Yosuke Yamashita & LOTUS POSITION

The last time he performed in Prague, 72-year-old hell-raiser Yosuke Yamashita, a devotee of free jazz, almost succeeded in demolishing a piano. The Japanese legend now comes with his trio Lotus Position accompanied by extraordinary musicians Akira Horikoshi (drums) and Akihito Obama (shakuhachi). Don't miss the most explosive free jazz event of 2015.

Yosuke Yamashita / piano /
Born in Tokyo in 1942, Yamashita is a household celebrity in Japan, and has been performing on the international stages including frequent appearances at many famous jazz festivals.  He has been working mainly in a jazz field, also collaborating energetically with various genres of music, ranging from classical orchestra to Japanese or foreign traditional folk music.  Critics admire Yamashita’s explosive playing style, often compared with that of Cecil Taylor, as his own unique achievement.

In 1988 Yamashita formed his own New York Trio with bass player Cecil McBee and drummer Pheeroan akLaff.  In 1994 he was invited to the 50th anniversary concert of Verve Records, a prestigious jazz label, as a sole musician participated from Asian countries.  In 1998 Yamashita made the film score for Shohei Imamura's "Kanzo Sensei (Dr. Akagi)".  By the achievement of this work, he received "the Education Minister's Encouragement Award", and other film awards.  In 2000, he did the world premiere of his original concerto "Encounter for Improviser".  In 2003 he was conferred "the Medal with Purple Ribbon" from Japanese Government for his contributions to the arts and academics.  In 2004, he has toured the United States commemorating the 150th anniversary of U.S. - Japan relations.  In that year, he also performed his own concerto with the RAI National Orchestra conducted by Yutaka Sado in Turin, Italy.  March 2006, he played with a free jazz giant, Ornette Coleman when his group toured Japan.  In February 2007, he has presented a duo concert with a master pianist in free jazz, Cecil Taylor.  In January 2008, he did the world premiere of his third concerto "Explorer" with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yutaka Sado.  In May 2009, he did the world premiere of the piano concerto No. 4 “Jazz” composed by Toshi Ichiyanagi.  In January 2010, he made a piano duo concert with Stanislav Bunin.  In February 2012, he celebrated his 70th anniversary with Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra in Hanoi, Vietnam.  In September 2013, he released his New York trio’s 25th anniversary album “Grandioso” from Verve, Universal Music.

 

AKIRA HORIKOSHI (Drums＆Percussion)

Akira Horikashi was born April 24th, 1965 in Tokyo.
At age thirteen he begun playing drums. He studied under Kazuhilo Ebisawa and Syuichi "PONTA" Murakami. (They are Jazz musicians)  He loves Japanese traditional music deeply from the influence of his father who is the master of "Japanese dancing".

 Though the method of the jazz drum is his basic form, he is developing the original play style which exceeded all genres by mixing many elements such as Japanese music and folk music, also contemporary and classic freely.

 He has been already going through various Units now, he interprets the play action as some necessary body performance, and he starts the project which has a theme to the search of the space production and the expression of the sound as an Asian. "TOHO-IBUN(東方異聞)" by the organization with the Japanese traditional instruments such as Satsuma biwa(a kind of lute), Japanese bamboo flute, and so on. The drum solo performance "SOLO-ist" which is the general space production that Masato's kinetic objects surrounded percussion instruments. He carries out original activities like these. He has two classes of drum school in Tokyo now.


Akihito Obama　[Shakuhachi Player]

Born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1975, Obama studied various styles of shakuhachi under leading musicians such as Toshimitsu Ishikawa (traditional shakuhachi) and Satoshi Yoneya (minyo [folk music] shakuhachi). After graduating from the NHK Hogaku [traditional Japanese music] Gino-sha Ikusei-kai, the premier one year course for hogaku musicians aspiring to be professional performers, Obama won the Second Annual Shakuhachi Newcomer Competition (2000).

In recent years, Obama draws on his musical experiences and incorporates these influences into his own music. In 2004, Obama recorded his first solo shakuhachi album Fukoku [Wind Carvings] featuring improvised works. During the following year, he undertook a walking pilgrimage concert tour to the eighty-eight temples of Shikoku Island and revealed his second album Nami to Tsubaki to [Waves and Camellias and] consisting of his original compositions. In 2006, Obama was invited to the Swedish International Festival of Wind Music holding solo concerts and appearing with local musicians. This was followed by a month long tour of Europe. In 2007, Obama released visions. collaborating with electronic music artist hajimeinoue. In 2008, Obama was invited to the Japan Festival at The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC) and the Sydney World Shakuhachi Festival. He released Michinone [Street Music, New Sounds] working with satsuma-biwa [Satsuma plucked lute] player Yukihiro Goto. In 2012, Obama lived in New York for six months as a fellow of Asian Cultural Council (ACC) and released SUI [Water] with his band.

Currently, Obama performs as a solo musician and participates in various ensembles including “TAKiOBAND” led by Takio Ito, a minyo singer. He often appears in concerts overseas and has performed in over 30 countries. Obama has developed and refined his technique by performing in venues from small clubs to large concert halls with artists playing hogaku instruments and Western instruments. This has allowed him to penetrate traditional barriers and discover his own distinct sound.