Obi

Yutaka Oyama is a master of the Tsugaru shamisen school in Japan, having learned at the foot of his grandfather, the master of the Oyama school. Throughout his career he has expanded his range beyond traditional Japanese shamisen repertoire, collaborating with jazz and pop musicians, and even recording the soundtrack to video games. His two recent albums with trumpeter Yusuke Shima are a particular highlight in Japanese folk-jazz collaborations. His new release, Obi, carries on that wide vision with a range of collaborators on piano, trumpet, guitar and cello. Oyama’s embrace of different musical traditions comes together wonderfully on ‘Tsugaru~Santeria~Bushi’, featuring hatá drums alongside the shamisen and traditional Japanese folk vocals. It’s an evocative, enticing performance.

The two piano-led tracks, however, tend to drag on a bit, lacking the drive of the other tunes and to these ears at least, that particular combination of instruments don’t blend very well together. Overall though this is another good release from a musician that more Japanese music fans should be aware of. He has managed to drag the stifling, conservative world of traditional Japanese instruments into the ‘world music’ environment of the 21st century.