Kitaro
Kitaro Biography
Kitaro is a new age composer and multi-instrumentalist. His real name is Masanori Takahashi. Pseudonym "Kitaro" was given by his friends because of a Japanese television cartoon character named Kitaro.
Kitaro was born on February 4, 1953 in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. His parents were shintoistic farmers.
Kitaro taught himself how to play guitar, inspired by the R&B musician Otis Redding. He says of teaching himself, "I never had education in music, I just learned to trust my ears and my feelings." He gives credit for his creations to a power beyond himself. "This music is not from my mind," he said. "It is from heaven, going through my body and out my fingers through composing. Sometimes I wonder. I never practice. I don't read or write music, but my fingers move. I wonder 'Whose song is this?' I write my songs, but they are not my songs."
While attending Toyohashi Commercial High School, he organized the "Albatross" band with his friends. At that time, they performed in parties and clubs. "In high school, I was in an amateur band. I started out playing the guitar but then changed to the keyboards. Before one of our gigs, the drummer was injured. I had no experience at all on the drums, but I had to learn it because I was the leader of the band, and we had to do the gig. My drumming was not very good, but we got through the show in one piece. Later, the bassist had injuries, so I had to learn how to play the bass. [These accidents are] the main reasons why I can play all these instruments; I had a crash course in how to play them. It was a hard time for me, but a very good experience. It created the base knowledge of all the instruments I use and need to create my current brand of music. After graduating, I really wanted to be in the music business, so I moved to Tokyo and started looking for bands to play with. I basically did it for the experience and to get a feel of all the clubs that were available in Tokyo and Yokohama. At that time I played keyboards, and then I discovered the synthesizer. This was a revelation. First of all, the instructions for the thing were in English so I couldn't read them. I was trying to make sounds but couldn't! I tried for a whole day, but no sound ever came out because I didn't know how to program it or set it up. Finally, the first sound I got off this thing was a wind-like sound, but I was so elated that I actually made some noise, it didn't matter. I turned one of the knobs slowly to make more wind-like noises. Then I decided to buy another synthesizer to form a different type of sound. I just loved the analog sound that it made compared to today's digital sound. Now, my equipment and synthesizers are all analog. But technically, digital is much easier to use for editing and other stuff."
His parents were first opposed to the idea of their son having a musical career. They had other plans for him and in an attempt to get him to see their way, made arrangements for him to take a job at a local company. However he left home without telling them before. He supported himself by taking on several part time jobs such as cooking and civil service work while composing songs at night.
In the early '70s he changed completely to keyboards. He joined the band "Far East Family Band" and toured with them around the world. In Europe he met the German synthesizer musician and former Tangerine Dream member Klaus Schulze. Schulze produced two albums for the band and gave Kitaro some tips for the use of synthesizers.
In 1976 he left the band and travelled through Asia (China, Laos, Thailand, India).
Solo career
Back in Japan Kitaro started his solo career in 1977. The first two albums Ten Kai and From the Full Moon Story became cult favorites of fans of the nascent New Age movement. He performed his first symphonic concert at the 'Small Hall' of the Kosei Nemkin Kaikan in Shinjuku, Toyko. During this concert Kitaro used a synthesizer to recreate the sounds of 40 different instruments, a world's first. But it was his famous soundtrack for the NHK series "Silk Road" which brought him the international attention.
He struck a worldwide distribution arrangement with Geffen Records in 1986; in 1987 he collaborated with different musicians, e.g. with Micky Hart (Grateful Dead) and Jon Anderson (Yes) and his record sales soared to 10 million worldwide. He was then nominated twice for a Grammy and his soundtrack (for the movie "Heaven & Earth") won a 1994 award for best original score. His biggest musical success was the Grammy Award 2001 for his album Thinking of You.
Personal life
Kitaro is very modest. "Nature inspires me. I am only a messenger", he said. "To me, some songs are like clouds, some are like water". Since 1983 his reverence for nature leads Kitaro to annually give thanks to Mother Nature in a special "concert" on Mount Fuji or near his house in Colorado. On the day of the full moon of August he beats on the Taiko drum from dusk to dawn. Frequently his hands become bloodied, but he continues to pound.
From 1983 till 1990 he was married with his first wife Yuki Taoka. Yuki is a daughter of Kazuo Taoka, godfather of Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest Yakuza syndicate. Kitaro and Yuki have a son, Ryunosuke, who lives in Japan. They separated because Kitaro worked most time in the United States while she lived and worked in Japan. In the middle of the 1990s Kitaro married Keiko Matsubara, a musician who played on several of his albums. With her and her son Kitaro lived in Ward, Colorado on a 180 acre (730,000 m2) spread and composed in his 2500 square foot (230 m2) home studio "Mochi House" (it is large enough to hold a 70 piece orchestra). Kitaro and Keiko recently relocated to Occidental, California.
Other works
He has also worked with Virtuoso Guitarist Marty Friedman, formerly of Megadeth, on the "Scenes" album, which had a significal impact on the forthcoming Kitaro's "Mandala" release.
Kitaro is also known as a composer of the soundtrack for Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth" film.
Kitaro Discography
| 1973 Far out - Far East Family Band | Buy CD | |
| 1974 Mu Land (The Cave down to the earth) - Far East Family Band | ||
| 1975 Nipponjin (Japanese Person) - Far East Family Band | Buy CD | |
| 1975 Parallel World - Far East Family Band | Buy CD | |
| 1976 Oasis | Buy CD | |
| 1976 Silk Road Volume I | Buy CD | |
| 1976 Vertigo - Far East Family Band | ||
| 1977 Silk Road Volume II | Buy CD | |
| 1977 Tenkujin (Heavenly Person) - Far East Family Band | Buy CD | |
| 1978 Millennia - Soundtrack | Buy CD | |
| 1978 Ten Kai (Astral Voyage) | Buy CD | |
| 1979 Full Moon Story | Buy CD | |
| 1979 Ki | Buy CD | |
| 1980 In Person - Live | Buy CD | |
| 1980 Shichu No Michi (Silk Road I) | Buy CD | |
| 1980 Silk Road Suite - Orchestral | Buy CD | |
| 1981 Best of... Volume I - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 1982 Queen of Millennia | ||
| 1982 World of Kitaro - Orchestral | ||
| 1983 Tenjiku (Silk Road II) | Buy CD | |
| 1983 Tunhuang (Silk Road III) | Buy CD | |
| 1984 Asia - 1975 Live | Buy CD | |
| 1986 Silver Cloud | Buy CD | |
| 1986 Tenku (Heavenly Sky) | Buy CD | |
| 1986 Toward the West | Buy CD | |
| 1986 My Best - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 1987 Light of the Spirit | Buy CD | |
| 1988 Best of Ten Years (1976-1986) - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 1989 Best 16 Hits - Compilation | ||
| 1990 Kojiki | Buy CD | |
| 1991 America - Live | Buy CD | |
| 1991 Far East Family Band - Compilation | ||
| 1992 Dream | Buy CD | |
| 1994 Mandala | Buy CD | |
| 1994 Tokusen II - Compilation | ||
| 1995 An Enchanted Evening - Live | Buy CD | |
| 1995 Karuna - Kitaro & Nawang Khechog | Buy CD | |
| 1996 Peace On Earth | Buy CD | |
| 1996 Kitaro's World of Music - Kitaro & Yu-Xiao Guang | Buy CD | |
| 1997 Cirque Ingenieux - Soundtrack | Buy CD | |
| 1997 Tentochi (Heaven & Earth) - Soundtrack | Buy CD | |
| 1998 Gaia Onbashira | Buy CD | |
| 1998 Music for the Spirit Volume I-IV | Buy CD | |
| 1998 Twin Best - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 1999 Best of... Volume II - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 1999 Thinking of You | Buy CD | |
| 1999 Monkey Magic - Soundtrack | Buy CD | |
| 2001 Ancient | Buy CD | |
| 2001 Healing Forest | Buy CD | |
| 2001 Noah's Ark | Buy CD | |
| 2001 Best of Grammy Awards - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 2002 An Ancient Journey | Buy CD | |
| 2002 Ashu Chakan (Asian Cafe) - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 2002 Mizu ni Inorite (Pray For Water) | Buy CD | |
| 2002 The Soong Sisters - Kitaro & Randy Miller - Soundtrack | Buy CD | |
| 2002 Daylight, Moonlight in Yakushiji - Live | Buy CD | |
| 2002 Journey to the Heart Volume I-IV | ||
| 2003 Best of Silk Road - Compilation | Buy CD | |
| 2003 Ninja Scroll - Soundtrack | Buy CD | |
| 2003 Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai | Buy CD | |
| 2004 Shikoku 88 Places | Buy CD | |
| 2005 Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Volume 2 | Buy CD | |
| 2006 Spiritual Garden | Buy CD |
