Japanese percussion band makes 'new world' music

By Emilie Soeur

JAKARTA (JP): The drive-in theater in Ancol, North Jakarta, conjured up a strange atmosphere last Saturday night. A huge stage -- covered with all kinds of percussion instruments, a hundred multicolored spotlights and a giant screen in the back -- was set up in the vast space of the outdoor theater. Gigantic loudspeakers flanked both sides. In front of it, another platform carried all the technical installations for the sound, lights and, as the audience discovered later, smoke.

Seventy seats had been set up between the two structures. But only about 30 of these were filled by 7:55 p.m., five minutes before the scheduled beginning of the concert by Japanese band Near Future Tokyo Sounds. Fortunately, 15 minutes later, more people arrived, and the concert began.

Astonishing best describes the visual effect created by the contrast of the huge technical and musical installation in a large open space and the small number of onlookers.

Percussionist Makoto Ohdate, 37, leads the seven-member Near Future Tokyo Sounds, which was invited for this performance by the Japanese cultural center.

He studied African, Latin and jazz, and formed the band in 1987.

Yoichi Watanabe, 39, is a traditional drummer. Hidemi Sakashita, 44, is the synthesizer player of the group. His varied musical path includes solo concerts, playing for the opening act of a Deep Purple concert in 1976 and movie soundtracks.

Hiromi Ogawa and Mayumi Kawana, both 30, are the female members of the group. Like Watanabe, with whom they worked before joining Near Future Tokyo Sounds, they play the wadaiko, a traditional Japanese percussion instrument.

Osamu Goto, 47, is the drummer. His main musical influences seem to be Latin and jazz music. Katsuharu Sawada, 33, born in 1964, plays the tsugaru-Jamisen, the only traditional string instrument of the band.

Both the interest of the members of the group and their instruments reflect Near Future Tokyo Sounds' orientation to world music.

The stage was sufficient and clear explanation of the definition of world music. Looking away from the huge taiko, a Japanese traditional percussion instrument occupying the place of honor at the top of the stage, there were Latin drums, Western percussion, the jamisen, synthesizer and drums.

World music, a concept invented in the 1970s, is aimed at appreciating music from all over the world and, above all, not denigrating them as "primitive".

Near Future Tokyo Sounds combines pop and contemporary musical styles through use of modern and traditional instruments.

The result was visual as well as auditory. Last Saturday's performance could rightfully be defined as a show.

Light effects were clearly the outcome of elaborate planning and work. Besides the multitude of spotlights surrounding the musicians, light arabesque and designs were screened on the back of the stage.

The stage manager seemed to be fond of smoke effects. This seemed a little much when the keyboard player and drummer vanished in clouds of smokes. It was a hard time for the lungs.

Despite all the imposing technical installations, the music remained.

The first piece, Yoake, was aimed at evoking sunrise at dawn and the idea of birth through the colors of Japanese drums and synthesizer chords.

Then, each member of the group went through a musical pedagogical introduction of his instrument by offering the audience a sample of its different sounds and rhythms possibilities.

The next two pieces were good examples of world music. In Tsugaru, Japanese traditional instruments interpreted rhythms influenced by African culture in an interesting musical blend.

Edo-Bayashi told the story of the encounter of instruments used for traditional Japanese music in temples and jazz rhythms.

The final piece, Anata No Shiranai Sekai, intertwined instruments to create a new musical flavor.

Japanese percussion instruments claim a precise playing technique which turned out on stage to require real choreography. This was particularly obvious when the two female percussionists of the band played, or rather danced, with the massive taico in an aesthetic pirouette.

The music was clearly physical, both for the players and the audience, too, as the loud beat emitted from the stage had onlookers swaying with the sounds.

Near Future Tokyo Sounds gave the local audience an opportunity to get in touch with Japanese traditional music. This opening of minds to the value of other musical forms lies at the heart of world music.