JP\/17\/SUZUKI<\/p>\n
Healing voice from Japan visits Jakarta<\/p>\n
Hera Diani
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Japanese singer Shigeko Suzuki is very aware that her music is
\nthe kind that can easily lull people to sleep.<\/p>\n
Therefore, before she started her recent concert here in
\nGedung Kesenian Jakarta, Central Jakarta, the 37 year-old singer
\nsaid that she would understand if the audience fell asleep during
\nthe concert.<\/p>\n
\"Just continue to sleep, but please, don't snore,\" said the
\nowner of the delicate voice in perfect English, smiling, and in
\nthe same delicate manner.<\/p>\n
Soft and delicate it was when she talked, but the voice turned
\ndeep and powerful when Suzuki sang, although thankfully, it was
\nnot that scary Celine Dion-esque kind of powerful.<\/p>\n
And with that vocal quality, Suzuki has earned the title
\n\"healing voice from Japan\".<\/p>\n
Debuting in the music industry in 1995, she has released six
\nalbums, the latest is 2002's Presenca under BMG Fanhouse record
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
The music itself is a cross between jazz in particular, pop,
\nbossanova and traditional Japanese folk songs.<\/p>\n
Born into a musical environment in Hamamatsu, Suzuki learned
\nclassical piano from the age of three, is a trained classical
\nsinger and played bass in her high school fusion band.<\/p>\n
When she was studying in the law faculty at the prestigious
\nTokyo University, she sang black music in a band.<\/p>\n
\"But I was not very comfortable singing that kind of music. It
\ndidn't fit my feelings and my body, maybe because I'm not black.
\nI wanted to learn something essential, something that had become
\na foundation for pop music. So I chose jazz,\" she told a media
\nconference a day prior to the concert.<\/p>\n
Although passing the examination to become a judge, she chose
\nto be a professional jazz singer instead (\"I'm not somebody for
\nlaw\"), did a recording session in New York and performed with
\njazz musician Touse Silmans.<\/p>\n
Suzuki was the first Japanese singer to make a live debut at
\nNew York's Blue Note in 1995, the same year she released debut
\nalbum Premiere.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, she released an album each year and quickly
\ngrabbed the attention of fans and critics, earning several
\nawards, including the Japan Gold Disk Award. Her fifth album Jazz
\nBeside You was declared the best selling album in Japan in 2000.<\/p>\n
The year also marked her debut as an actress, playing the main
\nrole in My House in Mars.<\/p>\n
As if that was not enough to demonstrate her talents, Suzuki
\nalso often writes essays about music in Japan daily Yomiuri
\nShimbun. In 2001, she published her collection of essays called
\nTenshi no Iru hoshi de (The Star inhabited by Angels).<\/p>\n
Despite releasing six albums, Suzuki said that she is still
\ntrying to find her own musical style.<\/p>\n
\"My interests are now beyond the field of jazz. I feel that
\nI'd like to make music without boundaries ... wider and deeper.
\nI'm also interested in a lot of musical instruments from all over
\nthe world,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She said she has just started making her own music, with
\nthemes ranging from the beauty of nature, her family, love.<\/p>\n
One of her songs called On the Shore was created in Bali, her
\nfavorite holiday destination that she has visited over 10 times.<\/p>\n
\"I was lying on my bed, in a cottage by the sea, staring at
\nthe ceiling. There was this ceiling fan that was going around and
\nmaking a monotonous sound. Suddenly, inside of me, it started
\nanother sound at the same time. Then the sound of fridge added,
\nand it became a song,\" she said.<\/p>\n
During her recent concert, her first ever here, Suzuki
\npresented a varied set of songs, from John Lennon's Imagine, to
\nSting's Fragile, to On the Shore and traditional Japanese folk
\nsongs Hana and Haru Ga Kita (Spring has come).<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the concert the other night did not really
\nreveal Suzuki's caliber, as her shows in her resume.<\/p>\n
She was not really attractive on stage, sitting on a chair all
\nthe time, backed by her band: pianist Watanabe Kazuki, Kobayashi
\nNobuaki on bass, Kuriyama Toyoji on percussion and guitarist Itoh
\nYoshiteru.<\/p>\n
Her delicate voice and manner reflected a Snow White persona
\nwith less character than the dwarfs, or in this case the band.<\/p>\n
The band was good, and sparked up the night, especially when
\nplaying a lively instrumental jazz number.<\/p>\n
Too bad though, that the only disease that was cured by the
\nhealing voice in the concert the other night was insomnia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp17suzuki-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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