The "Listen to Musicians" section is a section where professionals who usually play music on the stage go down the stage and speak in words.This time, we will interview Masami Ishikawa, who is active as a jazz guitarist in New York, USA, as a guest. I would like to talk about the theme of "studying abroad in music."
(Interview: March 2008)
-Profile of Masami Ishikawa-
Jazz guitarist Masami Ishikawa
Born in Tokyo in 1965. At the age of 11, he picked up the guitar for the first time, went through rock and fusion, and started playing jazz in college. In 1990, he studied abroad at the New School University Jazz & Contemporary Music Department in New York, where he studied under Jim Hall, Reggie Workman, Joe Chambers, John Bassiri and others.Later, he was appointed to the Arnie Lawrence Group, a founder of the New School and Jazz Department.He has also appeared in 55 bars and Angry Squire in his own group, and is attracting attention in the local scene in NY. He returned to Japan temporarily in 1993 and played with his own group, Shinpei Inoue and Ryuhi Iwase, mainly at live houses in the metropolitan area. In 2000, he resumed his activities in New York.Currently, he is active mainly in the group of gospel singer / pianist LD Frazier, the group of Ronnie Gasperini, the trio of Fukuji Tainaka, and the new album "North Beach" of Ronnie Gasperini released in December 2007. His performance at "Blues" (Doodlin Records www.doodlinrecords.com) has been well received.
— Please tell us about your encounter with jazz.
Ishikawa I entered the Jazz Institute when I was in college and started jazz.After graduating, I moved to New York in 1990 as a hobby and enrolled in a school with a jazz program called New School University.
— Did you learn jazz there?
At Ishikawa New School, he received a basic jazz education from famous sensei such as Jim Hall for guitar and Kenny Werner and Gil Goldstein for theory.After all, I dropped out of college for two years out of the four-year course (laughs), and then I played in New York for about a year.He was invited to play there by a band called Arnie Lawrence, who created the new school after he quit school.After that, I returned to Japan once in 4.
— How long have you been in Japan after returning to Japan until you return to the United States?
Ishikawa I have been active for 5 or 6 years.I couldn't eat it easily during the performance, so there was a place where I taught and lived.
— After that, in New York again?
Ishikawa Yes, I returned to New York in 1999 and have been based here since then.
— How did you get back to New York?
Ishikawa: Actually, I don't think too deeply (laughs).To be honest, she's not cool, but her wife wanted to study abroad.At that time, I was sloppy, but I was able to live by teaching, so returning to New York was more critical.She thought it would be hard to eat music in New York ...However, because I could get a spouse visa, I felt light enough to go there again.However, when I returned to New York, I thought that this was the way to go.The blood that I had forgotten started to make noise, she was motivated to play music.
— You thought you could make music better in New York.
Ishikawa: I got a tiger job from an old acquaintance, and from about the second day of my arrival, I started playing gigs at the hospital.This was a lot of fun, and I thought I'd do it here, in New York.
— By the way, the university in Japan is not a music department, isn't it?
Ishikawa Yes, I am in the Faculty of Law, Keio University.
— It's an excellent university, isn't it?I think there was a possibility of becoming an elite if we went on as it was.But what made you choose music?
Ishikawa: You probably liked it.But actually, I've been a salaryman for only one year.After graduating from college, he worked for a printing company.When I graduated from college, I thought I couldn't eat jazz guitar, so I gave up and got a job.But you couldn't forget it.So he left the company.
— Did you have any opposition from those around you?
Ishikawa Hahaha, that's right (laughs).However, I originally wanted to be a musician, but I got a job because of the opposition of his parents.Even so, when I tried to work, it was impossible after all.
— Didn't your soul get thrown away?
Ishikawa That's right.After all, there is such a place in music.Once you do it, you can't stop.I think it's very dangerous.I see a lot of dangerous people (laughs).Many Japanese musicians come from places where jazz research is flourishing at university.There are many people from the University of Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, Waseda University, etc. (laughs).
— Did Ishikawa have an interest in music even before he entered university?
Ishikawa Yes.She has loved music since she was a kid.She likes to listen to rock music from elementary school, and she bought a guitar when she was in the 5th grade of elementary school, about 11 years old.
— I think rock and jazz are similar and different, but why did you get into jazz when you were in college?
Ishikawa: I started playing musical instruments earlier than other people, so it's good! I was lifted from the surroundings (laughs), and I liked playing the guitar, so I said, "Let's study this!" When I thought about it, I naturally became interested in jazz because I wanted to do something difficult.Besides, I think that rock will definitely accompany a song, but instead, it feels like it naturally flows into music that focuses on musical instruments.
— I think there are other genres that focus on musical instruments, such as classical and flamenco. Why was jazz there?
Ishikawa That's right.I didn't start jazz suddenly, but when I was in high school I started doing instrumental metal fusion.Fusion has a jazz-like element, so I thought it would be better to study the original jazz properly while playing that kind of thing.
— Are there any good or bad points in playing jazz in the US that are different from Japan?
Ishikawa: The superficial technique of jazz can be studied in Japan, and I think Japanese musicians also play that way.However, by living in the United States and interacting with black people, so-called old school people, you can feel the blues and gospel that are the roots of jazz, and learn the lifestyle of black people. You can go on.
— After all it is from the lifestyle.
Ishikawa: I think so.Therefore, it may be difficult to study jazz in a true sense outside the United States, especially NY. ..Even if you can acquire superficial techniques, I think it's a happy thing to learn here in terms of acquiring the unique feeling of jazz, blues, and soul.
— What do you want to do if you don't feel like it?
Ishikawa It will be completely different.I can't explain it well by mouth, but that's important.
— For example, Boston has famous schools such as Berklee, but is New York different from that city?
Ishikawa: If you're in New York, for example, you can play with musicians who can't read the score, and you can touch them with your skin, and you can learn a lot.
— You can talk in jazz even with people who can't read music.
Ishikawa: Originally, jazz was music that you listen to, catch with your ears, and play, so I think that kind of part is very important.
— Does that mean it's a bit academic?
Ishikawa That's right.Therefore, I think that the energy that jazz originally has is being lost.
— Does that mean you can see that trend in the United States?
Ishikawa You can see it.
— Where can I see the performance that makes me feel that kind of soul?
Ishikawa: I think there are very few at present.Because veteran musicians are dying one after another.So, I think it's better to listen to the performances of veteran people than to listen to the performances of the people who are selling recently.Someone who is not very famous in Japan.After that, I recommend going to Gospel Church first.
— Gospel church?
Ishikawa: I think you can feel the roots there.If you go to gospel church where there are only black people, you will feel tremendous energy and you will be shocked.Harlem, Brooklyn, Bronx.I was.Even old musicians, such as Thelonious Monk, are from Gospel Church, and I think those people are fundamentally different.
— Originally, jazz musicians were all such people.
Ishikawa: Originally, it came from that kind of place.I was very strict when I was playing with gospel people. “Young jazz musicians are missing something”.They are screaming during the performance, "Feel, You gotta feel more!".So if you play it on the top, you'll be yelled at.That kind of experience is something you can't do at school.Even in Japan, it's called "feeling" or "feel", but I don't quite understand the true meaning.It's hard to explain by mouth, but that unique part is the power of jazz music.It's the origin, isn't it?
— How long did you get that feeling?
Ishikawa That is ...No, you may not know yet (laughs).I think that it is something that must be deepened steadily over the course of a lifetime.
— I would like to ask you a realistic question. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to Japanese people when working in the United States?
Ishikawa: If it's a normal job, the Japanese are serious and decent with respect to time, so there may be some trust in them.However, if you try to work at a higher level, such as a jazz club, you may be prejudiced because you are Japanese if you have the same ability.
- So that's it.
Ishikawa: What it means for people over there that Japanese people are playing jazz is whether they bother to go to an American sushi chef to eat.Therefore, I think that we must be able to perform with great ability and high quality.I think all the Japanese people doing this here are doing their best.
— You are required to do more than do your best in Japan.
Ishikawa: There are only Japanese people in Japan.There are so many musicians in New York, they come from all over the world, and the numbers are different anyway.It's hard to do it here, and it's very training.
— What does jazz mean to you, Ishikawa?
Ishikawa What is jazz? Well, it's difficult (laughs).After all, I think it will be something like passion.
— Is it something inside your body?
Ishikawa That's right.At school, I think the focus was on how to be creative.Such an idea should be incorporated as one element to make jazz interesting, but I think it is not the only one.
— There is something more important than that.
Ishikawa The most important thing is the feeling.If you trace the origin of jazz, African slaves came to the United States, and at first they sang almost exclusively in rhythm.Incorporating a little Western harmony into it, it has become more sophisticated and fashionable.In other words, incorporating Western harmonies is only ancillary, so no matter how creative you are, it cannot match the perfection of classical music.I'm improvising.
- I see, i see.
Ishikawa: So I think the rhythm peculiar to jazz is the source of the life and power of jazz music.If it is expressed, I think it will be as artistic as high-quality classical music.That's why I think that jazz is fundamentally different from classical music, and you have to listen to it and play it.It's being misunderstood worldwide, so you're fighting there.I want to tell you that the most important thing is not there.How you feel and feel is important, isn't it?
— It's possible to become technical and forget the original essence.
Ishikawa Yes.I think that the feeling is lost, not just in jazz.After all, music reflects the times, so when it comes to digital ~, digital ~ (laughs), everyone forgets.You don't want a deep feeling. Listening to music on an iPod has become too easy in the world, so I think that the music that is created and the music that is played has become that kind of thing.I think it is my mission to confront that.
— Ishikawa is playing with that kind of feeling, and do you think the reaction of the customers is different?
Ishikawa: I think it's completely different.I returned to Japan last month and played in Mie prefecture, and I think they were very pleased.Multi-generational people who haven't heard much jazz clapping their hands.The drummer is Tainaka, who has been playing here for about 25 years among black people, and that person also plays in a way that everyone can easily understand and feel.It's not like you know jazz.Even if you don't know it, you can understand it by listening to it.
— It doesn't matter if you know it or not.
Ishikawa Yes.So, if I was playing on the top, jazz would be difficult, hmm, I think it would end up.Codes, ideas, arpeggios (laughs).Then, after all, everyone will not listen.
— Well, it feels like listening to classical music.
Ishikawa doesn't have the perfection of a real classical music.The music will be half-finished.It will be weak.
— Originally it was much more powerful indigenous music.
Ishikawa Yes, everyone can feel it.That is my goal.My goal is to make everyone happy.
— Next, I tried to tell you your musical goals, but now that's enough.
Ishikawa That's right, that's right (laughs).That's it.
— What are the secrets and conditions for success as a professional musician in the United States?
Ishikawa This is difficult because it hasn't been successful (laughs).What I've been keenly aware of lately is that doing good music with business is a completely different thing.I have another talent.For example, even the same musician is trying hard to sell by spending a lot of time updating emails and homepages, and putting his life to making phone calls.I think I have to spend more time on that kind of thing, but after all I spend more time thinking about music and practicing musical instruments.But if you work hard, you can get the minimum amount of work.It may not be a success (laughs).
— It means that you can eat properly with music.But that's the difficult part, isn't it?
Ishikawa That's right.I think New York is tough.I'm often invited by people to play, but if I don't get better because I'm backed up, I won't be able to come to work next time.Good accompaniment of people of various styles requires experience and is very difficult.That's why I practice hard so that I can perform well.
— Finally, please give some advice to those who want to study jazz or go to New York.
Ishikawa: It overlaps with what we have done so far, but we don't really stick to theory.For example, I don't care if the sound is wrong.Unlike classical music, jazz is not that kind of music.Basically there is nothing wrong with jazz.I want you to get a more important feeling than that.
— Did you feel that when you went to New York?
Ishikawa: Well, I got a lot from the old school.Even when listening to records, I think that going back and listening to old jazz, blues, and gospel will give better results than listening to what is doing the difficult things now.
- Thank you very much today.
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