Tuesday, February 27, 2007

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 BandBuy CD
1974 Mu Land (The Cave down to the earth) - Far East Family Band
1975 Nipponjin (Japanese Person) - Far East Family BandBuy CD
1975 Parallel World - Far East Family BandBuy CD
1976 OasisBuy CD
1976 Silk Road Volume IBuy CD
1976 Vertigo - Far East Family Band
1977 Silk Road Volume IIBuy CD
1977 Tenkujin (Heavenly Person) - Far East Family BandBuy CD
1978 Millennia - SoundtrackBuy CD
1978 Ten Kai (Astral Voyage)Buy CD
1979 Full Moon StoryBuy CD
1979 KiBuy CD
1980 In Person - LiveBuy CD
1980 Shichu No Michi (Silk Road I)Buy CD
1980 Silk Road Suite - OrchestralBuy CD
1981 Best of... Volume I - CompilationBuy 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 LiveBuy CD
1986 Silver CloudBuy CD
1986 Tenku (Heavenly Sky)Buy CD
1986 Toward the WestBuy CD
1986 My Best - CompilationBuy CD
1987 Light of the SpiritBuy CD
1988 Best of Ten Years (1976-1986) - CompilationBuy CD
1989 Best 16 Hits - Compilation
1990 KojikiBuy CD
1991 America - LiveBuy CD
1991 Far East Family Band - Compilation
1992 DreamBuy CD
1994 MandalaBuy CD
1994 Tokusen II - Compilation
1995 An Enchanted Evening - LiveBuy CD
1995 Karuna - Kitaro & Nawang KhechogBuy CD
1996 Peace On EarthBuy CD
1996 Kitaro's World of Music - Kitaro & Yu-Xiao GuangBuy CD
1997 Cirque Ingenieux - SoundtrackBuy CD
1997 Tentochi (Heaven & Earth) - SoundtrackBuy CD
1998 Gaia OnbashiraBuy CD
1998 Music for the Spirit Volume I-IVBuy CD
1998 Twin Best - CompilationBuy CD
1999 Best of... Volume II - CompilationBuy CD
1999 Thinking of YouBuy CD
1999 Monkey Magic - SoundtrackBuy CD
2001 AncientBuy CD
2001 Healing ForestBuy CD
2001 Noah's ArkBuy CD
2001 Best of Grammy Awards - CompilationBuy CD
2002 An Ancient JourneyBuy CD
2002 Ashu Chakan (Asian Cafe) - CompilationBuy CD
2002 Mizu ni Inorite (Pray For Water)Buy CD
2002 The Soong Sisters - Kitaro & Randy Miller - SoundtrackBuy CD
2002 Daylight, Moonlight in Yakushiji - LiveBuy CD
2002 Journey to the Heart Volume I-IV
2003 Best of Silk Road - CompilationBuy CD
2003 Ninja Scroll - SoundtrackBuy CD
2003 Sacred Journey of Ku-KaiBuy CD
2004 Shikoku 88 PlacesBuy CD
2005 Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Volume 2Buy CD
2006 Spiritual GardenBuy CD

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