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| Bridging cultures with music |
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Japanese Music Project artistes put together a fascinating mix of eclectic music, David Solomon writes
When cultures come together through a blending of music and dance, the synthesis that comes about as a result is a source of enrichment not just for the listeners or viewers but for the artistes as well. The Japanese Music Project, which is here in Oman to present their Arabian tour concert today at the Ministry of Education auditorium in Wattayah, is a brilliant example of this kind of eclectic music.
Speaking to the Oman Tribune in an exclusive interview, the members of the group talked about their music and their aspirations and achievement in the world of music.
Yas-Kaz, percussionist and composer, is the director of the music troupe and is visiting Oman for the first time. “It is our privilege to be invited to perform in this beautiful country which has such a rich tradition of music. I hope that through our music we can express what we are and what we represent as Japanese about our culture, particularly music and dance. It is an even greater privilege as cultural ambassadors to participate in this process of fusion and bring about a closer harmony and understanding between the people of our two countries.”
The artiste had only been with the Japanese Music Project for about a year. But he is quick to add that he has had a long career as a professional musician. “While I’ve received some formal training in Western classical music, my music is a reflection of many styles and many cultures.”
Yas-Kaz says in 1970, he started to collaborate with Tatsumi Hijikata (Butoh dance founder) and Takehisa Kosugi and some of the leading jazz players in Japan. In the 1980s, he was invited to many music festivals for solo concerts in and out of Japan. He has also collaborated with Sankaijuku and Wayne Shorter and many artistes of different categories. Between 1984 and now, he has made 22 albums of his music and compositions, and between 2001-2006, he performed at the Venice Biennale and had done several European tours.
Toshiko Kuto plays the koto, a stringed instrument that is about 1,300 years old. Says Kuto: “While the instrument itself is very old, the style of playing it is more modern by comparison since it is only 400 years old”.
She has studied the 20-string koto and 25-string koto under Keiko Nosaka (later Soju Nosakau). In reply to the question of why she chose to learn such an ancient and difficult instrument and then devote her entire life to it, Toshiko says, “I love the sound of the koto. It touches the heart directly.” And then she goes on to say, “You can learn to play it quickly, probably within a year. But to become good at it can take as much as 10 years.”
“For this Arabian tour concert I have brought a smaller, 13-stringed koto only because it’s easier to take it along when you’re on a long trip.” The koto is played by plucking strings with special picks that are worn on the fingers.
In 1981, she joined the traditional Japanese music ensemble, Promusica Nipponia, and finished studying at NHK School for Performers of Traditional Japanese Instruments.
In 1987 she passed the prestigious NHK’s traditional Japanese music audition. She has pursued the world of 20-string koto and actively composed and arranged for koto. She has organised groups such as ‘20-string LIVE’ in 1989, and ‘Kotouta-za’ for soprano, violin and 25-string koto in 2000.
Her numerous concerts include a 20-string koto concert in 1986, 20-string koto recitals in 1989 and 1990, ‘Toshiko Kuto 25-string Koto Live’ in 1998, and a 25-string koto recital in 2009.
In 2010, at the Museum of Modern Art and the International House Philadelphia, the USA, she played the film music A Page of Madness (directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa) with string ensemble, and performed in Boston. In 2011, she was invited by the Republic of Kazakhstan with British musicians. She has performed and held lectures for TV, radio, and a concert hall. She has performed in France, Australia and Korea. She has also appeared in the art festival sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, a musical at Yokohama Expo, concerts sponsored by Musicians Union of Japan, and lectures at schools in various parts of Japan. Presently she is Master Instructor of the Ikuta School Matsunomi-kai, a member of prestigious organisations such as Promusica Nipponia, Japan Sankyoku Association, and Ikuta School Association, and President of Kotouta-za and Kotone-kai.
Koto plays the bamboo flute and is dressed in a special costume, ‘the Wabaya’, which is a fusion of the Japanese Kimono and the Arabian Abaya. “A friend of mine, who has travelled all over the world and is familiar with the culture of this region, has specially designed this dress for me for our Arabian tour concert”.
Born and raised in Hiroshima, Koto encountered her first and lifelong musical experience as a Japanese Bamboo Flute Player because of the influence of her father, who was a member of a Shinto musical and dance company. She started playing the flute at the age of 5. “But before that I began to learn Western classical music on the piano when I was just four years old. However, I could not continue with piano for very long because my heart was set on playing the bamboo flute.
She tells you that she plays two types of flutes. “I play the Shino-bue, which has the traditional seven notes ‘do-re-mi-fa-so-la-te-da’. The other flute Kagura-bue has five notes in the progression ‘mi-so-la-do-te’. In theory, the notes of the two flutes represent the white and black keys of the piano respectively.”
At the age of 15, she joined the Shinto musical and dance company, Kariyakata Kaguradan. She has won a variety of awards of Shinto music and dance competitions which were held throughout Hiroshima. In 2006, she moved to Tokyo, and was engaged in various activities, including live solo performances, support for other performers, recordings and collaborations with musicians and artistes.
Yuji Tsunemi (oud player) was born in 1960 in Tokyo, Japan. He is one of the very few players of the musical instrument, oud, in Japan. “I have been deeply fascinated and touched by Arabian music since the time I was a very young boy. I started learning Arabian music while attending the Ethnic Music Centre Japan (directed by Tadahiro Wakabayashi) and began to play the oud under Hamza El Din, a Sudanese oud player.
Later Yuji moved to Tunisia to do a more serious and full-fledged study of the oud under the late Ali Sriti, professor of Oud Studies, Tunis National Conservatory of Music and a renowned oud player in the Arab world.
In 1993, he performed with Muhammed Zine-el-Abidine, a young Tunisian oud player, for Tunis National TV and at the Medina Festival in Tunisia. He has also been actively taking part in various cultural and international exchanges through music such as performances with El Azifat (directed by Amina Srarfi), an all female band from Tunisia, as well as organising a concert (hosted by the Japan Foundation) together with local musicians at the Opera House in Cairo, Egypt in the spring of 2006, and participating in the International Festival of the Sahara held in Douz, Tunisia in 2006, to name a few.
In Japan, he has been performing solo focusing on Arab-Turkish classical music while also performing with various musicians, dancers and performers through his Arab music ensemble, Farha, or Arabindia, another ensemble also directed by him. He has also taken part in the music recordings of a TV programme. He is also a part-time instructor at the Open University of Japan.
He has participated in various music festivals and concerts in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the UAE and Kuwait. This is his first visit to Oman.
Akikazu Nakamura (composer, shakuhachi) plays the ‘Shakuhachi’, the larger version of the bamboo flute, and has studied under Katsuya Yokoyama and several masters of the komuso shakuhachi tradition.
A graduate of the NHK School of Traditional Music, Akikazu went on to study composition and jazz theory at Berkley College of Music, USA, graduating summa cum laude. He was then awarded a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in composition and third-stream music at the New England Conservatory.
He has performed in more than 30 countries worldwide under the sponsorship of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Foundation among others. While still grounding his roots in the classical tradition handed down by komuso monks, Akikazu has delved into different musical genres including rock, jazz, and contemporary music.
He leads a fusion pop/rock/jazz band, Kokoo, which features shakuhachi and koto. Nakamura is one of the first shakuhachi players to make use of the circular breathing technique which enables him to breathe in as he plays the instrument, thus ensuring a continuous sound. Nakamura has received much recognition for his performances and recordings: he was awarded the 19th Matsuo Performing Arts Prize; he received the Columbia Golden Disc Prize for his CD entitled The World of Zen Music: Saji, and was twice honoured with the Prize for Excellence at the Arts Festival sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1999 (for the Saji recording) and in 2005 for his most recent CD, The World of Zen Music: Sanya.
Also active as a composer and arranger, Nakamura has been commissioned by NHK, WDR (Germany), the Jean Sibelius String Quartet (Finland), and the Ravel String Quartet (France). He was awarded the Encouragement Prize by the Agency for Cultural Affairs for his work as a composer. A member of the Japan Society of Contemporary Music, Nakamura currently teaches at the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music, and Graduate School of Senzoku Gakuen College of Music.
Yoshio Ueno plays the otsuzumi - Big hand drum. “It is a traditional Japanese instrument that is over 600 years old. I come from a family of traditional Japanese dancers. But one of my uncles used to play the hand drum and that is what inspired and motivated me to learn to play this percussion instrument.”
Born in 1952, Yoshio studied otsuzumi (big hand drum) under Yoshida Taichiro. As an Okura school otsuzumi player, he has been most active performing in Kyoto and Osaka areas of Japan. He presides over Shoushun-kai, his own otsuzumi group in Nishinomiya City.
When asked whether the hand drum could be used for solo performances, Yoshio said that rarely was this instrument used for solo performances.
Toshiyuki Natori, who is the producer of the Japanese Music Project, says he has been associated with group for the last five years. “While I don’t actually play any musical instrument, I do have some sort of musical background and have long been associated with the production of musical concerts and dance performances in Japan. I have over 40 years of experience in this line.”
He says this is the second performance by the group in this region. “Earlier, the Japanese Music Project had staged a performance in Kuwait.”
Oman Tribune
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