Tokyo’s Yoshida Brothers are telporting a centuries-old Asian folk instrument into a modern world of MP3s, fast cars and throbbing dance floors. Now they’re transporting it overseas to American audiences on their upcoming U.S. tour.
Talented, forward-thinking and sweet-faced hotties to boot, Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida are considered superstars in their country, winning awards, selling hundreds of thousands of CDs, and kicking off a craze for Tsugaru shamisen, the three-string, banjo-like instrument that lies at the center of a genre of the same name.
Ryoichiro, 27, and Kenichi, 24, are treated like rock stars in their native country. A 1997 New Year’s Eve TV concert launched their enormous popularity and sparked a revival of the shamisen, rescuing it from a long, musty, dusty and elderly past.
Now onstage they unleash a fierce attack, guitar-like positioning and a complete embrace of the new, all in silk kimonos and hakamas. Their new CD is hitting the US now. Brothers II (Domo/Sony), their follow-up to last year’s Yoshida Brothers, is marked by new age jazz, Spanish, blues and even Celtic inflections.
Kagero is inspired by the arabesques and undulating rhythms of flamenco and the passionate playing of Kenichi’s idol, Spanish virtuoso guitarist Paco de Lucia. Here, the younger brother goes head to head with guitarist Yoshiteru Ito while backed by tabla and violin. In Indigo they treat their shamisens like Strats, loping through a smooth, lazy, uptown blues accompanied by organ, electric bass and brass. The jazz fusion Gales of Wind allows the brothers to revel in their virtuosity and show off their improvisational skills at playing with Latin percussion.
Raised in snowy northern Hokkaido, the brothers began playing at the urging of their father who once dreamed of becoming a professional shamisen player. Ryoichiro started when he was 5. “I was always in same car, so I took it up as well,” Kenichi says from Tokyo via a translator.
Though the two youngsters also tried Western instruments like the guitar or piano, they stuck to tradition. Ryoichiro explains: “I didn’t know if I was really into it or not. But when I was 13, I performed at a national contest, which was a change for me, and I thought this was the instrument I should be playing because I saw other people my age playing.”
He’s since inspired others. Kenichi decided to continue studying the shamisen (which came to Japan in the 16th century from China) because he “felt like there is more space for [him] to make challenges compared to other instruments.” Despite rumors of sibling rivalry and their distinctly different approaches and musical tastes (Ryoichiro is a traditionalist and rebel Kenichi is the Western music fan), the pair went on to study with a local shamisen master and won national prizes for their playing.
The traditional Tsugaru shamisen, of Northern Japan where the Yoshida clan originated, is distinguished by its individuality and creativity. Its buoyant rhythms add an appealing, contemporary bounce. Still, Kenichi explains, “I think it’s the rhythm that’s very different for people who listen to pop music. They’ll have difficulties listening to folk music so what I’ve tried to do is adopt rhythms that have similarities with pop, within folk music.”
Kenichi has tried to adopt a Western musical scale to the shamisen to make it “easier for the listener.” Performing in L.A. last month, the brothers felt like “a bridge between countries or cultures. For Japanese Americans who don’t speak Japanese, hearing the sounds of the shamisen make them feel close to their nationality.” They hope to make the shamisen as familiar to Americans as taiko while reminding Japanese and APAs of their roots and pulling ancient sounds into a global mix-and-match future.
Knock-off Murakami/Vuitton trucker caps, girly booty T-shirts and songs about getting high — how much more trendoid can you get? It seems to be working for ultra-popular, Chinese modern-rock producer Chang Cheng-Yue, who tours the states for the first time in October. His polished, nicely crafted new CD, Useless Guy (Rock Records), combines Nirvana-ish guitar crunch with ska bounce and more familiar C-pop balladry. He’s produced albums for Jet Li, Karen Mok and others when he wasn’t playing all the instruments on Useless Guy, going platinum or playing for audiences of more than 40,000 in his native China. Guess he’s not so useless after all.
Yoshida Brothers will perform for free Sept. 30 at Virgin Megastore, 2 Stockton St., San Francisco, at 5:45 p.m. For more info call (415) 397-4525.
Chang Cheng-Yue will appear Oct. 7 at Slim’s, 333 11th St., San Francisco. Call (415) 522-0333 for time and price.