the rhythm, his mouth occasionally mimicking his own bass score. He just pulled off a long stretch of a bass solo, improvising most of it on the spot, his entire body moving to the uneven rhythm of both the drums and his own notes. "On bass, Itsuki Marehito-san." Itsuki looked up slightly and nodded towards the audience, in the direction of the Rokkaku-chu's tennis team, before going back to his bass playing.
It was the drummer's turn to have his solo. Hitting the cymbals, tom-toms and bass drums at almost a random sequence, sometimes speeding up the beat, sometimes focusing on only two or one of the drums in front of him, he still managed to create a rhythm that got people's heads bobbing at staggered moments. His lower body obscured mostly by the drums, all the audience could really see was his dark complexion and his completely bald head, bobbing up and down at the same rhythm he was creating. Finishing off his part of the song with a rapid drumming of each of the drums in front of him and then smashing down on the cymbals, he finally settled back to a more sedate rhythm. "On drums, the incomparable Jackal Kuwahara." Saluting with one of his drumsticks whilst continuing to drum out a rhythm with the other, he flashed a smile to the Rikkai team in front of him.
The rest of the band quietened down for the saxophone solo. His large afro hair pulled back with a headband, the saxophonist played with his eyes closed, his tenor saxophone repeating some of the melodies that had been played previously in the sound, but mixed them up nicely to create an entirely different feel. His eyes closed with concentration as his mouth blew expertly into the instrument, his hands pressing and lifting the silver clamps, his feet stepping front and back with the rhythm, and his head swinging from side to side. "On the saxophone, Minami Kentarou-san!" Finishing off his solo with a quick scale and then some long-drawn out notes, Minami grinned at the Yamabuki team members in the audience.
The pianist stopped in his introductions and quickly pushed the mike away as he started on his part. Bobbing his head up and down, his shoulder-length dark brown hair tied at the nape of his neck, his hands skilfully caressing the black and white keys of the piano in succession, his long muscular legs covered by loose black pants pressing the foot pedals occasionally. His dark skin glistened with the beginnings of a good sweat, as he got more and more into the song. At one point, he stood up slightly to finish off a particular tricky part, before settling back down to stream into a more low-key tune. Pulling the mike towards him in one smooth move, he spoke rather breathily. "And I'm Akazawa Yoshirou, on piano." Hearing some cheers from the St. Rudolph team, he turned slightly to nod and shout a "thanks" across the room.
Done with the individual solos, the whole band started focusing on the song itself, building upon each others improvisations and the original score until the music soared into a crescendo of song, and then finally ending with a bang. This time the audience applauded loudly, somewhat appreciative of the skill involved in the song, if not the song itself. Various conversations were held within the few minutes the band stopped to rest.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we are going start on our next song. First, let me introduce our vocalist, our resident Ibu Shinji!" Applause started, and wolfcalls were made, before it all started to fade when the audience realised the vocalist was not showing up yet. Akazawa looked around again, and adjusted his mike. "Ibu Shinji, our vocalist!" Again, applause sounded, but not vocalist. Minami looked at Jackal uncertainly, whilst Itsuki simply shook his head. "Our vocalist, Ibu Shinji!" Akazawa tried again.
There was an uncomfortable silence before there was a loud thud and then the entrance doorway was heard to open loudly. The large-sized bouncer deposited the singer into the bar. Slightly sulking that the bouncer had to drag him in when he was still waiting outside, Shinji made his way to the stage, and the audience clapped for the fourth time. His hair was pulled away from his face and had a slight wave to it. On his ears were two black studs, which glinted in the light. He had some sort of make-up on, some kind of eye-shadowing, and wore a tight long-sleeved black top with low-slung jeans. And a sequinned belt. He took the mike and mumbled slightly into it. Akazawa cleared his throat.
"And the next song will be Wrap Your Hopes in Dreams." Looking at Jackal for the cue, Akazawa started the slightly fast-paced song, only to be stopped by Shinji. The vocalist walked over to Akazawa, and said something, gesturing. Akazawa seemed to sigh, before pulling the mike to him again. "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, our vocalist wished to sing something else first. So the next song will be You Are My Heart Only." The rest of the band looked a little surprised, and took some time flipping their scorebooks, before giving Akazawa the thumbs-up. Shinji walked back to the middle of the stage, holding onto his mike, before singing in his low voice the beginning of the song and the cue for the instruments.
The song turned out to be a slow paced song, with many fill-ins by the saxophone, and Shinji's singing seemed a little lack-lustre. Tachibana frowned. It was not like Shinji to not perform at his best. Looking around, he realised the problem. This would take some work, he thought, pulling out his mobile phone.
Meanwhile, at the Hyoutei's table, Atobe stared at the stage irritatedly. When he auditioned this Fudoumine boy he was a lot better, and that is why Ore-sama allowed him to sing in the Ark, the bar he set up and owned. Today he was simply ordinary. Plus he wasn't following the set list. On the opening night. Tapping his foot, he snapped his fingers. "Kabaji." The bouncer from before appeared next to him out from thin air, and from his mouth so far above Atobe's sitting one came a familiar 'usu'. "Get me a Long Island."
The bartender set to work almost immediately after the bouncer had sent directions. Orders from the boss took precedence over everything else, and he left Fuji pouting at the bar counter as he gathered the ingredients of the Long Island cocktail. Adjusting his black bow tie, he started mixing the drinks, with his white long-sleeved shirt rolled up at the sleeves. Fuji slumped on the bar counter, staring at Kawamura, who gave him a wry smile. "I'll be with you shortly," he mouthed. Fuji brightened up.
The slow song ended as the Long Island arrived. At this point the door opened again, and Kamio stepped in. The whole bar seemed to heave a sigh of relief.
"The next song, ladies and gentlemen, will be Wrap Your Hopes in Dreams. Enjoy."
chiiyo's comments :
My friends and I frequent this jazz bar downtown (well not so much as frequent but when we do go to a bar together, it's usually this jazz bar), and one particular night we were paying attention to the music when a plot bunny for a Prince of Tennis fiction came to mind. A bar, owned by Atobe, and resident music bands playing every night. I'm not a musician, at least not a trained one, and although I have an electric bass, I don't really play an instrument, so the song description was what was most taxing for this piece. Also the fact that I was writing a lot of characters that I won't typically write, and just the pure amount of characters involved here. I can't say this was a well-written piece, but I felt it was at least presentable...