emerson kitamura

Bio:

エマーソン北村

80年代末にJagataraやMute Beatへ参加して以来、現在もインディー・メジャーを問わず幅広い支持を集めるキーボード奏者。柔らかでグルーヴィーな演奏とレゲエやニューウエーブに基づくD.I.Y.な姿勢が、数々の個性的なアーティストとの出会いを生んできた。 バンド・サポート活動の一方で、オルガンとリズムマシンによるソロ活動を行って全国のライブハウスやカフェに出没、ライジングサンロックフェスなどイベントの出演も多数。2009年にはパリでもソロライブを行なった。

Emerson Kitamura by himself

Japanese keyboard player Emerson Kitamura started his carrier in late 1980's. In those decades japanese music scene faced with the first chaos of arising indie music. Numbers of post-punk/new wave musicians started to expand their musical points of view to Hip Hop, Reggae, 'World' music, electronic music, and some tried to express themselves in a singer/songwriter style which is very personal and with a little bit strange atmosphere. The background of Emerson Kitamura's music consists of all these musical experience and he has been making contributions to japanese indie scene for about twenty years as a musician and a producer.

Now he plays with many japanese artists both famous and unknown, and at the same time he continues to create his personal music as a solo artist. In his solo works he has chosen the way to perform with no one to be accompanied, but only with some old keyboards and a few equipments.

In spite of his capability to play a variety of music, his solo performance is so simple and quiet. Maybe his music can be described with a set of words 'no' or 'a few' : no computer programming, no effect, a few notes to be played... He takes his materials from old (very old, like in 1920's) american jazz songs, authentic jamaican rocksteady tracks, etc and plays them in a completely different style. Along with these he plays his own compositions and sometimes improvises in a manner of silent electronic music.

However his performance sounds smooth and nostalgic, like his personality, it's not all. His aim is like interpreting 'good old music' into the music of our decade, full of confusion and terror. The lack of the notes is a farther influence of deep Dub music : He is still a children of japanese new wave era !

Member Since:

November 13, 2008

Influences:

Jackie Mittoo, Studio One, Treasure Isle, Thelonious Monk, Avelino Muñoz, the Pop Group, New Age Steppers, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Luiz Gonzaga, Fats Waller Jagatara, Mute Beat, Yann Tomita, ECD, Sakana