Blog - HASEGAWA Kiyoshi live recording: report

Hasegawa Kiyoshi live recording: report

Yesterday evening I went to Ebisu for a live recording by artist Hasegawa Kiyoshi. The recordings done on June 2nd and 3rd will be used for a live album to be released on columbia*readymade in September! To attend the shows, one needed to apply on Columbia's web site, and I was happy to be selected for one of the two nights. I went there alone but in the entrance I was lucky to meet Mizue, who I had once met at New Castle's "shu-shu!" event, and her friend Kanae who claims she has seen me before at techno-pop events. :)

Hasegawa Kiyoshi (長谷川きよし) is a guitarist and singer-songwriter who debuted in 1969, he is blind since the age of 2. In his early teens he learned classical guitar and also got interested in chanson. He skillfully plays in classical styles songs ranging from chanson to samba. I'm still very new to his music, as before the show I had only heard "boku no Piano no soba ni oide" from the recent "uta to Guitar. Piano. kotoba." compilation produced by Konishi Yasuharu.

The recording was done in a nice wooden auditorium that can sit about 100 people. It's currently pictured on the columbia*readymade site's top page. There were a lot of faces from the columbia*readymade family (such as writers of the web site's daily columns), and many who seemed like important guests. Konishi-san was there too of course.

The show was split in two sets, totaling about 2 hours. Most songs were performed solo, though for half he was joined by percussionist Sendō Saori, and for a few songs also by flutist Maki. Most (if not all) songs were covers, including ones by Henri Salvador, Gilbert Becaud, Charles Aznavour, Claude François, Sheena Ringo (with who he has collaborated before), and many other Japanese artists I don't know. Most songs were sung in Japanese, foreign songs with translated lyrics, though "Fly Me To The Moon" was in English, and "J'ai vu" (and other bits) in French!

Set #1: Fly Me To The Moon / tōmei na hitotoki o / jinsei toiu na no tabi (J'ai vu) / wakare no Samba / keshō naoshi / hiki shio / ai no sanka (Hymne à l'amour) / namida

Set #2: yogorecchimatta kanashimi ni / tsukiyo no hamabe / boku no Piano no soba ni oide / tasogare no Beguine / kōen no tejinashi / chinmoku no bara / tabigeinin no Ballad / La bohème / Comme d'habitude (itsumo dōri) / ushiro sugata

Encore: sekai no hate ni / namida (Re-take)

The guitar was of course wonderful, but also his voice was really great. Even his French pronunciation was near perfect, which made me quite happy! He also spoke quite a bit between the songs and that was very enjoyable. He explained that the music of Claude François' "Comme d'habitude" is better known as Frank Sinatra's "My Way", but that he had the original French lyrics (which he prefers) translated to Japanese for his own version.

Being that it's a live show intended for recording (and not just a live recording of some live show), I expected to hear the same songs repeated several times, but no, performances were flawless, and only one was played twice. (The previous day also had some of the same songs though, it seems, so I guess they'll pick the best takes for the album.)

I'll definitely be looking forward to the album to be out in September, that will feature the audience clapping including mine. :)

The columbia*readymade site features an official report written by Maezono Naoki, whose music is also featured on the recent compilation and who has just started a new band called Zonies with Konishi-san on piano.

Oh, and while I sincerely love the great music Konishi-san has been making or featuring lately, on that compilation and also the "100 years of Columbia" re-issues, part of me does wonder where the club music side of Readymade went, and when it will come back..!

Posted on June 4, 2008 at 21:00 | Tweet |

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