On a Sunday in early August, American trumpeter James Barrett led his band through a set featuring rhythmic jazz and world music beats as part of the Saiin Music Festival in western Kyoto.

Tall and lanky, modestly clad in a T-shirt and beige jeans, the 34-year-old Barrett belied the popular image of the trumpeter as a flashy attention-hog. But his trumpet soon took command as he led the band through a rousing jazz/world music rendition of the theme to the animation hit "Astro Boy" that brought the crowd in the tiny basement bar to its feet.

Barrett is one of a handful of professional foreign musicians active in the Kansai live jazz scene. That Sunday he could be seen in two performances, one by his band and another as a member of one of what he estimated are seven or eight big band jazz orchestras in the Kyoto area.