Hoki Tokuda, Jazz singer
Tom Schmaltz, flautist

While there's no shortage of talented jazz singers/pianists in Tokyo, few have led as interesting and colorful a life as Hoki Tokuda, who performs at this week's Saturday Nite Live.

In 1965, Tokuda, who had already made a name for herself as a musician and actress in her native Japan, was performing at the Imperial Gardens restaurant in Los Angeles. Author Henry Miller met Tokuda while playing ping-pong at a mutual friend's house in Los Angeles, and the aging roue was instantly besotted. After penning literally hundreds of love letters to Tokuda over the next couple of years, Miller married Tokuda - some four decades his junior -- in 1967.

After a somewhat tumultuous marriage, the couple divorced in 1978. Tokuda ran a boutique and then a bar in Los Angeles for several years before returning to Japan for good in the mid-'80s. Many Club members will remember Tokuda from when she ran
a Roppongi bar, which took its name from one of Miller's best-known books, "Tropic of Cancer."

Tokuda leads a more sedate life these days, but she still loves to entertain and share good company and good times. Drop by the Club this Saturday evening and appreciate the unique charm of Henry Miller's Japanese Muse. She'll be accompanied by flautist Tom Schmaltz, whose jazz-tinged playing adds a nice counterpoint as Tokuda belts out the tunes.

The Entertainment Committee

Coming up!
June 14: Tarantula Sound (Blues, Pop, Rock)
June 21: Luna Inaba (classical piano)
June 28: Paul Fleischer (Jazz)
July 5: Ami and Her Guitar (soft rock covers)