City Pop lands at JAM. End Notes, led by Ed Lyons and featuring special guest vocalist Nana Koizumi, brings a one-night celebration of Japanese City Pop to JAM on 20 May.
Expect funky disco grooves and cult classics from Tatsuro Yamashita, Anri and Toshiki Kadomatsu. Come through – $18 margs all night.
Long time dream come true, the End Notes Big Band on debut pulls up at @curtainsjazzclub for a new monthly residency this Saturday night from 9.30pm.
Playing a repertoire of heavyweight 70s funk, Afro-Beat/Highlife and New Orleans second line brass bangers. Jaco Pastorius, Maceo Parker, Fela Kuti, Ebo Taylor and Hot 8 Brass Band.
12 (!) of Sydney’s finest musicians putting the pedal down. Don’t wait to hear about it, come through!
Alto: Tom Andrews
Tenor: Sam Weeks, Lachie Eggert
Bari: Jack Hwang
Trumpet: Jack Purdon, Will Endicott
Trombone: Julian McKay, Cailey Soon
Keys: Tate Sheridan
Guitar: Ben Forte
Drums: Will Lyons
Bass: Ed Lyons
Closing out 2025 with a bang.
Well over a year in the making, a 10 piece band playing Brazilian Soul and Boogie bombs 💣 @maiteinae and @pedronlicio leading the charge on vocals, full horn section, live percussion and vinyl records from @djlufaria@dj.dus_ from start to finish, 5pm until late, see you under the disco ball 🇧🇷🪩💃🏻vamo!
Ed Lyons ( @edlyonsplays ) is a DJ, bass player, bandleader of EndNotes (@endnotescollective ) and music curator who has played an active role in the Sydney music community for over 10 years.
His group, End Notes, is a sweeping collective of musicians that has grown out of a series of long-running residencies and parties, and has become known and loved for an emphasis on high energy group improvisation whether it be performing original material or contemporary reinterpretations of Jazz, Brazilian, Afro and Latin classics, shining a light on lesser known artists, labels and tunes.
Ed has performed extensively as a vinyl DJ across Sydney as part of Vivid and the Sydney Festival as well as a regular guest on 2SER Departure Lounge.
Ed had done a lot for the music community here and is a big pleasure for us to have him in this edition, bringing some grooves!
Tickets are flying, get yours in bio and we see you at @manlyspirits on the 31th!
Couple of clips from a sold out @lazybonesloungemarrickville last Friday night for End Notes presents Brazilian Funk and Soul 🇧🇷🪩 Fantastic atmosphere and a huge thanks to the dancers bringing the energy over 3 sets 🕺🏼💃🏻
Tracks
1. Funk-Se Quem Puder - Gilberto Gil
2. Come With Me - Tania Maria
3. Que Beleza - Tim Maia
4. Bis - Arthur Verocai
5. Lotus 72D - Ze Roberto
6. Moral Tem Hora - Cristina Camargo
7. Brenda - Don Beto
8. Escorpiao - Carlos Dafe
9. Se Voce Al Salvador - Brylho
10. Palco - Gilberto Gil
Band lineup:
Vocals @pedronlicio@maiteinae
Trumpet @nana777tpvo
Tenor sax @__samjames_
Trombone @julianmckay
Guitar @bfortemusic
Keys @tatesheridanmusic
Bass @dsing90
Drums @ciaowill
Percussion @omatomico
Vinyl DJs @trevor_elchino@dj.dus_@edlyonsplays
For the last 3-4 years I’ve been really fascinated by music from Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s. The unique blend of funk and soul with samba and latin rhythms and a distinctive sense of identity in the music. Each record has been a learning experience - Blqck Banda Rio, Don Beto, Robson Jorge, Gilberto Gil, Djavan, Sandra Sa. We’ve been working on arranging and interpreting these tunes for a few months now and this Friday night, @endnotescollective in full 11 piece mode fronted by @pedronlicio and @maiteinae at @lazybonesloungemarrickville will perform our favourites. Unfortunately, I won’t be on stage as I’m still recovering after being hit by a car training on my bike and suffering a broken vertebrae in my neck, so the king @dsing90 will be on bass and I will be there to play some records with @trevor_elchino and @dj.dus_ from doors. In my newfound spare time, I also recorded an hour long vinyl mix of some of the tunes the band will be playing. Link to that in my bio. Don’t sleep on tickets, this will be a special one! 🇧🇷🪩
What a project! 6 years ago I came across Tatsuro Yamashita’s album ‘For You’ and was instantly captivated by the sounds of Japanese City Pop, how could music this good still be so relatively unknown!? Plenty of chats at
@2ser_departurelounge with @trevor_elchino about how to put something together. After a couple of early attempts without success the idea for a full blown live band was shelved, but after crossing @nana777tpvo ’s path a couple of months back we had to pull the trigger. All in on 15 enormous tunes from artists like Tatsuro, Anri, Kimiko Kasai, Taeko Onuki and Toshiki Kadomatsu the 11 piece band is bringing the energy they demand. Tickets almost gone, this will be a special one and Nana’s last before her return to Japan. Thank you to the musicians for bringing this alive and the incredible @edan__s for the design and animation. See you on the dancefloor!
