Saturday, April 24, 2010

☞ READ: The Japanese Gentleman of St. Nick's


We had covered the new Japanese jazz musicians that were playing in the clubs uptown, but the New York Times had a story today on the more famous Japanese jazz enthusiast that has lived in Harlem for the past 25 years. Tommy Tomita, now 71, has a reserved table at St. Nick's Pub every Friday night, and Amy Ruth's has a chicken and waffles dish named after the ex-pat. Mr. Tomita had owned a chain of jazz clubs in Japan, but closed shop in the 1980's and eventually moved to Harlem (right above Perk's jazz lounge, second photo). The Japanese gentleman today provides Harlem jazz tours for other enthusiast who are visiting from his home country. We found the article also interesting since it talks a little about the tough years when Mr. Tomita first moved to Harlem and was not so welcomed by the public at large. Read more in the NY Times: LINK. See our past post on the Japanese talent in Harlem: LINK. Photos by Ulysses

2 comments: