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Michiyo Yagi
Michiyo Yagi studied koto under the late Tadao Sawai, Kazue SawaiandSatomi Kurauchi, andgraduated from the NHK Professional Training School for TraditionalMusicians. Between 1989 and1990 she was Visiting Professor of Music at Wesleyan University inConnecticut, U.S.A. During hertenure she premiered numerous modern compositions for koto andcameunder the influence ofmaverick American composers such as John Cage, Conlon Nancarrow,andJohn Zorn.
Her solo koto CD "Shizuku" was produced by Zorn and released on theTzadik label in 1999. In 2001she recorded "Yural" with her koto ensemble Paulownia Crush for theEastWorks label. Under theauspices of the Japan Foundation, Michiyo toured Russia withPaulowniaCrush in the fall of 2004.Subsequent CD releases include "Seventeen" (Zipangu, 2005), entirelyrecorded on the giant 17-stringbass koto, and "Live! at SuperDeluxe" (Idiolect/Bomba, 2006), a trioperformance with bassistIngebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. A studiorecordingwith Dresser andRothenberg, a duo album with Sharp, a “Nordic” session with EivindAarsetand Raymond Pellicer, andlive recordings of the touring trio Brötzmann/Yagi/Nilssen-Love areforthcoming. An eclecticperformer who continually challenges conventions, Michiyo has madefrequent appearances onJapanese TV and has performed at the Kongsberg Jazz, Moers Jazz,Punkt,Musique ActuelVictoriaville, Archipel, Bang on a Can, Tokyo Summer, and VisionFestivals.
Michiyo has performed with: Peter Brötzmann, Mark Dresser, JohnZorn,Elliott Sharp, Han Bennink,Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Håkon Kornstad, Omoto Yoshihide, NedRothenberg,Eivind Aarset, JasonRoebke, Knut Buen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Satoko Fujii, Joëlle Leandre,TatsuyaYoshida (Ruins), BillLaswell, Thomas Strønen, Kazutoki Umezu, Masahiko Sato, Carl Stone,KangTae Hwan, TamayaHonda, Assif Tsahar, Billy Bang, MZN3, Keiji Haino, and Sachiko M.Her kotohas been featured in ex-Judy & Mary guitarist/singer Takuya's rock band, and she hasrecorded andperformed with pop idolAyumi Hamasaki.
Gear
21-string koto, 17-string bass koto, 13-string koto
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Michiyo Yagi At Jazztopad Festival New York
by Max Kutner
Michiyo YagiJazztopad Festival New YorkVarious Venues New York, NY June 15-16, 2025 The opportunity to attend two performances at this year's Jazztopad Festival New York was a fortunate experience. Both events featured the brilliant Michyo Yagi on koto as a special guest, visiting from Tokyo, Japan. The Jazztopad Festival has been held in NYC for the past nine years (and for over 20 years in Poland), showcasing many of the most culturally significant members of the ...
Continue ReadingJazzfestival Saalfelden 2023
by Stefano Merighi
Esaminare il curriculum di Michiyo Yagi significa inoltrarsi in un fittissimo reticolo di collaborazioni stilisticamente trasversali e tutte di alto livello. E rendersi conto della serietà del suo lavoro e della considerazione in cui è tenuta nel mondo, dall'ambito accademico fino a quello pop. C'è voluto il festival di Saalfelden per organizzare un invito ufficiale nei confronti di Yagi, con una residenza ben congegnata, senz'altro uno dei vertici artistici per cui si ricorderà l'edizione di quest'anno della manifestazione austriaca, che ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina's The Twain feat. Dōjō and Kōichi Makigami: Gordon Grdina's The Twain feat. Dōjō and Kōichi Makigami
by Doug Collette
Any music lover impressed with the prolific output of multi-instrumentalist Gordon Grdina over the last few years would no doubt describe his work with The Twain as a wondrous discovery. Three hour- long sets were recorded at Tokyo's GOK Studio in 2019, then edited down to a final approximately seventy minutes for a late 2022 release. It is certainly worth waiting for, if for no other reason than it both illustrates and reaffirms the broad grasp of the Canadian's musicality ...
Continue ReadingAngular Mass/Soul Stream
by Vincenzo Roggero
Michiyo Yagi, Paal Nilssen-Love, Lasse Marhaug Angular Mass PNL Records Valutazione: * * * ½ Trio anomalo quello formato dal batterista norvegese Paal Nilssen-Love, dal mago dell'elettronica Lasse Marhaug e dalla virtuosa di koto Michiyo Yagi. E trio particolarmente convincente. I primi due brani ne rivelano il lato dionisiaco, le percussioni di Nilssen-Love sono esuberanti, polimorfe ed implacabili, l'elettronica di Marhaug crea un ossessivo fondale al quale apporta minime ma decisive variazioni, il ...
Continue ReadingMichiyo Yagi / Elliott Sharp: Reflexions
by Eyal Hareuveni
Tokyo-based koto player Michiyo Yagi and New York-based guitarist/composer Elliott Sharp have been collaborating since the mid-nineties. Yagi, during her tenure as visiting professor of music at Wesleyan University, was looking for role models who transform the conventions of their instruments, experimenting with sound and musical forms. Sharp was one of these mavericks that Yagi was drawn to, along with others including Fred Frith and Marc Ribot. Over the years, this improvising duo, which has kept collaborating ...
Continue ReadingPaal / Michiyo / Broe: Volda
by Eyal Hareuveni
The sophomore release of the trio featuring German reed legend Peter Brötzmann, Japanese koto iconoclast Michiyo Yagi and Norwegian master drummer Paal Nilssen-Love--following Head On (Idiolect, 2008)--is a remarkable demonstration of how energy and power transform into spiritual catharsis. It's easy to understand why this trio was named the Spirit & Power Trio during its Japanese tour, few months after this release was recorded.
It's not about muscular, full onslaught, raw power, as is often mistakenly associated with Brötzmann's many ...
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Nels Cline
guitar, electric
Mark Dresser
bass, acoustic
Elliott Sharp
guitar, electric
Peter Brötzmann
woodwinds
Hamid Drake
drums
Henry Kaiser
guitar
Eivind Aarset
guitar
Paal Nilssen-Love
drums
The Necks
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