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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.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2004
Ryukyu Underground: "Ryukyu Remixed"
"Respect Records" perfectly describes the way this label feels that obscure styles of music, such as Okinawan, calypso, Hawaiian and Irish music, should be handled. Clearly, the folks at Respect are unusually dedicated. However, their recent release, "Ryukyu Remixed," is poised to gain recognition far...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 15, 2004
Live: Jesus Chucho Valdes
Though many of the best Cuban musicians have immigrated to the United States over the past couple decades, virtuoso pianist and bandleader Jesus Chucho Valdes has remained in Cuba. Whether that's a political or musical stance, or just personal preference, Valdes has found plenty to do at home. Quite...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 15, 2004
Free spirit moves between jazz and classical
Jazz pianist Makoto Ozone has spent the last 20 years moving between Japan and the United States, so it is perhaps no surprise that his most recent release, New Spirit, moves comfortably between two musical worlds classical and jazz. Though Ozone could rest on a remarkable career in jazz, becoming one...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 1, 2004
David Murray and the Gwo-Ka Masters: "Gwotet"
David Murray likes to toy with combinations. On his most recent release, "Gwotet," he implausibly mixes a punchy Latin horn section, rollicking Afro-beat guitar and three or four distinct drumming traditions. Then he lathers it all in unrestrained free jazz blowing. Though not all Murray's many grand...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Aug 1, 2004
Pursuing a degree in bop and beyond
Senzoku University is different from other universities in Japan. Huge black cases jam the hallways; five parallel lines are etched onto the whiteboards; lecterns hold stereo systems; and many classrooms are empty but for a few metal stands or the occasional grand piano. It's all down to the study of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jul 18, 2004
Candela rise above definitions of East and West
Japanese culture is famed for importing artistic forms and converting them to new patterns, but one local group of foreign musicians is trying to reverse that trend. Candela, a group of four American musicians with diverse musical backgrounds, creates jazz-based music with Japanese melodies; folk tunes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 18, 2004
Youssou N'Dour: "Egypt"
Since the world-music boom in the 1980s, Youssou N'Dour has been one of the most popular African performers. Crossing the traditional Senegalese music of his home country with the production values of European studios, he created a brilliant blend of sounds that wowed audiences around the world. However,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 11, 2004
Andy Bey: "American Song"
The best vocal jazz release yet this year, Andy Bey's "American Song" reconceives jazz standards in passionate new forms. Reinventing classics is no easy business, but Bey knows how to deliver a song with unadorned sincerity and a savvy sense of vocal improvisation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 4, 2004
Spring Heel Jack: "The Sweetness of the Water"
Spring Heel Jack's followup to last year's near-masterpiece "Live" finds the duo of John Coxon and Ashley Wales again far from home in strange company for a brand-new CD of quirky experimentation, "The Sweetness of the Water."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2004
Angelique Kidjo: "Oyaya!"
More than just simply "Afro-Cuban," Angelique Kidjo explores an astonishing range of music with impressive eloquence. The cross-pollination of calypso, merengue, samba and African pop needs a couple handfuls of hyphens to form the right musical description, yet yields an intense naturalness. The Latin...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jun 6, 2004
A voice like none other
Though many postmodern jazz musicians are tireless experimentalists, they often end up producing interesting concepts more than good music. Pianist, composer and band leader Hiroshi Minami, however, is that rare jazz musician who sets up intriguing musical challenges that feel natural. He plays an engaging...
CULTURE / Music
May 23, 2004
Otis Taylor: "Double V"
Otis Taylor's fifth recording, "Double V," is razor-sharp, stripped-down blues brimming with conviction and conscience. Distilling outrage over social injustices into poignant refrains, Taylor sings in angry rasps and whispers of suffering. His blues hits like moonshine; it's hard not to shudder.
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2004
Claudia Acuna: "Luna"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2004
The Don Friedman Trio & Dave Pietro and Jonathan Katz
The summer jazz season is starting a little early this year. Even before the annual deluge of talent filling Japan's many festivals and clubs, two tours this May will more than whet the appetite for the busy summer season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 2, 2004
Bill Charlap Trio: "Somewhere"
Pianist Bill Charlap has become one of the finest -- and most prolific -- interpreters of standards in jazz today. Securing the coveted position as pianist for hard-bopping Phil Woods, and gracing countless straight-ahead recordings (as well as a Steely Dan CD) over the past decade, he has still found...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2004
Otis Rush, Mavis Staples and The Derek Trucks Band
In 1950s Chicago, urban blues exploded into a musical revolution. Fueled by new-style amps and electric guitars, pioneers like Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Elmore James forged a hard-driving soundtrack for the new urban culture of migrants from the south. Otis Rush, who headlines this May's Japan Blues...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 18, 2004
Philipp Van Endert: "Trio"
Occasionally, the last grab of a CD buying spree is the winner. That's certainly the case with Philipp Van Endert's "Trio," a CD of brilliantly fluid guitar-trio jazz that I found tucked down at the bottom of a new-release display. Such an accomplished cool jazz session would normally have scads of online...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 4, 2004
D.D. Jackson
DD Jackson's muscular and frenetic keyboard style reminds listeners that the piano is, after all, a percussion instrument. He drums the piano as much as plays it, drawing out sounds that few other contemporary players can manage. While traditional-minded fans of lyrical piano will wince at his attack,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 14, 2004
Tomasz Stanko: "Suspended Night"
Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's newest release, "Suspended Night," is a masterpiece of minimalist beauty. A suite of interconnected compositions, "Suspended Night" simply numbers its "Variations" I to X. The unaffected simplicity and flexible modal structures strip down chords and melody lines to allow...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 7, 2004
Kazutoki Umezu
Kazutoki Umezu's music draws on eclectic sources from around the globe and mixes them into a beguiling brew. Avoiding the high-art pretense of many postmodern mix-masters, Umezu always grounds his sound in a high-energy sense of fun. Even when zipping between klezmer, Mongolian folk songs, progressive...
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
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.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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