19 Comments
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Sg's avatar

Truly wonder why it has never been translated…. Maybe a job for me in Japan is get a translation in print!

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Joel Condemi's avatar

So true! And yes, that would be amazing!

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Jimmy Margulies's avatar

As a jazz fan and an artist, I really enjoyed this post!

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Joel Condemi's avatar

Glad to hear that! Thanks so much for reading.

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Jimmy Margulies's avatar

I look forward to more like that!

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Celtic Boy Underwater's avatar

Haruki Murakami is so cool like his fondness for classic jazz. I own a few big band and swing records. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Francis Albert Sinatra are the Holy Trinity of Jazz.

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Pamela Seyffert's avatar

I am a huge Murakami fan and really appreciated this post. I sure hope this gets translated soon, but in the meantime I look forward to your translations.

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Sean W's avatar

It’s surprising to know it’s never been translated into English, although I always wonder how popular Murakami’s in the other parts of the world. I read the Traditional Chinese ver. published in Taiwan many years ago(I’m Hong Kong Chinese), but i’m not fond of Murakami’s novels. I guess it was translated because of his popularity in East Asia, and there’s always a demand for “introduction to jazz” books.

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Joel Condemi's avatar

Yeah that’s true. He’s really popular here in Australia but jazz isn’t to the same level which is the only reason I can think of as everything else he’s written has been released. So great to hear that there’s a demand for jazz introduction books over there!

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Books and Musicque's avatar

thank you for sharing this! I'm going to hunt for this book the next time I'm in Japan!

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Joel Condemi's avatar

Thanks for reading! Definitely worth keeping an eye out for in Japan.

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matt's avatar

Wow very cool. I admittedly didn’t realize this even existed and now I’d like to find a copy for myself if even just for the portraits!

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Joel Condemi's avatar

Definitely worth it just for the portraits! I remember seeing some copies available online recently but I have no idea whether that’s still the case. Hopefully it’s still out there and we can have a translated copy one day also!

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Thad's avatar

More please

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Joel Condemi's avatar

Working on it! :)

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søren k. harbel's avatar

This is a great Post! I really like the 'naive' style of the illustrations! Very cool! One vote for "more please" . And thank you!

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Joel Condemi's avatar

Thanks so much! Totally agree, the illustrations are fantastic and naive style is a great way to describe them!

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Annette van den Bosch's avatar

A very brave task you have set to yourself. Thank you so much for doing this. I think most admirers Will be gratefull.

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douglas james's avatar

Very enjoyable! Another vote for 'more please' 🙏🏻

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