They played Toronto a few days after Ottawa, and it was a really good show. Kenichi did some stuff during his Jongara solo that I’d never seen anyone do before, so it looks like they are still working on the traditional stuff, and growing that way as well as all of the interesting new stuff they are doing.
There was an interview/article with the Yoshida Brothers while they were in Toronto. It was written by Nishio Yumi, and appeared in a local Japanese language magazine called “Bits” which you can see online, with a nice photo gallery here:
http://www.bitslounge.com/interview/YoshidaBrothers
I translated it into really stiff English for my own notes. Maybe some people here might be interested in it…
On Nov 18th at 7:30 in front of the MOD’S CLUB a snaking line formed. A group of everyone from kids to young people to seniors, indeed men and women of all ages. This wide range of age groups stood in line. People going by, and even those in in cars rolled down their windows asking “what? Who’s coming?” The answer was the Tsugaru shamisen’s “Yoshida Brothers” and those ambassadors of Canadian- Japanese ties “Monkey Majik”. Today the impossible phantasm of a joint concert would occur.
The day before this concert, having just arrived in Toronto, all the members of the Yoshida Brothers and Monkey Majik spent two hours of their North American tour speaking with me – the first of two parts will be presented now.
On the interview day, we first collected information on the Yoshida Brothers. Elder brother Ryouichirou and Younger Kenichi san both appeared smiling and fashionable. On this early winter day the brothers didn’t appear to be cold.
Kenichi: We’re from Hokkaido, so we’re fine. Canada is fine in the winter, isn’t it?
Having said that, the last time you two came to Toronto was in May of 2008.
Ryouichirou: Yes, That was a while ago. This is our second time (performing) here.
In 2008 it was at a theatre in the Harbourfront center. Of course at that time there was a wide range of listeners, but not to the extent of this time it seems. Also, this time your are performing in a club - an “all standing” event.
R: That’s right. We hardly ever do standing type (concerts), but before coming to Canada, when we played New York, our audience was mainly young people. Generally when we play, it’s World Music crowds in their 30s and 40s that come to hear us, but there it was people in their 20s, it seemed. From the beginning it’s really increased, which makes us happy.
So, let’s talk about the joint concert.
R: Actually, ”Change,” our collaboration with MM, happened five years ago. Since then, we’ve had quite a few chances to participate in their shows, but usually as ‘secret guests’, or in the encore, and the audience goes ‘ah!’ and things feel like they go up a level. This time (oe lately?) it seems we are officially playing together, not like opening the tour. So we thought we would take the challenge and do this north American tour, which is really interesting.
K: That’s right. The first time we met MM, “Change,” was already five years ago. At the beginning, more than musical genre, “there is a song”, and what should the shamisen do, or where should we put it was what we were wondering. You don’t want to make the song heavy, but you can’t just sound like a guitar either. In short, you have to keep what is good about the shamisen; we had to think about many things. The result was “Change”, a song emerging from the potential of the two groups, I think. Actually, we ended up getting a lot of offers because of that one song.
R: It broke through a wall, for us, of “We can’t make “Change,””in other words we didn’t have the [energy/ confidence/spirit?] to make it (but somehow we made it). We’ve been tied to that one song all along. So, no matter how many times we collaborate that one time was terribly strong/thick/dense. Actually, after that there was the earthquake, of course we were tied to it by bonds, but after all that song, just like its name, many things changed for us. Sort of thing.
K: All of us, us two and them, when we perform live, feel the power of it. In the ‘secret guest’ shows the audience response, how to put this, the response of feeling it comes back. So, we thought, lets try this overseas, lets try this in Canada.
R: Yes yes, since even in Japan we haven’t tried this… Japanese audiences in the middle of a MM tour, no one knows where we will appear.
K: yeah, so, this time this tour is like a dream. Though we’ve gotten this far, it’s taken us five years, if this tour isn’t the end of it, and we keep on going, it will be interesting, eh?
After the interview, MM’s members and the two brothers get together. Altogether the six are like classmates, with a peaceful, successful feeling. During the photo session, while taking in Toronto’s scenery, they have a friendly chat then, sit on a park bench, Japan and Canada, East and West, shamisen and rock, it feels as if there is no difference in the words. At bottom, the same thing flows through it all.
R: We are all about the same age. More exactly we are the same age (laughs). That also helps, so we all get along. In New York, while eating together, we said “what should we do next?” There was the timing of the release, and it wasn’t really a good fit for either of us (groups), but next year, we’ll fit into a project. Previously, there was talk of us fitting in with their project, but if we work together from the beginning, we should be able to make something better, I think. Going beyond “Change” we want to make a second song, so we want to experiment in that same way.
Then, while looking up at the CN tower, Kenichi laughs, saying “From here, shall we go to the tower and eat dinner”. We talked about various things, like how to bring the shamisen (it apparently breaks down into three parts), typical preparation for tours, and so on.
“Feeling the cleanness of the air, feeling Canada’s nature, it’s like Hokkaido. You can feel the scent of the air, that’s good, after all. After worrying over things in America, Canada feels comfortable (laughs). The houses on the streets look like Europe, and there is space, just like Sapporo – the layout of the city, which makes me very glad.”
This time without a pause, 2013 will come soon, said the two Yoshida Bothers. Those who sadly missed their show can hopefully keep an eye out for their next vist.
Curious why they stopped coming here, but I hope it’s just a temporary hiatus.