Mazri no Matsuri

Mayumi Kojima photos courtesy of Mazri

As a mid-sized music video production company, how might you bring increased attention to your activities and the artists you work with? One answer is to host your own music festival, which is exactly what Mazri has been doing each spring for the past few years at the outdoor amphitheater in Hibiya Park.

Headlining this year’s event are The Miceteeth, one of the more adept of the many acts currently exploring the tradition of Jamaican ska in Japan. Although the Japa-reggae scene is flashier and more commercially successful with its doreddo paama (dreadlock perms), bared navels and swiveling hips, Japan has had a long tradition of ska bands (who also look dapper in porkpie hats and skinny ties). The Ska Flames formed over two decades ago, and Japanese ska is now represented abroad mainly by the polished Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

With both Ska Cubano and Specials’ trombonist Rico Rodriguez (with whom The Miceteeth are due to record) in town last week, there is also no lack of overseas talent touring Japan.

The Miceteeth

Beginning with the Ska Flames and later the Determinations, Osaka has been a breeding ground for many of Japan’s ska acts. The Miceteeth are the youngest of the lot, formed in 1999 by a pack of talented musicians at the Osaka University of Arts and debuting in 2002 with Constant Music on their own label Tentosen (“connect the dots”).

Their latest, last summer’s From Rainbow Town, shows the band to be masters of the essential ska vocabulary of chugging, syncopated proto-reggae rhythms and melodic horn parts, while at the same time nodding to the J-pop market in the form of singer Taisuke Tsugimatsu’s sweetly delivered Japanese lyrics. Concertgoers who’ve been to Fuji Rock or Summer Sonic may have experienced the Miceteeth’s energetic performances on the national stage.

Captain Straydrum

A number of other worthy acts are also on the bill for Mazri no Matsuri, among them Anatakikou, a folk-flavored band created as a side project by Miceteeth guitarist Keisuke Moritera, and Tuff Session, a roots reggae band formed by customers of a Tokyo reggae bar—and perhaps the world’s only reggae band to feature a violinist. Filling out the program are fast-emerging pop-rock outfit Captain Straydrum, who rapidly sold out their date this month at Liquidroom, singer Mayumi Kojima, who has blended jazz, blues and rock over the course of a seven-album career, and pop unit Tsubaki, who debuted just last year.

For those interested in exploring Japanese pop, but are not sure where to begin, Mazri no Matsuri offers a showcase of acts in an agreeable setting, and at an affordable price.

Hibiya Yagai Ongakudo, May 21. See concert listings (popular) for details.

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