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November 22, 2024
 

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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.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2005
Pupy y Los Que Son Son: "Mi Timba 'Cerra' "
Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso's fiery style of Cuban music blends dance-floor energy and musical intelligence. Taking off from where the popular Los Van Van (with whom Pedroso played keyboards for years) left off, Pedroso has started out on his own, if you can call a man accompanied by a wild 15-piece band as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 22, 2005
Joe Lovano
Saxophonist Joe Lovano knows just how to rough up a bop number, wail like a bird of prey and keep each and every note right on target. Too young to have fully joined the free jazz movement and too old to be a slick self-promoter, Lovano relies instead on straight-on integrity. He knows people don't come...
CULTURE / Music
May 15, 2005
Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom: "Voodoo Boogaloo"
Ron Levy's past work ranged from tight trad organ trio to blast-the-rafters big band funk. Lately, he's added jam-band grooves to his repertoire. From the first beat of his latest release, "Voodoo Boogaloo," he gets right into a good-time vibe and never lets up.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 11, 2005
The eternal flamenco
The fiery folk art of flamenco is more than just a dance -- it's an entire culture. And that culture -- the dances, songs, guitar-playing and rhythms -- are all fueled by the mysterious spirit of duende.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2005
Torch
Torch is a four-piece group dedicated to jazz vocal classics performed with sleek retro cool. Rather than just re-create the past, though, they inject a fresh sexiness into their music. Even amid the recent vocal jazz boom, they have their own unique take on the genre that relies on earnest analog values...
CULTURE / Music
May 1, 2005
Kurt Rosenwinkel: "Deep Song"
Kurt Rosenwinkel plays guitar with a fluid, mellow voice all his own. On his sixth outing, "Deep Song," he is joined by a stellar quartet, including saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau, who enhance Rosenwinkel's cool, cerebral compositions to great effect.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 24, 2005
Yosuke Yamashita
Yosuke Yamashita is one of Japan's most respected pianists. He tours constantly and seems to fill up any venue, whether in Japan, the States or Europe. Rather than settling into a comfy niche, though, Yamashita stays in motion, moving easily between bop-inflected romps, intricate modal vamps and cathartic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 17, 2005
The Jim Seeley/ Arturo O'Farrill Quintet
Bop meets blues meets Latin is an act of musical juggling, but the new release by trumpeter Jim Seeley and pianist Arturo O'Farrill keeps all those styles flying. The pairing of Kansas native Seeley with Latin jazz veterans might also seem a tough balancing act, but this quintet pulls it off as well....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 10, 2005
Billy Bang
If poets are the unacknowledged statesmen of the world, musicians are the unacknowledged healers. Jazz violinist Billy Bang is a great example. After studying classical violin as a teenager and playing in bands through college, his career was put on hold -- to say the least -- after he was drafted and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 3, 2005
Jesse van Ruller
Although Holland has one of the best jazz scenes in the world, the number of Dutch musicians who have made an impression outside of Europe is surprisingly small. One who has made it "out" is guitarist Jesse van Ruller, who brings his trio to Japan for a rare tour this week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2005
Sonny Landreth: "Grant Street"
After regular studio-made blues outings over the last decade, slide-guitar genius Sonny Landreth finally releases a great live CD.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Mar 27, 2005
Swing is the thing for bassist Nakamura
Not many Japanese jazz musicians have played in front of a President of the United States, but Kengo Nakamura is one. After leaving his hometown of Osaka to study at Boston's esteemed Berklee College of Music in 1988, where he switched from electric to acoustic bass, and struggling for a while to find...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 13, 2005
Kaki King
Kaki King spent plenty of time busking in subway stations, coffeehouses and small New York clubs in the '90s. But with two critically acclaimed CDs under her belt, she now has roadies to haul up on stage her largish collection of electric, acoustic and steel guitars. She plays all these with a sophisticated...
CULTURE / Music
Mar 6, 2005
Lenine: "Lenine in Cite: Ao Vivo"
This live recording by Lenine, one of Brazil's best singer-songwriters, has little of the delicate acoustics or subtle, lilting rhythms of early bossa nova performers. In short, don't expect the dulcet tones of "Girl from Ipenama." Recorded live in Paris, "In Cite" is a powerful blend of Brazil's northeast...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 27, 2005
Harvie S.: "Texas Rumba"
Several years ago, Harvie S. made the switch from a career as in-demand straight jazz bassist to playing Latin jazz exclusively. This high-energy live recording shows he made the right decision. Having long backed leaders such as Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval and Chico O'Farrill, Harvie S. has Latin...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2005
Madeline Peyroux: "Careless Love"
Madeline Peyroux sounds like Billie Holiday, but in all the right ways. Peyroux's singing is a genuine derivation, though, like a grandchild cherishing the meanings found in a box of long-lost vocal mementos. She has her influences and isn't afraid to hide them.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2005
Julius Hemphill Sextet: "The Hard Blues, Live in Lisbon"
Julius Hemphill died in 1995 but his revolutionary approach to saxophone lives on in this all-sax sextet dedicated to his music. Hemphill is best known as co-founder in the 1970s of the World Saxophone Quartet, a group who managed the rare trick of remaining resolutely, some might say stridently, avant-garde...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2005
A brass band perfect for any occasion
One of the enduring images of New Orleans is the jazz funeral, a long procession of mourners walking toward the cemetery with a full-piece brass band playing along behind. On their most recent release, "Funeral for a Friend," the Dirty Dozen Brass Band re-creates this jazz funeral with gusto. Perhaps...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2005
McLaughlin: a mind-set for music
Guitarist John McLaughlin burst onto the jazz scene in the 1960s as a member of Miles Davis' cutting-edge electric groups. On famed works like "In a Silent Way," "Bitches' Brew" and "Jack Johnson," his guitar work very much helped define Miles' sound. Then in the early '70s, his own jazz-rock fusion...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2005
Someday in Shinbashi jazz festival
Few jazz club stages in Tokyo fit anything larger than a quartet, much less a full 16-piece big band. The jazz club Someday in Shinbashi, though, has not only the space but the wherewithal to offer two weeks of the city's best big jazz bands. Though performances of full-size bands aren't rare, this annual...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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