Results for "Tokyo"

Article: Album Review

Gato Libre: DuDu

by Hrayr Attarian
October 21, 2014

Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's quartet Gato Libre has always recorded stimulating, progressive music heavily laced with a Spanish lyricism. DuDu is no exception. “Mouse" is the prime example of this. On it the musicians push far the harmonic boundaries of their respective instruments creating delightfully jarring cacophony intertwined with intensely melodic explorations.Despite the personnel change ...

Article: Album Review

Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Shiki

by Hrayr Attarian
October 16, 2014

Pianist Satoko Fujii's Shiki is an intriguing albeit somewhat flawed album. Its dramatic title track and centerpiece clocks over 35 minutes and is filled with sweeping and thrillingly dissonant harmonies and provocative musical ideas. Opening with mournful, expectant drone it goes through a series of alternating symphonic vamps and stimulating instrumental conversations and monologues. These individual ...

Article: Interview

Nat Adderley: A Player's Player

by Joan Gannij
August 29, 2014

This interview was originally conducted in 1997. I met Nat Adderley in San Diego, California in 1986 when I was working as a disc jockey at a jazz radio station and doing the PR for La Jolla Playhouse. We did an interview about a new production of a musical being revived at the progressive ...

Article: Album Review

Gato Libre: DuDu

by John Sharpe
August 11, 2014

The fifth album by Gato Libre, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's acoustic quartet, is the first since the sudden death of bassist Norikatsu Koreyasu in 2011. Having thought long and hard about whether to continue, Tamura recruited trombonist Yasuko Kaneko as a replacement. While the European folk music inspiration of previous outings like Shiro (Libra Records, 2009) and ...

Article: Multiple Reviews

The Wild, Eclectic World of Koichi Makigami's Hikashu Band

by Eyal Hareuveni
April 18, 2014

Japanese vocal artist Koichi Makigami's main musical vehicle has been his band Hikashu since the late seventies. This band embodies Makigami's colorful eclectic tastes and myriad vocal personalities. They succeed in tying together eccentric collective improvisations, Japanese theater traditions or elements from Japanese films and pop songs, references to progressive rock and wild, virtuoso vocal acrobatics. ...

News: Music Industry

8 Mind-Blowing Facts About Music Business in Japan

January 28, 2014

By Lee Parsons, Founder of Ditto Music. As founder of Ditto Music, an online music distribution service. I was recently asked to undertake a learning expedition to Japan and present my company to the Japanese music market. Here are 8 facts that will blow your mind about the Japanese Music Market: It is ILLEGAL to sell ...

Article: Album Review

Aki Takase La Planete: Flying Soul

Read "Flying Soul" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 16, 2014

Japanese pianist, composer Aki Takase collaborates with her peers on what could be considered an all-star international lineup, originating from her partnership with French clarinetist Louis Sclavis. Interspersed with several pieces, spanning one-minute to two- minutes in length, the nouveau chamber, jazz, and improvised segments are brusque, changeable and smoothly cohesive. In addition, many of these ...

Article: Multiple Reviews

Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura: Gen Himmel / Dragon Nat / Tornado

by Hrayr Attarian
December 18, 2013

Pianist Satoko Fujii and her husband trumpeter Natsuki Tamura are one of the most boldly creative and fearlessly innovative couples in contemporary music. For the past three years they have also been quite prolific, releasing eight albums on their own Libra Records alone. This increase in productivity, however, has not come at the expense of quality ...

Article: Album Review

Orquesta Libre + Suga Dairo + RONxII: Plays Duke

Read "Plays Duke" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 9, 2013

Japanese drummer Yashuhiro Yoshigali's Orquesta Libre programs reflected the master musicians eclectic tastes and versatile capabilities--any thing from nuevo-tango, psychedelic hits from the sixties to Burt Bacharach and jazz standards, all performed in playful arrangements. So, dedicating a whole program to some of the most recognizable standards of Duke Ellington, few were popular dance songs, came ...

Article: Album Review

Satoko Fujii: Gen Himmel

Read "Gen Himmel" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
November 24, 2013

A solo album tends almost inevitably to focus on instrumental chops rather than compositional skills. And that's the way it is on Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii's third unaccompanied outing, following Sketches (NatSat, 2004) and Indication (Libra, 1997), although she shows herself to be blessed with both. Compared to the exuberance and spirit of her group work ...