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Kotaro Oshio: Solo Strings
Not too many Japanese guitarists get plucked out of obscurity
to play Switzerland's world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival-only
one, to be specific.
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| "If you can't
get signed by a major, then you will never acquire a significant
fan base." |
"The producer of the festival, Claude Nobs, was approached
in Tokyo by the international marketing department at my record
company, Toshiba-EMI. He agreed to meet me," recalls
Kotaro Oshio in an interview held at a Tokyo recording studio.
"He asked me to play for him, and Claude likes blues,
so I played some blues for him, and some originals. In Japan,
if you're asked to play for an executive, it's
unlikely that you will be signed then and there. Often nothing
comes of it, but Claude asked me to appear immediately."
Such were the serendipitous events that saw Oshio, 35, make
his international debut in 2002 on one of the most prestigious
stages the world has to offer, even before he had issued his
first major label album. In fact, events have happened so
quickly for the tousled Osaka native that even he seems a
bit bewildered.
As recently as 2001, Oshio was another struggling Osaka musician
trying to eke a living out of the Kansai live houses. He had
released two indie albums featuring his solo steel-string
guitar work in 1999 and 2001, gradually building a local following.
Word of mouth led an A&R man from Toshiba-EMI to come
to Osaka for a closer look but, says Oshio, after many years
of fruitless efforts to woo major labels, his expectations
were low. "Even when an A&R guy came to see me,
I never imagined things would reach this point. But he was
really serious about working with me."
Record label heft and the selection of Oshio's song
"Blue Sky" as the theme to a TV talk show meant
that he was soon a national topic. It didn't hurt that
his smoldering good looks made him a hit with the ladies,
but Oshio's real strength lay in his passionate and
original approach to the steel-string guitar, which draws
on folk, jazz, and New Age.
Yet Oshio wasn't one of these perfectly formed virtuoso
instrumentalists-the kind that Asia seems to turn out
like flawless Toyotas-who master their instruments
when barely out of diapers. Rather, he was a bit of a late
bloomer, beginning the guitar only at age 14.
"At first I was into Japanese folk music-I took
a fairly conventional singer-songwriter approach,"
he says. Heading to Tokyo to attend a music college, Oshio
returned to Osaka after graduation, joining a rock band with
whom he played electric bass. But after years of slogging
away without scoring a deal, the guitarist was at a turning
point. "When aspiring pop musicians reach around 27,
they begin to quit if they haven't found success; the
need to get a 'real job' and marriage take their
toll."
Despite parental pressure, however, Oshio wasn't ready
to give up on music. "I felt like I wanted to continue
even on my own," he said. "I again picked up
the acoustic guitar and started playing around solo, and gradually
began to make a living at it."
Citing guitarists from Windham Hill innovator Michael Hedges
to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page to jazz great Wes Montgomery
as influences, Oshio set about perfecting a style that utilizes
open tuning, harmonics and finger-tapping to create the illusion
of more than one guitar being played at once.
His sophomore release, this summer's Dramatic, showcases
a range of Oshio originals, from the breezy counterpoint of
the opener, "Splash," to the sweetly intimate
"Happy Island" and even an interpretation of
Ravel's "Bolero." Bringing out the best
in his handcrafted Greven guitars (which have been made for
everyone from Eric Clapton to Johnny Cash), Oshio's
music is easily accessible without being "easy listening."
He says his compositions are the result of a lengthy trial
and error process. "I start with a theme, and then
try and express that on guitar," he says. "When
I compose, I play my compositions at a very early stage for
people and gauge their responses. If the response isn't
good then I'll shelve that idea." Dramatic debuted
at No. 24 on the national sales charts, quite remarkable for
an instrumental album, and went on to a second life when many
of its tracks were selected as theme music for radio and TV
programs.
In spite of the growth of independent record labels in Japan
in recent years, Oshio thinks that for solo instrumentalists,
signing with a major is still vital for getting exposure.
"There are not that many individual Japanese guitarists
who have signed with major labels," he says. "If
you can't get signed by a major, then you will never
acquire a significant fan base."
Having cemented his status by playing the Montreux Jazz Festival
again this summer and touring concert halls across Japan,
Oshio is now in a position to branch out and experiment a
bit. He's worked recently with everyone from shamisen
prodigy Hiromitsu Agatsuma to French jazz singer Clementine.
But when asked who he would most like to collaborate with,
his answer is surprisingly conventional: "Mariah Carey:
one-on-one!"
Dramatic is available on Toshiba-EMI.
A live DVD, Dramatic Tour 2003, will be released on December
10 also on Toshiba-EMI. Kotaro Oshio plays Motion Blue Yokohama
on November 28-30. See listings for details.
Credit:
Toshima-EMI
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