About the concert

‍

It’s a story straight out of a film.

2003. A 23-year-old trumpeter from Kobe, Japan, lands in New York. He doesn’t speak English, has no friends, and all he holds is a one-way ticket and an instrument case. 

The language barrier quickly becomes a problem. There is only one place where he can communicate freely: the late-night jam sessions at Brooklyn’s Up Over Jazz Café. Takuya Kuroda goes all in and decides to practise the language he speaks best – at the prestigious New School. There he comes under the wing of the legendary teacher Laurie Frink.

Takuya, who has been playing the trumpet for 12 years and considers himself an accomplished musician, stumbles over a simple C major scale in his first lesson because of nerves. Frink gives him a long look, then hands him sheets of music and tells him to practise them every day for a month. They are the simplest long-tone exercises, meant for 12-year-olds.

Many musicians would have taken it as an insult, or at best a dry joke, but Kuroda, raised in the Japanese work ethic, listens to his teacher and humbly starts rebuilding his technique from scratch. Methodically, every day, step by step.

23 years of daily work later, Kuroda has 8 studio albums to his name, including a debut released on Blue Note Records. He comes to Scena MONK with his latest release – Everyday (2025).

Everyday is a pulsing, rhythmic, almost cinematic experience in which the raw New York sound of the ’90s passes through the filter of a modern artist’s sensibility. “Groove is the foundation of this record,” Kuroda explains.

The album’s title is no accident either. It is the artist’s look back at the ethos of his musical career and a simple message for those at the start of their own journey who are looking for a magic formula.

“The only way to make the kind of music I want to make is hard work, every single day,” says Kuroda – and you’ll hear the rest this November in Gdańsk.

Check it out if you like: Isaiah Sharkey, Błoto, New Jazz Underground, Robert Glasper

‍

Band

‍

Takuya Kuroda (trumpet)

Craig Hill (saxophone)

Takahiro Izumikawa (keyboards)

David Frazier (drums)

Ruben Cainer (bass)

‍

Additional information

‍

We don’t take table reservations and seating is limited, so we recommend arriving early to get a seat.

19:00 – doors open

20:30 – concert

Powered by Singleton. The event is supported by Singleton, renowned for its exceptional single malt whiskies, prized for their smoothness and depth of flavour.