It's been nearly 40 years since Japanese jazz-pianist Yosuke Yamashita
took his first tentative steps into the world of jazz.
After a short stint with Japanese saxophonist Sadao Watanabe in the
mid-1960s, Yamashita broke away from the conservative jazz world,
however, and formed Japan's first bass-less avant-garde jazz trio in
1969.
In 1983, after a decade and half with his jazz trio, Yamashita took time
out from jazz exclusively and began to dabble in world music. Performing
with numerous percussion groups, including Japan's globally famous Kodo
Group, Yamashita was soon a leading light in the world music and jazz
scenes that exploded in Japan during the 1980s.
Not that he confined himself solely to world music. Yamashita also began
toying with classical compositions and went on to record a series of his
own solo piano improvisational interpretations of works by Ravel, Dvorak
and Bach.
Debuting in the US in 1985, Yamashita's performance proved so noteworthy
that New York Times's Jon Pareles lauded his style as ".. aggressive
playing tempered with just enough melodic finesse."
In 1988, Yamashita formed his New York Trio. While his new jazz combo
played more mainstream jazz than his earlier avant-garde threesome, the
trio still enjoyed toying with classical, world and big-band tunes.
Yamashita's highly adventurous improvisational skills still featured
prominently, however, regardless of the combo's vibe.
Along with spending much of the last decade touring the globe with his
well-versed New York-ers, Yamashita has made plenty of time to hit the
recording studio. While the group has released countless CDs, many of
them have until only recently been made available outside of Japan. Some
of Yamashita's international releases include the very popular Kurdish
Dance (Polygram), Ways of Time (Verve) and the most recent Fragments
(Verve/Universal).
Yosuke Yamashita and the New York Trio will be performing tonight at the
Chih Teh Hall in Kaohsiung (高雄市文化中心至德堂) and tomorrow at Taipei's National Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall(台北國父紀念館). Performances
begin at 7:30pm and tickets for both shows cost between NT$300 and
NT$1,200 and are available at the door or from ERA Ticketing outlets
nationwide.
Recently the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its Mini-Me partner in the legislature, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), have been arguing that construction of chip fabs in the US by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is little more than stripping Taiwan of its assets. For example, KMT Legislative Caucus First Deputy Secretary-General Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) in January said that “This is not ‘reciprocal cooperation’ ... but a substantial hollowing out of our country.” Similarly, former TPP Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) contended it constitutes “selling Taiwan out to the United States.” The two pro-China parties are proposing a bill that
March 9 to March 15 “This land produced no horses,” Qing Dynasty envoy Yu Yung-ho (郁永河) observed when he visited Taiwan in 1697. He didn’t mean that there were no horses at all; it was just difficult to transport them across the sea and raise them in the hot and humid climate. “Although 10,000 soldiers were stationed here, the camps had fewer than 1,000 horses,” Yu added. Starting from the Dutch in the 1600s, each foreign regime brought horses to Taiwan. But they remained rare animals, typically only owned by the government or
Institutions signalling a fresh beginning and new spirit often adopt new slogans, symbols and marketing materials, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is no exception. Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), soon after taking office as KMT chair, released a new slogan that plays on the party’s acronym: “Kind Mindfulness Team.” The party recently released a graphic prominently featuring the red, white and blue of the flag with a Chinese slogan “establishing peace, blessings and fortune marching forth” (締造和平,幸福前行). One part of the graphic also features two hands in blue and white grasping olive branches in a stylized shape of Taiwan. Bonus points for
“M yeolgong jajangmyeon (anti-communism zhajiangmian, 滅共炸醬麵), let’s all shout together — myeolgong!” a chef at a Chinese restaurant in Dongtan, located about 35km south of Seoul, South Korea, calls out before serving a bowl of Korean-style zhajiangmian —black bean noodles. Diners repeat the phrase before tucking in. This political-themed restaurant, named Myeolgong Banjeom (滅共飯館, “anti-communism restaurant”), is operated by a single person and does not take reservations; therefore long queues form regularly outside, and most customers appear sympathetic to its political theme. Photos of conservative public figures hang on the walls, alongside political slogans and poems written in Chinese characters; South
RSS