If poets are the unacknowledged statesmen of the world, musicians are the unacknowledged healers. Jazz violinist Billy Bang is a great example. After studying classical violin as a teenager and playing in bands through college, his career was put on hold -- to say the least -- after he was drafted and sent to Vietnam. But from that experience has grown a powerful curative force in his life and music. This week Bang brings his uncompromising style of jazz to Japan.
Bang has never really been off the scene. Since the 1970s, he has kept up a relentless touring schedule. "My head is spinning from so many flights," he said after last Thursday's first show of the tour at B Flat in Tokyo. Staying busy has had him leading his own groups and recording with jazz heavies such as Ronald Shannon Jackson, Don Cherry, James Blood Ulmer as well as 10 years with Sun Ra. Though a rare instrument in jazz, Bang's violin fits right in. "I think of it as a saxophone. I try to riff like they do so the other musicians don't have to think of it as a violin. I listen to Eric Dolphy and Jackie McLean. I study with these records, not violin records."
Thursday's show offered plenty of meaty, progressive jazz. Together with Japanese bassist Toshiki Nagata, saxophonist Sachi Hayasaka and drummer Shoji Hano, who will be on most of this tour, Bang showed he knows the sharp edges of jazz as well as the deeper pools of its tradition. In a mix of his own compositions, open, jam-ready numbers, such as Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman," and several nicely upended standards, such as "My Funny Valentine," Bang and his band showed originality and energy. Bang's huge repertoire of techniques, everything from funky driving riffs to Hendrix-like brawn to proficient classical tones mixed wonderfully with the Japanese musicians.