Saxophone and clarinet player Kazutoki Umezu uses his annual residency at Pit Inn to indulge his myriad musical concerns, ranging from avant jazz to world music and rock. This year's lineup will see the veteran reedsman tested in a variety of settings, including klezmer group Komaccha, a session with tabla virtuoso U-zhaan and eccentric troubadour Tavito Nanao, and a raucous rock-out with Nice Middle with New Blue Day Horns, who once played backing band to the late Kiyoshiro Imawano.
May 11: Fumio Itabashi (piano), Ryo Ishibashi (voice)
May 12: Kazunori Kumagai (tap dance), Keisuke Ohta (violin), Kazuto Shimizu (piano), Tomohiro Yahiro (percussion)
May 13: Komaccha – Tada Yoko (saxophone), Ayumi Matsui (violin), Koyo Chan (accordion), Takero Sekijima (tuba), Fumihisa Natsuaki (drums), Masumi Hara (voice, guitar)
May 14: Nice Middle with New Blue Day Horns – Shinji Miyake (voice, guitar), Rei Atsumi (keys), Kitaro Nakamura (bass), Genta Egawa (drums), Hiroaki Katayama (saxophone), Takao Watanabe (trumpet)
May 15: Tavito Nanao (voice, guitar), U-zhaan (tabla)
May 16: Atsuki Kimura (voice, guitar), Keisuke Ohta (violin), Atsushi Abe (piano)