HYBRID SOUL brings together the West and the East/minyo tunes with rock/jazz fusion with Isaku Kageyama on taiko, Pat Glynn on bass and Chris Young on guitar.
And their music keeps getting better and better as evident at Roppongi Edge in Tokyo May 29, 2009.
They play again at the Daikanyama Loop June 4, 2009 _ their last performance for this series that began in April.
They will be starting up another round of concerts later this year, where they will present their further evolution.
Among the songs they play: “Yagi Bushi,” “Tanko Bushi,” “Soran Bushi,” “Nikata Bushi,” “Hachijo” _ and “Dear Prudence.”
It’s moving to see how these men, who happen to be living in Tokyo and love music, have come together.
Meeting one another halfway, they have created something that’s positive _ a new sound that’s fun, intelligent, tasteful.
It is moving because everyone knows that kind of understanding is what this divided world needs.
The music isn’t smug or insular. It is sincere and unafraid. It doesn’t pander. And it doesn’t pretend to be anything that it is not, or even really know what it is yet.
Isaku gets taiko rocking with Hybrid Soul
Hybrid Soul _ rock/fusion taiko _ in Roppongi
photo by Ryan Bruss.
HYBRID SOUL ( Chris Young on guitar, Pat Glynn on bass, Isaku Kageyama on taiko) presents MOSTLY MINYO at Roppongi Edge (TEL: 03-3505-4561) Friday, May 29, 2009.
Starts 8:30 p.m. (Doors open 8 p.m.) 3,000 yen (including one drink).
NOT YOUR GRANPA’S TAIKO
Eclectic and electrifying, Hybrid Soul brings rock ‘n’ roll to the world of taiko (traditional Japanese percussion) to deliver a totally modern version of “Bon” (summer festival) folk tunes, breathing new life into a down-home but complex Asian tradition with psychedelic sounds, the blues, funky rhythms and American-style rock.
The music of HYBRID SOUL is evolving _ with fresh tunes with every appearance.
Isaku Kageyama, an award-winning drummer with Amanojaku taiko ensemble, is also giving a TAIKO WORKSHOP at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space
B2 Rehearsal Room
1-8-1 Nishi Ikebukuro Toshima-ku Tokyo 171-0021
7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
(!!!Your first lesson is free if you tell Isaku you saw it on this blog!!!)
San Francisco-born Isaku Kageyama has been studying with Amanojaku founder and leader Yoichi Watanabe Sensei since he was 6 years old.
He now plays with Amanojaku in concerts not only around Japan but also in Dubai, the U.S., China, Brazil, etc.
He recently played with Japanese jazz trumpet legend Toshinori Kondo.
He also collaborates frequently with Winchester Nii Tete, a master percussionist from Ghana.
Isaku became the youngest player ever to win the Mt. Fuji Odaiko Contest in 2000 when he was 18.
He also won the Hokkaido Odaiko Contest in 2003.
He has helped Amanojaku teach taiko drummers throughout Japan as well as overseas. He traveled to Brazil five times since 2004 to teach more than 500 Nikkei Brazilians.
In 2008, Amanojaku led the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil with a performance by 1,200 Brazilian drummers at the Sao Paulo samba festival space.
For more information on the concert or workshop, contact: Isaku Kageyama at Tel: 090-8506-9885, Fax: 03-3904-9434 or e-mail: isaku.kageyama@amanojaku.info
Isaku Kageyama’s taiko rock group Hybrid Soul
HYBRID SOUL presents MOSTLY MINYO
Isaku Kageyama on taiko drums.
Chris Young on guitar.
Pat Glynn on bass.
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009
Ekoda Buddy
doors open 8 p.m. and music starts 8:30 p.m.
Futaba Kaikan B2F
1-77-8 Asahigaoka Nerima-ku Tokyo
3,000 yen (includes one drink)
right by Ekoda station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line.
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009.
Shinjuku Takanoya
doors open 8 p.m.; set starts 8:30 p.m.
3,000 yen (including one drink)
JAPANESE MUSIC NEVER SOUNDED SO GOOD!
ISAKU KAGEYAMA is one of the principal drummers of premiere taiko ensemble Amanojaku. One of the finest players of his generation, Isaku became the youngest player to win Highest Honors at the Mt. Fuji Odaiko Contest, and became two-time National Odaiko Chmpaion in 2003.
CHRIS YOUNG began electrifying the stages of Texas, Florida and New York as a professional guitarist at age 16. Chris has made national tours, recordings and performances with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Shirley Bassey, Angie Stone, Richard Bona and Sadao Watanabe.
A multi-talented and extremely verstaile musician, PAT GLYNN has played a variety of musical styles such as jazz, Broadway, rock, electronic and Latin. His professional peforming experience includes the Walt Disneyworld Orchestra, as well as national and international Broadway tours. Since moving to Tokyo in 2007, he has continued performing in a variety of groups, backing up performers such as Konishiki, Iwasaki Yoshimi and Simon Cosgrove.
Three different perspectives but one common vision.
By experimenting with Western rock, jazz, blues and Latin elements, Hybrid Soul breathes new life into the culturally and musically rich tradition of Japanese folk songs.
More HYBRID SOUL
More rocking taiko from HYBRID SOUL
Isaku Kageyama (taiko)
Chris Young (guitar)
Patrick Glynn (bass)
April 30, 2009 20:00 at Shinjuku LIVE Takanoya Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
May 15, 2009 20:00 Ekoda BUDDY Ekoda, Tokyo
May 29, 2009 20:00 Roppongi EDGE Minato-ku, Tokyo
And try rocking yourself at Isaku’s TAIKO WORKSHOPS:
WHEN: 2/13, 2/17, 3/24, 3/31
19:00-20:30
WHERE: Igusa Kumin Center B1 Music Room
5-7-22 Shimo Igusa Suginami-ku Tokyo 167-0022
Google Map
HOW MUCH: 4000 yen (2000 yen with student ID)
Video above: “Yagi Bush,” a Japanese folk tune, at Mandala in Tokyo Nov. 11, 2008.