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Atsuko4Jazz Column
Chasing the Muse
~A Jazz Singer's Newsletter from New York
from New York / U.S.A.
Atsuko4Jazz
Jazz Singer
Lives and works in New York/Hometown, Nagasaki.
In 2000, I came to study Jazz in New York, the home of Jazz.
Time flies and it's hard to believe I've lived in this city as long as babies grow up, but I never get tired of this music-filled city.
I would like to express my gratitude that I have been able to live in this city because of jazz.
I hope to share with you stories about my favorite city, New York, and the wonderful New Yorkers who live here.
9.10.2025
DAYS / Atsuko4Jazz Column
Chasing the Muse ~A Jazz Singer's Newsletter from New York
Visiting Mother Earth and Great Sprits in the land of America
I decided to pay my respects to Mother Earth and Great spirits in the land of America this summer solstice.
I joined a 2-night, 3-day tour from Las Vegas to the Grand Circle.
Good morning, Las Vegas! Let’s hit the road, soaking up the morning sun!
Oh, No! Only half of the Sun.
This hour has four Japanese, one Taiwanese, one British and eleven Italian participants, with their own language guides.
The young Italians were incredibly cheerful and always making a fuss in a good way, filling the bus with laughter and fun.
We Japanese arrive before the meeting time, a Taiwanese girl looked like a model take instagram worthy pictures,
a British person was rarely surrounded by non English speakers.
It was an interesting experience for me, not just sightseeing, but understanding the differences in national character.
Our first stop was Seligman, Arizona.
Cute mural
The road leads from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, the good old Route 66. I've known the song, " Route 66" for a long time but it wasn't in my repertoire yet.
Finally the time to learn this song came to me?
The road leading to Chicago
We headed to Sedona in the afternoon. It's the first time in ages for me. Actually I went there on my first Thanksgiving holiday after starting work.
It was over 20 years ago!
Drinking beer while gazing at Red Rock is the best!
After lunch, we went for a short hike to Bell Rock.
Bell Rock, it's been a while!
I climbed Bell rock from the other side before and I'm surprised I could manage it back then.
It's important to do what you want to do when you're young.
I wanted to spend more tiｍe in Sedna, but the bus headed to Page, our place to stay tonight.
I was able to soak up so much sun this summer solstice, Thank you very much！
First thing in the morning, I headed to Antelope Canyon, which I had been longing to see.
This area is hit by severe floods every year and these floods created the stunning wave-like layers of rock in the canyon.
Ah, I really wanted to see it with my own eyes.
This place is Navajoland, so we took a Navajo tour.
The light filtering in from the ceiling illuminates the rock surface in a gentle and beautiful way.
Antelope Canyon
Do you understand the size of this？
Antelope and Sky
Walking through the cave, I sang the sounds that came to my mind, enjoying their echoes off the rock walls.
This crack is Antelope Canyon.
Ah, I'm Completely satisfied！
Horseshoe Bend- a breathtaking vista shape like a horseshoe literally. I had seen it in photos before, but I never thought it would actually come.
Spectacular view!
It's a truly breathtaking cliff with no safety fences. One careless step can mean goodbye...
The Chinese guide asked if I wanted a photo, so I took a pose at the scenic spot following her instruction.
Whoa, strike a daring pose!
It took about a 30-minute walk one way from the parking lot to Horseshoe Bend.
It was such a hot and dry day, my body was craving water so much.
No sports drinks or juices, just want some water, yes Water please!
We finally headed to Monument valley, the sacred land of the Navajo people in Utah.
Yes, Utah, here we come！
As far as the eye can see, red land stretches out before your eyes. a magnificent rocky mountain known as butte, and flat plateaus called mesas.
Wow, Monument Valley is well named!
The person who named Monument Valley is amazing.
We also took a Navajo Jeep tour here.
We drove along a bumpy road through the valley, red dust flying up.
The driver's grandmother lives there, he showed us some hidden spots deep inside, places we don't usually see.
Sun's Eye! Sunlight comes in through a hole in the ceiling. It's mysterious!
Light from the ceiling
I enjoyed my voice and the sound resonated pleasantly !
Isn't the view spectacular?
We went to the road known as Forrest Gump Point, where Forrest suddenly stopped running.
The straight road stretches toward Monument Valley, so beautiful, isn't it!?
Movie Crews of Hollywood are so amazing. How did they even find this place to use in a scene!
The Road of Forrest Gump
We stopped at a Burger King in Kayenta for lunch.
There was a display called the Navajo Code Talker Exhibit featuring World War II-era Navajo code and numerous Japanese military artifacts.
Why here? I was surprised and had mixed feelings. I regretted a bit that I didn't take any pictures there.
Because our tour guide told us about the display on the way back and I researched about the Navajo Code at home.
During World War II, the US Marine Corps adopted a code in the Navajo language called the Navajo Code to prevent the Japanese military from deciphering it.
The Navajo people joined the war on the condition that they would be granted American citizenship if they went to war as soldiers.
(They were Native Americans, though) The code, written in the Navajo language, was never deciphered by the Japanese military, leading to victory.
Navajo elders later said that when they came face to face with Japanese soldiers at close range on the front lines, they felt a sense of affinity with the enemy Japanese, who looked more similar to them than to the white Americans, and that this made them emotionally shaken.
The father of the owner of this Burger King was a Navajo Code Talker, This exhibit is intended to pass on the achievements of the Navajo Talkers to future generations, not to incite anti-Japanese sentiment.
The belongings of Japanese soldiers, as well as items and photographs received in Japan, were indeed displayed in very good condition. It must have been carefully brought back from Japan.
I understood that this was an exhibition held with respect and friendship, in order to pass on history to future generations.
We are all human beings after all... I sincerely hope that the world will soon stop killing each other, and realize that it's foolish and that everyone will be able to return to their beloved families and live happily ever after.
I believe that in the near future we will see a world where people all over the world respect each other's differences, live in harmony, and get along well with each other.
If each of us can picture it in our mind and imagine it, it will surely come true.
The Native Americans who have lived on the vast, endless red land of the West for so long, for generations, are truly amazing!
The pioneers who headed west through this wilderness were also incredibly tough, it's amazing!
History is different from each perspective, so it's not something I can judge, I would like to express my respect and gratitude to all those who have survived in this great wilderness and built the foundation of America.
Thank you, Mother earth and great spirits of the land of America!
Thank you for letting me live in this country too!
The light welcomed me？
6.20.2025
DAYS / Atsuko4Jazz Column
Chasing the Muse ~A Jazz Singer's Newsletter from New York
Nostalgic Memories, the 9th Avenue International Food Festival
I recently visited the 9th Avenue International Food Festival, a street fair held on 5/18 and 5/19.
Looking south on 9th Avenue
Street fairs are pedestrianized streets on weekends, lined with food stalls and miscellaneous stalls, where people can wander around and enjoy themselves. Street fairs are a popular event in New York City during the early summer and summer months.
This time, 9th Avenue from 42nd Street to 57th Street was turned into a pedestrian paradise, and as the name suggests, food was the main attraction of the street fair.
The best part of this food festival is that it is international in nature, with food vendors from many different countries, and restaurants that line the 9th Avenue area setting up food stalls.
So, Let me show you how international it is through pictures!
Grilled corn! Plenty of butter, PLEASE.
Greek skewers, souvlaki!
Fettuccine boldly tossed in Parmigiano cheese!
Wow! Paella!
Our matcha, very popular in New York!
Jerk chicken in Jamaica!
This is a Peruvian dish!
We also have candy apples!
Latin American juices that are bright to the eye!
There were also many Asian food vendors like Indian, Thai and Chinese , but I skipped all of them because It's not so new to me. Sorry, I'm from Asia!
My own Atsuko award for best deal for this year went to Five Napkin Burger, a burger place in Midtown and Upper West 👏👏👏👏👏
5 Napkin Burger
A slider is a small hamburger, and it was $6, not so bad! By the way, a full-sized 5N burger usually costs $21.5 at restaurants.
I was very impressed with the attitude of this restaurant, which does not aim to make a big profit, but to thank its customers and to increase the number of their future fans! Congratulations !
This food festival holds special memories for me because I used to live along 9th Avenue. I remember I looked down from the window and got excited about what I was going to eat!
My apartment looks beautiful, I missed it!
After 911, I moved from Queens to Brooklyn, but the tunnel connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn was also damaged, so the subway stopped and delayed almost every morning, and I was completely tired of commuting. A friend of mine suddenly told me about an apartment share in Manhattan, and I took the plunge and moved! I started living there probably at the beginning of winter 2001, Wow, 24 years ago.
It's an old apartment, but it's the biggest one I've ever lived in.
It’s in midtown Manhattan so I could walk to my office in 10 minutes, and even if I went to a jazz club to sing at midnight, I could take the subway right back home! Except that it was shared by three people, it was a very comfortable place to live.
I think I ended up living there for about 10 years. Finally, after a discussion with my roommates, I decided to move out of the apartment.
I asked a real estate agent to help me find a house for the first time. Miraculously, I found a very cute room that was perfect for living alone, and moved to the Upper West Side area.
I was surprised to find that the air in my new neighborhood was fresh and different. And also I was surprised at how quiet it was.
I was a little sad at first, but I was very glad I moved here in the end.
I guess when your life stage changes, your place to stay also changes.
This festival was a good opportunity to revisit the place where I used to live for the first time in a long time, and I was immersed in the memories that made me laugh and cry in my younger days, which I had completely forgotten.
I will never go back to that life again, but thank you for this lovely place where I was able to spend a certain period of my life.
4.12.2025
DAYS / Atsuko4Jazz Column
Chasing the Muse ~A Jazz Singer's Newsletter from New York
You will surely miss New York pizza!
What will I miss so intensely one day when I leave this city?
The Best of my favorite dishes, I would probably miss New York pizza.
In New York, there are many stores that sell large slices of pizza, called slices, and they are a staple when I am feeling a bit hungry. The best reason is many Italian immigrants moved to the city and in addition to that, the water in New York goes very well with the dough, making very crispy pizza. That's why Pizza became a specialty of the city.
I have always wondered why there was such a long line for Joe's Pizza, usually a block and a half long, on my way to the Times Square station at night.
Appearance of Joe's Pizza
I took a quick peek and found out that this is the pizza shop where Spiderman used to work part-time. That's why it's so popular with tourists not only from the U.S. but also from all over the world.
It's true, Spider-Man worked here!
I always thought, “I don't have the passion to wait in this long line,” but I happened to be a bit hungry last week while going to a workshop and jam session, so I stopped by their pizza shop in West Village.
How Lucky, it wasn't that crowded! I ordered a slice, just tomato sauce and cheese with no toppings on it.
Slice of Joe's Pizza.
Yeah, it's very good. But I felt nothing so special.
Probably because I have been spoiled by my long life in New York, this level of New York style pizza has become normal for me and raised the bar.
A friend of mine asked me out, Let's to Roberta's, a famous pizza place in Brooklyn that has just opened in Manhattan.
Cute pizza oven on the first floor of Robertas.
The restaurant is very lively, and I was surprised at how noisy it was with people talking!
By the way, in Italy, they drink beer with pizza not wine.
I ordered a draft beer of IPA, which tastes delicious!
I heard about many rules about food in Italy.
For example, you should not cook seafood and mountain food together, you should not put cheese on seafood pasta, and you should eat pizza with a fork and knife.
In New York, people don't use knives and forks, and they usually eat with their hands even in restaurants!
And they say that a good pizza doesn't drip any oil when you hold it with your hands.
So, What should we eat? Hmmm, Why don't we have a salad first? My friend asked the waiter, "Which salad is as simple as a Caesar salad?" Then we ordered the Little Gem Salad.
Little Gem means a salad with small romaine lettuce.
Little Gem Salad
Hmmmm! Shredded pecorino cheese looks so beautiful!
The croutons are also delicious and handmade with crunchy, cheese-covered bread.
The sauce is also delicious and creamy with anchovies!
Caesar salad is a menu invented by an Italian immigrant chef at a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico.
I would like to go there someday to try the real Caesar salad, but I thought to myself, it is under the Trump administration now, not go to the border of Mexico just for the sake of curiosity, no matter how long I am here legally.
We orderd a margarita pizza topped with prosciutto.
Margarita Pizza topped with Prosciutto
The tomato sauce is fresh, the mozzarella cheese is super good, and the prosciutto is melt-in-my-mouth!
We did the right choice!
As I was eating our meal, I said "Yes, it's yummy, it's delicious, it's tasty" and spreaded the kind of photons with happiness of deliciousness all around us. We noticed that the people at the tables on either side of us had quickly finished their meals and turned to other people.
Since it is located next to Madison Square Garden, I wondered if many people were having a quick meal before watching a concert or a sporting event.
Right after having a really good pizza like this, I always thought that if I put up with some regular slices, I would enjoy a bit pricey but a real Neapolitan style pizza!
But I keep going back to local normal pizza shops too because it is crispy and delicious too.
My friend also said whenever she comes back from Japan after a short stay, she always wants to have a pizza first in New York.
Yes, Let's enjoy the moment now!
I'm sure to miss an ordinarily crispy New York pizza when I become an old lady someday!
Roberta's Penn District
https://www.robertaspizza.com/
PS. I love this kind of white pizza with mushrooms sauteed in truffle oil too!
Mushroom Truffle Pizza
2.8.2025
DAYS / Atsuko4Jazz Column
Chasing the Muse ~A Jazz Singer's Newsletter from New York
Music Transcends Borders, Time and Space - Pianist Bruce Liu at Carnegie Hall in NY
The temperatures in New York City have been completely negative, and I tend to stay indoors during the extremely cold season.
In addition, my forehead was injured and the area around my eye was bleeding internally, so I didn't step out of my house for days on end in January!
I went to Carnegie Hall to hear Bruce Liu, the winner of the 18th Chopin Competition in 2021.
Bruce is a Chinese Canadian born in Paris. His real name is Xiaoyu Liu, and since Xiaoyu is difficult to pronounce, he added “Bruce” to his first name because he likes Bruce Lee and is often told that they look alike!
The big hall of Carnegie Hall has 2,800 seats and there are 5 floors. and the top 5 floors are the highest.
From the top floor, the musicians look like small peas, but the tickets cost around $25 at this time.
The tickets on the first floor might be over $200.
I asked my face until the very last minute and decided to buy the cheapest seat, which was a partial view on the third floor for $35 plus $10 handling fee.
When I went to Carnegie Hall on the day of the concert, I found that the tickets were sold out!
I'm glad I bought my ticket 3 days ago!
I wondered what he was going to play. When I opened the program and found that he was going to play Tchaikovsky's Suite “The Four Seasons” and Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7, both by Russian composers. I'm not familiar with classical music, so I had never heard of these pieces.
Even though the seat had a partial view, it was very interesting to see his hands from above.
Here's what it looks like from my seat
Tchaikovsky's suite “The Four Seasons” is a suite of short pieces from January to December.
My favorite is a piece called Troika from November. The nostalgic melody, like a folk song, is so wonderful that I even hummed it on my way home.
Tchaikovsky is indeed good at creating catchy melodies.
Prokofiev's piano sonata was amazing from the very beginning! It is very energetic and extremely difficult. It is one of his representative works called “War Sonata” because it was written during the World War II after he returned to Moscow from Paris.
Compared to Tchaikovsky's pastoral suite, the War Sonata expresses a rage against war and regime change, which is perfect for a young male pianist like him to play.
The choice of this contrasting program is very motivating in the current situation of the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine. The original Russia has a peaceful and beautiful countryside, with music by such wonderful composers, which has not faded away! Is that the message of this piece?
When he finished playing the third movement beautifully, everyone stood up in unison and gave a standing ovation,
Standing ovation. The applause for encores never ceased.
And for encore, he played Chopin's Fantasy Impromptu, which made me so happy!
The fourth encore was a ragtime piece called Maple Leaf Rag. I was surprised to hear him play such a jazz-like piece.
The applause did not stop, so we bowed several times and went back to the backstage.
The applause still did not cease, so he came out and bowed again.
Mr. Bruce looks happy.
The applause was endress, he finally closed the keyboard lid and that was the very end of the show.
Since more than two hours had already passed, the audience was filled with laughter, and the wonderful evening came to a close in a relaxed mood.
He performed with the New York Philharmonic last winter and played Chopin's Minute's Waltz as an encore! I was so happy that I gave him a standing ovation. I was surprised that I was the only one who stood up. ( I was seated in the front, I was so embarrassed!)
I thought that the audience of classical music lovers was kind of strict in David Geffen Hall, but the audience at Carnegie was very warm and excited to hear all the songs, which was wonderful. He is of Chinese descent, so there were a lot of young Chinese people there.
I’m thinking about buying tickets for the two big concerts in February. Of course it's nice to have good seats but it's also nice to go and listen to a lot of good music with cheap tickets.
New York is a great place for music lovers because there are many opportunities to experience the world's top music regardless of genre, and you can enjoy it at a surprisingly low price!
Bruce Lieu Tchaikovsky Suite “The Four Seasons” November Troika