Yawaraka Jazz
Yawaraka means soft, gentle. Jazz played only from records, by hand, in a small room in Tokyo — the kind you can leave on all day.
I've loved jazz since I was a teenager. Records came later, almost by accident. Once they were playing at home, I wanted to take that sound with me — on the train, on the way to work.
I was still learning to DJ, so I started filming the sets and putting them on YouTube: a way to check my hands, and whether the mixes were clean. It was a personal log, nothing more.
Then people started listening — over seven million views so far. The comments told me where the sets were going.
“Part of my morning routine.”
“Always a vibe, good start to my workday”
“…my Sunday afternoon reading”
“Every evening I listen to one of your music sets.”
“Finally, some non AI human jazz mix…”
Now I build each set for a moment like that, and the sets grow as the record shelf does. I'm also a gear nerd and fussy about sound — that part is below.
10 代のころからジャズを聴くのが好きで、ひょんなことからレコードを集め始めました。最初は、家の音を通勤中や移動中にも持ち出して聴けたらいいな、という思いで録り始めたのがきっかけです。
DJ はまだ初心者だったので、自分の手さばきや、きれいにつなげているかのチェックも兼ねて、動画と一緒に YouTube に上げていました。それが意外にも見ていただけるようになり、いろんな場面で流してもらっていることをコメント欄で知りました。
それからは、シチュエーションごとに聴きやすいセットを、手持ちのレコードを入れ替えながら作っています。
Jona
Designer and dancer in Tokyo. Plays jazz records for the love of it. @jona.yawaraka
Questions
- Is it AI?
- No. Every set is played from vinyl, by hand.
- What are the turntables?
- Two Garrard 401s with SME 3012 arms, into a Varia RDM 20 rotary mixer, a Luxkit A3000 tube amp and Tannoy SRM 12B speakers.
- Why swap cartridges mid-set?
- Mono pressings get a mono cartridge, so they sound the way they were cut.
- Where's the tracklist?
- In every video description, with timestamps.
- Better sound?
- The same sets are on Mixcloud.
- Can I book you?
- Yes — DJ, selection and sound styling, in Japan and abroad. yawarakajazzvinyl@gmail.com
Featured by RTÉ Culture and kottke.org. Listen on YouTube ↗