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With the formation of East West, American koto performer Reiko Obata has sought to update jazz standards by pairing common Western jazz instrumentation with the 13-string koto, a traditional Japanese instrument. The rest of the ensemble is made up of flute, guitar, double bass and drums. Obata’s adept skill allows her to manipulate the pitch of the koto with ease as she keeps up with other jazz virtuosos on nimble lines and figures.

The improvisatory nature of jazz requires a level of depth and knowledge of one’s instrument that allows spontaneous composition and the ability to recall Read more…

If you look back in history and our “relationship” with the Japanese it might not surprise you to know that our culture has influenced theirs in many ways. You could argue the same about ours and one would only need to turn on the TV to understand. If you get your television through http://www.satellitetv-hq.com/ then you might have noticed how we have taken the formats of some of their most popular shows and molded them to fit in our own televisions, but how have we influenced Japan or their music.

Most of our influence comes in the form of this ideal lifestyle we invented where a person had to go out and get what they want regardless of others. Such a thing is actually quite unheard of in the Japanese culture but little by little it’s starting to come out in the culture. Terms we have invented, clothing we have created, even our own language is being used by Japanese singers in their songs. In fact, in many Japanese pop songs, English words are interspersed with Japanese lyrics to serve as nothing more than a kind of “ear grab” to anyone passing by. Our culture is so popular and known to them that our language is often used as a kind of grabber in advertising and in music. Let’s just hope that’s all it’s used for.

The great Rhythm And Vines Music Festival is something you want to experience live, in order to ring in the New Year the way it should be brought in. You are going to love being around the crowd, as this outdoor event brings in the biggest stars, the best music, and the ultimate musical celebration to bring the New Year in, with thousands of others who love music and performance as much as you do. You will love the bands, the live feel, and the open outdoor event, which will go the whole night through, Read more…

By virtue of his Grammy Awarding winning album, Miho”Journey To The Mountain, Paul Winter and his consort have opened the door of exposure to a very unique genre of oriental music, especially focusing on a Japanese musical instrument, the koto.

The Koto is a 13-string musical instrument made of wood with plastic or silk strings. This national instrument of Japan is believed to have been introduced from China in the 7th to 8th century. Around the 16th century, a Buddist priest residing in the mountains of Japan began to Read more…

The Japanese koto is a large wooden stringed instrument. It looks curved, and very simple. It’s played with picks worn on the fingers, similar to those used in playing the guitar. The pressure of the pics, combined with unique hand movements that press on the other strings make a very unique sound. According to historians, the koto was invented around the fifth to third century B.C. in China.

New age Japanese music saved this romantic traditional of koto music from dying out, as it was becoming unpopular. This revival was intentional, and it was a collaborative Read more…

The annual Rhythm and Vines music festival is a musical festival held at Waiohika Estate vineyard in New Zealand. This festival first started in 2003 by three students of the University of Otago. They started the Rhythms and Vines festival because they wanted to hold a safe and fun new year-s event for people that attended their school. Every year the crowd grew more and more and became a very popular new year-s event. The music is diverse and everyone can have a great Read more…