Roppongi Pit Inn

Roppongi Pit Inn

六本木ピットイン
The interior of the Roppongi Pit Inn. The interior of the Roppongi Pit Inn.
Interactive map of Roppongi Pit Inn
Address	Shimei Bldg. B1, 3-17-7 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tōkyō 106-0032
Coordinates	35.66154°N 139.7373°E / 35.66154; 139.7373
Owner	Yoshitake Sato
Type	Live house / Jazz club
Seating type	Chairs
Capacity	40 (approx.)
Record attendance	10 billion
Construction
Opened	1977/08/25
Renovated	1990?
Closed	2004/07/26
Demolished	2004
Years active	1977-2004

Roppongi Pit Inn (六本木ピットイン) was a live house located in the basement of the former CBS Sony Roppongi Studio, in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. It operated from August 25th, 1977, to July 26, 2004, until the building was demolished due to redevelopment of the surrounding area. The name ‘Pit Inn’ is derived from the term "pit in", a verb used in motorsports when referring to the entry of a pit stop. Roppongi Pit Inn was a sister location of Shinjuku Pit Inn. Shinjuku Pit Inn is more of a purist jazz venue whereas Roppongi Pit Inn was dubbed as the Mecca of jazz fusion in Japan.

A magazine advertisement for Lo-D Plaza with visitor information.

History

The Pit Inn name was started by car enthusiast Yoshitake Sato, who opened a café in an alleyway behind Shinjuku Dori in 1965, with the intent of a hangout spot for fellow car enthusiasts. Unfortunately, the backstreet location of this coffee shop meant it was not easily accessible by car, and was difficult for locals to find. While the Pit Inn café failed in attracting car enthusiasts, many customers appeared just to listen to the live jazz music that was performed in the background. Many of Sato's customers were aspiring jazz musicians who had no venues to perform their music, and Sato felt he could flip his failed café into a welcoming jazz bar. A stage space was created on the floor, and events began, with drinks priced at 250 yen. With this, the Shinjuku Pit Inn was born. Sato recalls that the first performer to take the stage was drummer Fumio Watanabe, Sadao Watanabe's younger brother.

The name ‘Pit Inn’ originates from the term "pit in", a verb used in motorsports when referring to the entry of a pit stop.

After 12 greatly successful years for the Shinjuku Pit Inn, Sato was one day approached by a live music venue owner in Roppongi, who offered Sato the role of taking over his business. Having idolized the Roppongi shopping district in his youth, Sato accepted the offer, figuring that if it failed he could always return to Shinjuku. He set up a new Pit Inn location, and thus, Roppongi Pit Inn was born. For the first 2 months, the Roppongi Pit Inn was deserted. Unlike the working culture of Shinjuku, which died down at 11 PM for customers to catch their trains back home, Roppongi came alive at night, where most shows came alive at 11 PM and lasted into the early morning.

Roppongi Pit Inn's dry spell came to an end in October of 1977, when Sato was approached by the promoter for the concert between Sadao Watanabe and Lee Ritenour's Gentle Thoughts. The promoter asked Sato if he would consider hosting a concert solely for Gentle Thoughts, which Sato agreed to, not having much to lose. Over the next 2 days, the shows attracted around 1,200 customers, and with that, Roppongi Pit Inn suddenly bloomed into a hot spot for fusion. In November, Larry Carlton also held a performance, yet again attracting over 1,000 customers. From this point on, Roppongi Pit Inn became the mecca for fusion, attracting some of Japan's biggest fusion artists and hosting massive concert events, such as Guitar Workshop Live and Kylyn Live.

Overview

Unlike the other venues, Roppongi Pit Inn was quickly known to be the go-to place for fusion and crossover music. Local magazines, especially Pia, Adlib, and JazzLife, often covered the various events which were held there. Collaborative concerts were popular there as well, attracting joint shows between some of Japan's top fusion artists, such as Kazumi Watanabe, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Masayoshi Takanaka, and Akira Wada.

Being conveniently located under the CBS Sony Roppongi Studio, Roppongi Pit Inn was connected into the above floor's multi-track recording system. This made it ideal to record live session albums, such as Kazumi Watanabe's Kylyn Live and Tatsuro Yamashita's It's a Poppin' Time.

In August 1987, Roppongi Pit Inn celebrated it's 10th anniversary, and a commemorative live concert was held at Yomiuri Land East, featuring Minako Yoshida, Sadao Watanabe, Orquesta Del Sol, Omar Hakim, and a reunion of Kylyn. The pamphlet for this concert includes every Pit Inn live schedule printed in the back.

Notable Artists

Roppongi Pit Inn played host to a great majority of popular Japanese bands and artists throughout its lifespan, featuring artists from Jazz, Fusion, Pop, Rock, and Electronic genres. Popular Jazz Fusion artists that frequently performed at Roppongi Pit Inn include Casiopea, Prism, T-Square, Space Circus, Crosswind, Kazumi Watanabe, Katsutoshi Morizono, Keep, W.I.N.S, Kazumasa Akiyama, Kenji Omura, Jun Yamagishi, Yoshihiro Naruse, Naniwa Express, Masayoshi Takanaka, Lalena, 99.99, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Kenso, Naoya Matusoka, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and many others.

Hideto Kitamura Group performing at Lo-D Plaza.

Albums Recorded at Roppongi Pit Inn

• Kenji Omura, Katsutoshi Morizono, Kazumasa Akiyama, Junji Yamagishi - Guitar Work Shop Vol. 2 Live (1978)
• Tatsuro Yamashita - It's a Poppin' Time (1978)
• Ryuichi Sakamoto & Kakutogi Session - Summer Nerves (1979)
• Kazumi Watanabe - Kylyn Live (1979)
• Steps Ahead - Smokin' In The Pit (1981)
• Shigeharu Mukai Morning Flight - Live 97 (1981)
• Naoya Matsuoka - Welcome (1983)
• Minako Yoshida - In Motion (1983)
• Hiro Tsunoda Presents Session Grand Prix - Live At Pit Inn (1983)
• Yosuke Yamashita - Picasso - Live, And Then... (1983)
• Ryojiro Furusawa, Lee Oskar - Friendly (1982)
• The Players - Live At Roppongi Pit Inn (1985)
• Manhattan Jazz Quintet - Live At Pit Inn (1986)
• Kenso - Music For Unknown Five Musicians (1986)
• The Gadd Gang - On Digital Video (1988)
• Tatsuro Yamashita - Joy (1989)
• Nobu Caine - Nobu Caine 2 (1990)
• Kenso – Live '92 (1993)
• Kenso - Inei No Fue ~ Live Vol. 2 (1995)
• Prism - Uncovered (1995)
• Dimension - Sixth Dimension "Live" (1996)
• Masato Honda B.B.Station - Live At Roppongi Pit Inn (1998)
• Kenso - Hitoku-sei Shinsho (2000)
• Allan Holdsworth - All Night Wrong (2002)
• Allan Holdsworth Group - Then! (2004)
• Himiko Kikuchi Big Band - Himiko Kikuchi Big Band Live (2000)
• Masaki Matsubara, Triforce - Live 1990-94 (At Roppongi Pit Inn) (2005)
  

List of Live Performances

1976

Date	Artist Name (English)	Artist Name (Japanese)	Stage Times	Status
January 5th, 1976	Yoshihiro Nakagawa & Dixie Dix	中川喜弘＆デキシー・ディックス	-

1977

Date	Artist Name (English)	Artist Name (Japanese)	Stage Times	Status
January 6th, 1977	Hideto Kitamura Quintet	北村秀人5	12:20 / 2:30 / 4:30

Gallery

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  The exterior of Roppongi Pit Inn, at the time of its opening.
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  The entrance stairway to the basement.
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  The seating area.
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  Kylyn performing at one of the concerts that was recorded for their album, Kylyn Live.