If it\u2019s real Jazz you\u2019re after then head to Lush Life<\/a> (the venue name pays homage to composer and Duke Ellington collaborator, Billy Strayhorn and the title of a jazz standard about whiling away one’s lifetime with “jazz and cocktails” at “come-what-may places” and in the company of girls with “sad and sullen gray faces\/with distingu\u00e9 traces). Lush Life the venue is very low key, dominated by a grand piano and the bar and eight or ten sets of tables and chairs, it seats about twenty or so people. Run by the delightful Rie who always serves you drinks and snacks with he sweet smile. \u00a0The resident sax player is the owner, the venerable Suetoshi Shimizu who is credited as one of the top jazz saxophonists in Japan. It features mostly Shimizu and the house band but known to have very good domestic and international guest jazz musicians coming to perform there. Or Jazz Club Bird<\/a> in Yagenbori with a good range sounds, but a little hard to find…<\/p>\n Another venue Comin\u2019<\/a> takes its name from the title of the hit song \u201cComin\u2019 Home Baby\u201d that gained its fame after being recorded by the great master Herbie Mann. It is a multi-genre venue and not always live but a great place to get a drink, some food and hear some good jazz sounds from the 50s and 60s.<\/p>\n There is a range of other live venues downtown, for example, Club Quattro<\/a> where you find mostly Japanese Bands or bands touring in from Tokyo or Osaka, which include mixed line ups of Japanese and foreign members playing a spectrum of genres. I\u2019ve seen hard anything from hard rock cover bands to Irish traditional bands there. Or\u00a0 Cafe Jive<\/a>, Spider<\/a>, a laid back venue also featuring anything from Indie folk to rock.<\/p>\n Three other venues in the downtown zone are Kemby\u2019s the brewpub\/sports bar near Peace Park where, although not that frequently will have live acts of anything from a local Japanese Samba band to a local gaijin band The Blue-Collar Bastards playing a variety for songs from Dylan to Carole King, Bill Withers to Joe Cocker with a 10CC number thrown in. There is an open mic night once a week at Southern Cross<\/a> in Tatemachi. Good fun and passers-through Hiroshima often sit with the regular musicians.<\/p>\n Or for the hippie inclined there is Otis<\/a> offering you Tex-Mex foods along with music from around the world and (if you come at the right time) great live music. They host live music several days a month.\u00a0 It\u2019s located just south of Peace Memorial Park<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/morethanrelo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_0606-300x225.jpg\")
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