What happens when a sake sommelier and a jazz trumpeter walk into a bar?
Jazz x Sake is a pop-up music and culinary event series presented by Sake Noire, a bar dedicated to sake and shochu, two rice-based Japanese liquors.
Since January 2024, Sake Noire has gained steam through monthly Jazz x Sake pop-ups.
Ballard resident Wendy Kato, who’s been to six Jazz x Sake pop-ups, said this intimate regular event has helped reignite her passion for jazz.
“I hadn't listened to jazz in a long time, but I just recently started getting into it more,” she said.
Jazz x Sake has also strengthened her sense of community. She made friends at an early pop-up that she now goes out to see jazz with regularly, and the sake makes her feel connected to her culture.
“It makes both jazz and sake approachable to people,” Kato said.
The idea for Jazz x Sake emerged in 2018 after sake specialist and Sake Noire co-owner Quan Liang and Japanese-American jazz musician Jun Iida met at Hannyatou, a Japanese bar in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood.
“He was like, ‘Hey, how can we work together? What can we do to bring jazz and sake together?” Liang said.
Iida and Liang have produced more than a dozen pop-up Jazz x Sake events at various restaurants and bars around Seattle. By highlighting Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) musicians alongside expertly-curated sake, the series demystifies and generates fresh appreciation for two rich traditions.
“Jazz can also be kind of wild, right? There's a lot of experimental stuff that happens,” Liang said, noting that sake pushes boundaries too.
“Sake and shochu, though they have a very core foundation, can also be incredibly exciting and wild. You just need to have the right place and people to show them.”
Iida agrees that there’s an “undeniable marriage” between sake and jazz. Both require craftmanship: jazz musicians spend years learning repertoire and improvisation and master sake brewers, or toji, train for a decade or more.
Jazz and sake also share a celebratory and collective spirit. In the same way jazz emphasizes musical conversation and collaboration, in the world of sake, no one pours their own glass. Friends and family pour for each other.
Japan and American-born jazz also have a “long and complicated history,” Iida said.
Before World War II, Japan celebrated American jazz. But during the war, jazz was labeled “enemy music” and banned, forcing Japanese fans to listen in secret.
“Then once the war ended and Japan was in its restoration era, it was something that, once again, caught fire,” Iida said.
For the first year, Jazz x Sake mainly highlighted the music of Iida, who blends jazz and Japanese musical influences. The events include a rotating list of sakes and unique eats from Sake Noire chef and co-owner Yael Silverman. Since Iida’s 2023 move to New York City, Liang books other AAPI musicians, like pianist Evan Captain and saxophonist BrandonLee Cierley.
“I realized that one [of] my other passions, diversity and community. So I really wanted to try to involve BIPOC and female jazz musicians,” Liang said.
Jazz x Sake events have an intimate speakeasy style, inspired by kissa, or Japanese jazz vinyl listening bars. These listening spaces are sprinkled throughout Tokyo, particularly in the Shibuya jazz district.
“You might go to the fifth floor of a random building in the middle of Shibuya, and all of a sudden you walk into this super intimate, kind of dark, vibey jazz club where there's just crazy jazz playing,” Iida said.
Iida, who travels to Seattle regularly, still assists with curating and performing at Jazz x Sake events.
On May 30, he will headline a special Jazz x Sake AANHPI show centered on the sounds of Asian cinema at Parlor Wine and Café in Pioneer Square. This show marks Jazz x Sake’s final pop-up before Sake Noire opens their new permanent space in Hillman City this summer. The live jazz will continue there.
“We want to create something that's more of what we've experienced when we're in Japan,” Liang said. “Like the kind of hidden jazz bar that you'd find in a neighborhood that's really doing something for the community.”
