Session
3 - Kenso
This Wednesday night, at 7:30 at the third
floor E14 atrium video wall, we'll be featuring concert footage from the most
famous Japanese prog rock band of all - Kenso.
Although several prog-influenced and
psychedelic/electronic musicians were working in Japan when the classic
"prog" genre swept through Europe in the early 70's (Stormu
Yamashta's Go and the Far East Family Band, for example), the prog scene in
Japan didn't really gain traction until the late 70's or even early/mid 80's. But
when it caught it quickly took off, with many bands performing music in what's
broadly termed the "symphonic prog" tradition, inspired by the old
mainstream British prog scene and best-known Italian prog bands (Banco, PFM,
etc.). Several Japanese bands come to mind here - e.g., the Outer Limits,
Mr. Sirius, Teru's Symponia, Shingetsu, Gerard, Fromage, Ars Nova (3
Japanese women channeling a goth take on ELP), and Bi Kyo Ran (who
brilliantly channel King Crimson) to only name a few. But the best
known, and in my opinion the most interesting of all of them are Kenso.
Kenso were formed in 1974, and released their
first record in 1980. Although not highly prolific, the band continues
recording and performing - their material has remained strong throughout their
long career. The band is led by the guitarist, Yoshihisa
Shimizu, who works in Tokyo as a dentist when he's not playing in his band
(he always comes on stage dressed in a white lab coat to commemorate his day
job).
Kenso's music is probably the most accessible
of any that we'll feature this term. But that said, the compositions are
all very complex, and the performances are amazing - these guys really
"shred" and we'll see plenty of musical acrobatics. With dual
keyboardists in addition to Shimizu's guitar, they have a very big sound. Their
style ranges from symphonic prog to Metheny-esque jazz to metal, all within a
single track. Kenso's music is very emotional - a typical segment of a
Kenso song will start with an extremely beautiful theme that drifts into introspection,
then perhaps even melancholy, but always ends with strong triumph, in classic
prog rock tradition. Even though their roots are in western rock/jazz,
Kenso seamlessly weave classic Japanese themes into their music, giving it a
distinct Asian feel.
We'll run the entire "Ha-Re-Ki" DVD
on Wednesday - this presents a 100-minute concert of theirs recorded in June
2002 at Tokyo's "On Air East" venue. Although Kenso are an
instrumental band, they feature a Japanese Flemenco vocalist on some of the tracks
in this performance.
I've seen Kenso live a couple of times, and
both shows were fantastic - once at NearFest in June 2005 and again a couple of
years ago at their annual concert in Tokyo, where they packed the large
"Club Citta" venue in Kawasaki. The audience was a who's-who of
Japanese progressive rock - everybody affiliated with the scene was there. Kenso demand respect.
Japan has indeed been foremost in the world's
thoughts the last week. This is especially poignant at the Media Lab
where many of us have very close ties there. Accordingly, before starting
the show, we'll pause to contemplate the casualties and still unfolding
consequences that are being endured in northern Japan.
Find more about Kenso here: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=188
There will be no prog rock video session during
spring break - we'll start again the week of March 28, although probably not on
Weds, as that conflicts with the Residents concert. I
plan to feature the wonderfully zany Dutch prog/psychedelic masters,
Supersister. Details will be forthcoming.
===================================================
Joe Paradiso (Spring 2011)