Cafe Cotton Club
Cafe Cotton Club jazz club, located near Takadanobaba station in Tokyo, Japan
The jazz space at Cafe Cotton Club sits below street level in a multilevel building that at first glace seems like a sparkling but otherwise normal semi-fancy restaurant in the student neighborhood of Takadanobaba in Tokyo.
Part of the legendary jazz session scene in Tokyo, Cafe Cotton Club (or just “Cotton”) is a restaurant occupying several floors with a semi-secret speakeasy-fashioned jazz floor in the basement. Despite the humble image the simple label “cafe” may imply, the exterior hints at an above average atmosphere for a building located within the surrounding student populated neighborhood, a rough-and-tumble series of cheap eats and bars that can lean towards boisterous on weekends.
Also a bit out of the ordinary, Cafe Cotton Club’s warmly lit establishment makes use of four linked floors, from the jazz club in the basement to the third floor with an outdoor terrace. The three cafe and restaurant levels offer elegant yet friendly tables and kitchens, while a mysterious stairway on the ground floor leads down to a darker jazz level in the basement. There’s even a special annex on the 11th floor and an outdoor rooftop and beer garden section that is reserved for private events and opened seasonally.
Opened in 1984, Cafe Cotton Club’s basement level felt like an extension to the tiny bar Jazz Spot Intro across and down the street from Cotton. When sessions at Intro grew too busy or crowded, the party would migrate to Cotton’s basement, which was larger and had more seating and food options. A renovation to Cotton in 2019 opened up the basement level even more: The original bar counter was moved back and out of the way to make room for an elevated stage, with more tables and booths set closer up front. The new, remodeled feel also added a somewhat elevated jazz club stage performance (literally and figuratively), as the players are actually up on a stage, even if just a bit, compared to the original level. This created a subtle separation between the performers and the audience, more so than the original “All together, at the same level, and surprise! Who know who may join in at any time” sense of spontaneous happening.
Meanwhile, the ground floor and upper levels of Cafe Cotton Club are also quite popular as restaurant hangouts, appealing to students and the Takadanobaba general public. There’s a sense that the shop attracts guests with reservations as well as passerby’s, and is attractive as a destination even for non-jazz-oriented customers.
Cafe Cotton Club is related to the legendary Tokyo jazz destination Jazz Spot Intro as if it was the more sophisticated older sibling to the spunky, authentic hole in the wall that is Intro. Both clubs are within close bar-hopping distance, across the street and just a minute or two away on foot. And, much like Intro, Cotton also hosts fun jam sessions where professional jazz musicians, semi-professionals, amateurs, hobbyists, and listeners mingle and sit-in, playing tunes from the common repertoire as practice drills, and just for the fun of it.
2005
Intro and Cotton are both run and overseen by manager Mogushi-san since their beginnings. His positive energy, big smile, and smooth dome brightly project his love and support of jazz in his professionally-run jazz room and the corresponding unforgettable experience.
Also a drummer who sometimes hits the skins at Cotton, proprietor Kuniaki Mogushi-san’s history is full of fascinating details. Some of his autobiographical articles and historically valuable photographs are available in the History section of the Cafe Cotton Club website. These artifacts detail his journey from high school to the world of jazz in 1960s Tokyo, and the opening of Jazz Spot Intro in 1975 and Cafe Cotton Club in 1984.
2009
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