It's a sunny Saturday afternoon, but it might as well be around midnight. I'm sitting in a basement room in the Yotsuya area of Tokyo, sipping strong black coffee and listening to an obscure 1986 album by tenor sax player Chico Freeman called "The Pied Piper." I know that because the LP cover is propped up in a place where I and all the other customers can see it -- right in front of the booth housing the sound system.
Nobody's talking. In fact, you're not allowed to talk. You're here to listen.
