Tom Bojko - The Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Mar 19, 2003

RASA's album "The Unknighted Nations" seems very long, not because it is boring or painful, but because it is so varied and interesting. You want ouds? We got your ouds. You want a cello? We got your cello. You want an African-American rapper or a freaky sounding guy with a synthesized voice? A woman who sings a bit like Billie Holiday? We got them, too. All of these sounds combine to make music that is restless, a bit unsettling and distinctly nocturnal.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Mar 12, 2003

Jamaaladeen Tacuma & Burhan Ocal's "Groove Alla Turca"

Given the number of cheesy Asian fusion records out there these days, "Groove Alla Turca" may seem like yet another dubious selection until the name Jamaaladeen Tacuma on the album's cover pops out at you ; the presence of Tacuma means funk -- unusual funk, but mean, greasy funk nonetheless.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Mar 5, 2003

Dave Fiuczynski: "Kif"

As with the music of many virtuosos, it is possible to become overwhelmed by Dave Fiuczynski's electric-guitar technique and his unique tonal pallette. After the Law of Diminishing Returns sets in, many amazing aspects of his playing might fly past the ears of many listeners. Fortunately, "Kif," with electric cellist Rufus Cappadocia, contains enough hooks to grab listeners the first time through and keep them coming back for more.

CULTURE / Music

Feb 26, 2003

Freed jazz

Musicians can be extraordinary in so many different ways. John Coltrane was on a radical quest for enlightenment until the day he died. Bill Evans could voice chords in ways no one else ever imagined. Like a cat, Theolonius Monk could step off an edge and always land on his feet. And Miles Davis? You name it . . .

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Feb 26, 2003

Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and Tim Sparks:"Masada Guitars"

'Masada Guitars" finds three very unusual and accomplished guitarists -- Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and Tim Sparks -- interpreting the simple, elegant tunes from John Zorn's Masada songbook. Zorn began composing this material in 1993 and, by the time he finished, he'd written 208 of his most lyrical songs.

CULTURE / Music

Feb 19, 2003

I am what I play -- live

Internationally acclaimed DJ Karsh Kale has spent the last three months carrying a laptop loaded with ProTools recording and editing software through the chaos and inspiration that is India. Relishing both the miracles of technology and the wonders of the ancient, Kale stopped in Madras, Delhi and Bombay, popped open the lid of his mobile studio and recorded many of the musicians who will appear on his soon-to-be-released album, the followup to 2001's "Realize."

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Feb 12, 2003

Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban: Mambo Sinuendo

'Mambo Sinuendo" finds Ry Cooder in Cuba again, this time with Buena Vista guitarist Manuel Galban at center stage. After a string of extremely satisfying albums with the Buena Vista crew, this album departs from tradition and finds the two guitarists exploring the sounds of a '50s Cuban guitar band that never was.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Feb 5, 2003

The Lakatos Ensemble

Roby Lakatos was born into a Gypsy violin dynasty begun in the 18th century by Janos Binari, a man known as the "King of the Gypsy Violinists" and the "Hungarian Orpheus" to two of his admirers, Franz Liszt and Ludwig van Beethoven. Lakotas has recently applied those inherited traditions to the world of film music.

CULTURE / Music

Feb 5, 2003

From a guy to the King

Just what is the essence of Elvis Presley? The sideburns? That sneer? Those pelvic thrusts?

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jan 29, 2003

Kocani Orkestar: "Alone at My Wedding"

The Kocani Orkestar is a brass band from Macedonia with a formidable rhythm section of four tuba players and a lone percussionist. Their songs are alternately led by male or female singers, a clarinet, several trumpets or a banjo that's played like an oud. On their new album, "Alone at My Wedding," the Orkestar focuses on Gypsy wedding tunes while incorporating influences from across Europe and the Middle East. At times one can also hear the Orkestar indulging their tastes for mariachi music and the thrilling excesses of Bollywood soundtracks as their peculiar blend careens around the globe.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jan 22, 2003

Klimperei: "Pimpant!"

"Pimpant!" contains 43 songs, a signal that the music within could be a little weird. Also, the name of the group, Klimperei, is German for "able to play the piano just a little bit." Add to that the admission "we are not very good musicians" from one of the band's two members, and you might become a bit suspicious about just what's going on.

CULTURE / Music

Jan 22, 2003

On a personal journey with the koto

While visiting Tokyo recently, saxophonist and composer John Zorn praised Michiyo Yagi, saying, "She's an example of a new kind of musician that can play all different styles of music in her own personal way."

CULTURE / Music

Jan 15, 2003

You've got to give a little

Tamao Kubota, the founder and lead singer of Apple Beat, has a powerful, slightly husky voice and carries herself with an attractive air of unself-conscious defiance. She sounds as good belting it out like an impassioned R & B singer as she does slow, quiet and personal.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jan 15, 2003

Toshinori Kondo: "Nerve Tripper"

Among his many accomplishments, trumpeter and electronic music programmer Toshinori Kondo has won the friendship of the Dalai Llama, played on Herbie Hancock's influential album "Future Shock" and produced the World Festival of Sacred Music in Hiroshima.

CULTURE / Music

Jan 8, 2003

Music of the saints

Someone once said that the best way to start building a jazz collection would be to buy a couple albums from each decade that Miles Davis was recording and, after that, choose a sideman from each of these selections and buy one of his solo albums. The same could be said of John Zorn and his collaborators, which would give you a wonderful cross-section of the avant-garde.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Dec 25, 2002

The Pascals: "The Pascals Go"

The Pascals are a quirky collection of outstanding Japanese musicians whose tunes are penned in the spirit of the French composer Pascal Comelade.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Dec 18, 2002

Sparkle Drives: "None But the Righteous"

A few years ago, three tall black men entered 29th Street Guitars on the west side of Manhattan. One of these men began playing the steel guitars at the back of the shop, tearing them up with the power and conviction that should be the envy of any musician. After the three men left, one of the clerks announced that the visitors were in some gospel band from down south. The others managed a couple of self-important chuckles. Then one asked if they'd bought anything.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Dec 4, 2002

Christine 23 Onna: "Acid Eater"

Before you listen to "Acid Eater," you might want to gather a few fetish items; this experience is worth externalizing. Start with a surfboard, a spacesuit and a videocassette of Barbarella.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Nov 27, 2002

Cyro Baptista: "Beat the Donkey"

The outrageous percussion, dance and martial arts ensemble known as Beat the Donkey is the glorious creation of the Brazilian-born multi-instrumentalist Cyro Baptista. When not beating the donkey, Baptista is a hired gun for such luminaries as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Herbie Hancock and Trey Anastasio. He's also a premier bacalhau chef.

CULTURE / Music

Nov 27, 2002

Groove Collective forged in the fires of a mad experiment

In the fall of 1995, I spent many nights in a dank basement club called the Cooler, a former refrigerated warehouse in Manhattan's Meatpacking District. The neighborhood was raw -- the slaughterhouse smell of blood and death had coagulated in the cobblestones of Gansevoort Street and at night tall transvestite prostitutes from Brooklyn and the Bronx swarmed the area, taking their customers for rides in the back seats of taxi cabs.

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