Michael Pronko - The Japan Times

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Michael Pronko

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Michael Pronko

Michael Pronko writes essays for ST Shukan. He also writes for his own website Jazz in Japan, as well as for Newsweek Japan and Artscape Japan. He has published three books of essays about Tokyo and teaches American literature, culture and film at Meiji Gakuin University.

For Michael Pronko's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 22, 2004

Drumming skills aside, Brecker earns respect

Studio musicians and fusion bands -- especially successful ones -- get the least respect from jazz purists. Saxophonist Michael Brecker is in both categories. His 30 some years of studio recordings with practically everyone (Average White Band, Parliament, Paul Simon, Dire Straits, Aerosmith) would seem...

CULTURE / Music

Feb 22, 2004

Greg Howe: Extraction

Guitar whizzes are common in the world of jazz fusion. They offer a quick, high-energy musical fix for guitar freaks, but their showy licks, screaming melodic climaxes and speed for speed's sake all tend to feel routine by the second listen.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 15, 2004

The Rosenberg Trio: "Live in Samois"

Every summer, the peaceful French river town of Samois sur Seine is magically transformed into Djangoville in honor of Gypsy guitar wizard Django Reinhardt, who passed away there over 50 years ago. Sporadically since the late '60s and annually since the '80s, Samois has hosted a festival dedicated to...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 8, 2004

Big band festival

Tokyo has the greatest number of symphony orchestras of any city in the world, and the same must be true of big bands. In an annual pre-springtime rite, jazz club Someday showcases two weeks' worth of the best.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 8, 2004

Expressions free of rules and genres

Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek's distinctive sound has shaped European jazz for more than 30 years. Working closely with the renowned ECM label of producer Manfred Eicher, Garbarek has released annual recordings since his first in 1969. Often labeled "chamber jazz," the music of Garbarek and his...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 1, 2004

Sex Mob: "Dime Grind Palace"

Unsuspecting visitors to the Sex Mob Web site will find not pornography, but a portal leading into a playfully eclectic avant-garde jazz quartet. As the name suggests, they do put plenty of sex into their music. Snippets of the bump and grind, the slow drag and the shimmy and shake remind post-boppers...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 25, 2004

Tony Malaby: "Adobe"

While the bluntness of the rare sax-bass-drum unit inspired innovators like Ornette Coleman or Henry Threadgill to their best work, the format often caused listeners to squirm through extended bass or drum solos, even if they were patient with a single melodic voice. Saxophonist Tony Malaby leaps over...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 18, 2004

George Pajon Jr.: "Fried Plaintains"

Three years ago, Soulive's CD "Turn It Out" started an avalanche of groove-based, jazz-inflected instrumental music. Followed by soulful, good-time releases from newcomers Rodney Jones, Bobby Broom, Karl Denson and stalwarts like the Greyboy Allstars and Maceo Parker, an entire shelf of funk-jazz CDs...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 11, 2004

Ba Cissoko: "Sabolan"

The infectious and joyous debut release from Ba Cissoko, four young Guinean exiles living in Marseille, connects the intensity of Salif Keita with the fun of Guinean dance bands. The keynote of their sound is the distinctive and elegant kora (21-string African harp). Instead of burying the kora's intricate...

CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY

Dec 21, 2003

Big steps for Tokyo's little jazz labels

Independent labels have always been a mainstay of the Tokyo jazz scene, but this year saw a bumper crop of good music coming from small labels. While many of these artists' recordings can only be found at their shows, stacked up neatly on fold-up tables at the back of the club, a number of the larger...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 21, 2003

Jazz clubs on New Year's Eve

Most evenings, jazz in Tokyo is squashed into a minuscule four hours, politely finishing early enough for customers to catch the last train home. By other countries' standards, the lack of a late-night set starting at 11 or midnight is almost unbelievable. On New Year's Eve, however, all that changes....

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 14, 2003

Ann Dyer: "When I Close My Eyes"

Ann Dyer's newest release, "When I Close My Eyes," sets a new standard for intimacy, improvisation and experimentation in vocal jazz. On her previous release, "Revolver: A New Spin," she sang strikingly original interpretations of the classic Beatles album. Her new release moves toward even greater...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 7, 2003

Adam Rogers Quintet: "Allegory"

After years of guesting with the likes of funk-fusion leader Randy Brecker, pop-jazz diva Norah Jones and downtown wild man John Zorn, guitarist Adam Rogers finally released his own debut last year. This year's just-released "Allegory" is even better. The debut showed a tight mastery of bop quartet form;...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 23, 2003

Listening post: Recorded

Dino Saluzzi "Responsorium" (ECM)

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 2, 2003

Joe Henry: 'Tiny Voices'

Joe HenryTiny Voices

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Sep 10, 2003

Roscoe Holcomb: "An Untamed Sense of Control"

Among instruments, the banjo is one of the few considered truly an American original. Roscoe Holcomb's voice could be considered another. A just-released collection, "An Untamed Sense of Control," shows just how original he was.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP

Sep 7, 2003

Freedom at his fingertips

Yosuke Yamashita is one of the rare Japanese jazz musicians who is a household name in his native land. Despite his uncompromisingly avant-garde style, he is also one of the few to establish himself as a well-respected jazz pianist in Europe and the United States.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Sep 3, 2003

What's a nice, clean-cut hard-bopping trumpeter, one of the best to hit the jazz scene in the '90s, doing growing dreadlocks, wearing baggy pants and making a funk-soul CD?

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY

Aug 31, 2003

Jazz and more under one roof

The exaggerated rumors of jazz's demise can be put to rest. The second annual festival Tokyo Jazz 2003 showed that jazz is not ready to be relegated to the museum of past musical styles quite yet. An amazing (for jazz anyway) 40,000 fans headed to Ajinomoto Stadium in western Tokyo for two days of music...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Aug 27, 2003

Richard Bona: "Munia (The Tale)"

One of the encouragements jazz players often shout to each other during intense solos is "Tell the story!" On Cameroonian Richard Bona's third release, "Munia (The Tale)," he does just that by weaving lovely epic tales in melody and rhythm that combine West African music with New York jazz.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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