Sunday, 14 December 2025
The musician's musician
I visited the NHK Hall.
Akiko Yano was performing.
She began her tour in Japan in December, and it has now been thirty years.
Tokyo performances are always held at NHK Hall.
As this year marks the 30th anniversary, so I joined the fan club in the hope of getting a good seat for the concert.
Much to my surprise, I got a really great seat.
The concert was wonderful, especially the performance by Yoshiyuki Sahashi.
He switched between the ukulele, the pedal steel guitar, the mandolin, the banjo, and the 12-string acoustic-electric guitar.
He played a Kenji Omura song on a red Stratocaster, and the sound was clear and powerful; each phrase felt full of soul.
I was surprised that Tatsuo Hayashi counted in a 6/8 time signature song - he actually tapped his sticks six times.
I previously wrote in this diary that I was surprised to hear his count reaching the third-tier seats, but, with hindsight, this makes sense since microphones were set up.
This time, my seat was close to the stage, so I could clearly hear him count in.
His hi-hat work was superb.
Yano's daughter, Miu Sakamoto, previously attended one of her mother's concerts and commented that it was very good.
Yano replied,"That's only natural, as I put in the effort solely for that purpose."
I can't remember where I read Miu Sakamoto's comment.
I might be mistaken.
The concert ended in the blink of an eye.
Seeing Yano perform with such fiery passion made me purely feel that I want to work harder at music.
Her electric piano sound is, always very cool, like a Wurlitzer.
She also casually played the guitar, and her strumming was impressive.
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