{"id":14840,"date":"2010-11-16T22:21:09","date_gmt":"2010-11-17T02:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=14840"},"modified":"2010-11-16T22:21:09","modified_gmt":"2010-11-17T02:21:09","slug":"interview-with-jazz-musician-keiko-matsui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2010\/11\/16\/interview-with-jazz-musician-keiko-matsui\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Jazz Musician Keiko Matsui"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Keiko Matsui performs at New York's Blue Note Nov. 23-25. (Jun Sato)<\/p><\/div>\n

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By <\/em>JQ magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Justin Tedaldi<\/a> <\/strong>(CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02)\u00a0for Examiner.com.\u00a0Visit his NY Japanese Culture\u00a0page here<\/a><\/strong> to subscribe for free alerts\u00a0on newly published stories.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Contemporary jazz icon Keiko Matsui<\/a> began playing piano at the age of five. With sales of over 1.2 million units in the U.S. and sold-out appearances at concert halls across the world, she is one of the most recognized artists in the genre.<\/p>\n

In addition to being the first Japanese artist to top Billboard<\/em>\u2019s contemporary jazz chart, she actively supports a range of charities, including the Y-Me Breast Cancer Organization<\/a>. United Nations World Food Programme<\/a>\u2019s efforts in Africa, and California for A3M<\/a>\u2019s charity for the National Marrow Donor Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matsui is now putting the final touches on her\u00a0latest album, due early 2011 with Shanachie Records<\/a>. I spoke with her prior to her debut three-night stand\u00a0happening next week at New York\u2019s venerable Blue Note Jazz Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Congratulations on your very first show at New York\u2019s Blue Note. How do you feel about playing there and what do you expect?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course in New York, Blue Note is a legendary place, and I\u2019m very happy to be there. At the same time, I have toured in many different countries, and I always feel very fortunate at the concerts to feel that music connects us beyond the culture, history, country, everything. So, I really feel that this experience at Blue Note will be very special.<\/p>\n

When did you first come to the U.S.?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the early \u201980s.<\/p>\n

What did you do there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At that time, I was invited to Los Angeles by Yamaha for a special recording. I was also a student, and had the opportunity to make a sample album with Vinnie Colaiuta and Nathan East. That was my first visit to the U.S., and also my first recording there. I invited Vinnie to record on my new album, so I\u2019m glad to see him again.<\/p>\n

What were your memories of that experience? Did you have any culture shock?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I only had one week there, so of course I didn\u2019t know much about the music scene in the U.S., but I was so entranced by Nathan and Vinnie\u2019s playing. It was great creating music together with great musicians, but at that time they were so open. Maybe this is a cultural difference, because Japanese language is based on politeness and different words depending on who you talk to, but English doesn\u2019t have that. So, Japanese people speak really strictly, I felt.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve had a successful career for a long time. Why have you decided to play Blue Note now? <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s true. For me, that\u2019s something I\u2019m kind of questioning myself, too. [laughs<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Click here<\/em><\/a><\/strong> to read the rest of the interview.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JQ magazine\u2019s\u00a0Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02)\u00a0for Examiner.com.\u00a0Visit his NY Japanese Culture\u00a0page here to subscribe for free alerts\u00a0on newly published stories.\u00a0 Contemporary jazz icon Keiko Matsui began playing piano at the age of five. With sales of over 1.2 million units in the U.S. and sold-out appearances at concert halls across the world, she is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,26,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articlejournalism","category-celebrity","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t