new album: THE MIYUMI PROJECT LIVE IN POLAND
It was a gamble, but East thrillingly meets West in Miyumi Project
Chicago Tribune Jazz notes
By Howard Reich, Tribune critic
May 9, 2008
More than 30 years ago, bassist-bandleader Tatsu Aoki took an artistic gamble: He began combining facets of ancient Japanese music with freewheeling jazz improvisation.
Though rudimentary, those first cross-genre efforts of his, in his native Japan, eventually blossomed into the Miyumi Project, now widely recognized as a groundbreaking merger of music from East and West.
Because Aoki moved to Chicago in the late 1970s and quickly set about developing his Asian-American experiment, the Miyumi Project has become a symbol of Chicago-style jazz innovation. Its rough-and-tumble sound, embracing everything from funk backbeats to blues vocals to avant-garde improv, has attracted audiences across the city and around the globe. [more]
Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Project at Steppenwolf Theatre
Chicago Tribune
JAZZ REVIEW
By Howard Reich | Tribune critic
May 12, 2008
Few musicians have fused American jazz and Japanese folklore as dramatically as Chicago bassist/bandleader Tatsu Aoki.
Through his long-running Miyumi Project, Aoki has dared to pair avant-garde instrumentalists with thunderous Japanese taiko drummers, in effect linking two musical traditions otherwise separated by centuries and oceans. The partnership may seem unlikely, but at its best it can be exciting to behold.
The debut of the Miyumi Project on Steppenwolf Theatre's eclectic Traffic series over the weekend attracted a large house, perhaps because listeners anticipated fireworks. [more]
About Tatsu
TATSU AOKI - Bassist Tatsu Aoki is a prolific and accomplished
musician, composer and educator. He works in a wide
array of musical styles, ranging from traditional
Asian music to jazz to experimental music and is
a much in-demand artist performing on both contrabass
and the shamisen (Japanese 3-stringed lute). He
has recorded over 100 albums featuring many of the
musical legends of Chicago, including Fred Anderson,
Von Freeman, Malachi Favors Maghostut, Don Moye
and John Watson Sr. 2006 saw Aoki present his most
ambitious work to date, "re: Rooted"
a continuation of his "Rooted" composition
cycle featuring the MIYUMI Project Big Band at Millennium
Park's Pritzker Pavilion. Aoki is the founder
and Artistic Director of the Annual Chicago Asian
American Jazz Festival.
[full Biography]
Featured Album
The Miyumi Project Live In Poland
The May 9 performance at Steppenwolf will also mark the official release of Tatsu Aoki's newest recording The Miyumi Project Live in Poland on Chicago label Southport Records. Mr. Aoki and members of the ensemble will be signing copies of the new CD following the performance.
"As the audience attests on this live
recording, Miyumi's amalgam of
cultures and creative spirit speaks
the worldwide language of joy."
- Lauren Deutsch,
Executive Director,Jazz Institute of Chicago
Recorded Live June 27, 2007 at MALTA Festival, Poznan, Poland
[see details]
- Mwata Bowden - reeds
- Francis Wong - soprano sax
- Jonathan Chen - violin
- Hide Yoshihashi - taiko drums
- Amy Homma - taiko drums
- Melody Takata - taiko drums
- Tatsu Aoki - bass
TOYOAKI SHAMISEN
| a division of JASC Tsukasa Taiko TOYOAKI SHAMISEN |
Discover the Japanese traditional lute, SHAMISEN !
Legendary "Ozashiki" shamisen music from Toyoaki family.
www.toyoaki.org
