Line up to see what happens when Tatsuhisa Yamamoto’s gentle-but-smashing percussion bumps up against Rai Tateishi’s burbling bamboo flute. Look for it to propel, shuttle and bump. Tripped and spun, ready for fun.

The Greatest comes to Tokyo, ahhh dude. This record played all the way through will be meltingly good.

Noise-master Toshiji Mikawa (Incapacitants, Hijokaidan) meets Risa Takeda (ebony and ivory) and Akio Jeimus (subtle-but-punk drum massager) in the basement of Bar Isshee. Not sure if the walls of the bar called Isshee are ready for what might ensue. Show up and find out.

Holy fucking shit this is actually happening. Two of free improvisation’s most combustible players: Ken Vandermark (saxophone outta Chicago, USA) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drummer outta Norway) meet up and Otomo Yoshihide and, as if that was not enough, bring in the Incapacitants! Some call it noise, some call it free-jazz, some call it just breaking shit. GET IN.

Tabla player U-zhaan meets up and plays with guitarist Yoshihide Otomo in this Encounter. Disciples of Zakir Hussain and Masayuki Takayanagi, they hadn’t met until this year, and this event marks their first performance as a duo. Otomo can get pretty darn percussive on that guitar, so get ready to dance.

Last day of “pray,” and the second of Jim O’Rourke and Eiko Ishibashi’s two closing duos. A midday affair, so doable as a day trip from Tokyo. Catch the morning bus, wander around the sea, yell across the wall at the imprisoned dolphins, wander back to the show, eat some pizza, enjoy the set, and be back in Tokyo by dinner. Keiji Yamabe from Los Apson? and DJ Kayo are on DJ duties once again.

The “pray” exhibition wraps up with two days of duos by Jim O’Rourke and Eiko Ishibashi. Every performance is a bit different than the one before, so why not stick a stake in the ground and call the eastern Chiba seaboard home for the weekend. Keiji Yamabe from Los Apson? and DJ Kayo are on the decks.

Shrimper BLOOD in the house, and back at Nanahari again! Amps for Christ first came into these ears as a three-dollar cassette years ago, landing at PO Box 1832 in Olympia. And Gun Outfit came out of that same Olympia years after that ship sailed. Henry Barnes plays in both, so you get him twice in one night. Rob Noyes, Tokyo’s own 12-string maestro, as good as it gets, opens things up with a hummmmm.

Final night of two Tokyo appearances at Nanahari for David Grubbs. He’s joined by Fumi Endo, a pianist who is comfortable with quiet and knows how to use it.

Opening day of “pray,” a nine-day group show by Shinobu Hashimoto, Soudai Arisaka, Ema Nakano and Kuriwo inside the former-sake-hut on the grounds of SupernaturalDeluxe. Doors open at noon, with ambient and experimental DJ sets from Chris SSG and David Dicembre. Swiss trio Schnellertollermeier play later in the evening.

First of two Tokyo nights at Nanahari for David Grubbs, hailing from Squirrel Bait to Bastro on through to Gastr del Sol and then decades of solo work. He’s joined by Tadahiko Yokogawa on violin, electronics and voice.

Night two at Ftarri with Ayami Suzuki and Florence Cats from Belgium, and this time compositions will be played. I’m guessing individual sets from everyone, though I’d welcome some collaborations too: Yoko Ikeda’s plucked violin, Leo Okagawa’s synthy soothe, and Jesus Weekend’s Riley-ish riffs on keys, all welcome additions. Everyone in attendance gets a free copy of eye ear soul say by Masaya Ozaki and Florence Cats, on Ftarri.

Day 2 celebrating 4 years of Polaris. Acts include: Takashi Kashikura, Yuji Katsui Kengo Matsumoto, Sugar Yoshinaga, Dairo Suga, Risa Takeda, Rubii Nakamura, mito, Jan Urila Sas and others.

I’m a big fan of Ayami Suzuki’s work, so much so that I released a cassette of hers with Takashi Masubuchi on my label Union Pole: see Featherland. Her vocal work is stunning: Celtic energy running through cryptic codes. Is that a language? Probably not. Does it matter? Probably not. Is it better that way? Probably yes. Tonight is the first of two nights at Ftarri, where Ayami’s ambient folk meets up again with Florence Cats, who she toured France with last September. They’re new to me, but I put this on earlier today and got spun. Everyone who attends gets a free CD from Ftarri: Florence Cats’ arch or We are now approaching Mo i Rana,

Two days, two massive lineups, and a broad cross-section of musicians from Tokyo’s experimental, improvised and ambient scenes. This two day anniversary festival is a great chance to get a health blast of what’s going down in the Polaris community. Yes to community! Line up for Day 1 includes Satoshi Isobe, Takumi Isobe, Fumi Endo, Yuya Tashiro, Takuma Motomura, hina, Momose Yasunaga and others.

Two of my favorite guitarists meet in duo at Jazz Art Sengawa. Tetuzi Akiyama plays with jagged edges and sudden bites that open out into sustained drone. Kota Yamauchi wanders somewhere more ethereal, so where will these sounds meet? As far as I know they’ve never played together, which, if true, makes this evening something special: the most interesting things tend to happen at first meetings. One 40-minute set at 17:10 sharp, so don’t be late and don’t miss a note or hum.

Kyoto vs. Tokyo. Kota Yamauchi is one of the most dynamic textural guitar players out there. One guitar, and you get yourself a landscape. Shinji Wada (who pounds the kit for DMBQ) is a force to be reckoned with, and meets up with him for the cultural exchange.

What happens when the player sympatico goes at it alone. Will it blow up, will it implode, will it simmer, will it chill, will it soothe, will it burn? Come and see one of the best drummers in town show you how it goes.

Taku Sugimoto is the master of paring music down to the essentials. Get him down to the river and you might get 10 notes out of him. So great. Yoko Ikeda and Wakana Ikeda are also part of that, as witnessed in this sextet with Sugimoto. Eiko Yamada joins to party, so prepare to sit still and soak it in.

Catch the first night of a 10-gig tour for Manos Barkatsas, guitarist from Greece. Starting things off nicely in this trio, to be well complimented by Tatsuhisa’s propelling drums and Kota Yamauchi’s whirling guitar. After this it’s one night at Polaris with Victor Tsilimparis (Polaris), seven nights as a duo with Shoji Hano (all spots between Tokyo and Osaka) and a final night in The Poketto, back with Yamamoto and crew (Nanahari).