Friday 22 July 2016, 8pm
Howard Williams' “Japan Blues” series returns to OTO with Howard playing records from his extensive collection of Japanese music ranging from 50s rock'n'roll to 80s disco/boogie - all Made In Japan. There'll also be a special live performance or two from Hibiki Ichikawa (shamisen) and Akari Mochizuki (enka).
In-house distributor for Honest Jon's Records and founder of Ethbo - a label whose roster includes a release by Mike Cooper; Killing Melody, a collection of 70s Japanese gangster soundtracks; and the crazed garage-rockabilly of Dean Carter. He co-compiled the Moondog retrospective "The Viking Of Sixth Avenue" for Honest Jon's, and made two compilation albums of vintage music for Ace Records: Nippon Guitars - a selection of Japanese guitar pioneer Takeshi Terauchi - and the follow-up Nippon Rock'n'Roll, a compilation of Masaaki Hirao's late 50s rokabirii.
An avid collector of old Japanese records, he has played at Life Bar, for Julian Opie, at tsunami charity events and, more recently, on KNYX, NTS Live and Rinse FM.
Akari, dubbed the only professional enka singer in the UK, will be singing enka (Japanese torch song) with backing tracks, and also sing minyou (traditional Japanese folk) accompanied by Hibiki playing Tsugaru shamisen.
http://www.akarisinger.com/#about2
Hibiki is the only professional Tsugaru shamisen player in Europe. Tsugaru is the northern region of Japan, which has its own regional percussive style. His set normally consists of traditional folk songs and improvisations.
http://www.hibikishamisen.com/Biography.html
