Part 1 of my translation of Toshikazu Kanazawa's（金澤寿和）review of Tetsuji Hayashi's（林哲司）50th anniversary tribute concert was posted last Friday, and so I have here Part 2. It will start after another word from our thumbnail photo below.
At this point, we've taken a break before going into the second half of the concert. Starting off was none other than the one-and-only Kiyotaka Sugiyama and Omega Tribe. Their most dedicated fans, many of whom were women, came out and stood up for them. Given how well received they were, wouldn't it have been nice to have just one more song (two-song set)? That's what I thought, but then again, Sugiyama was going to sing a solo song later. During the set changes, interviews with both of the music directors, Mitsuo Hagita and Motoki Funayama, were shown on screen.
Next was Iyo Matsumoto, and I didn't expect her to be able to sing this well live, so my apologies for thinking otherwise. While Chikuzen Sato did OK with the Omega Tribe cover, his take on Hiromi Go's "Irie nite" (In the Cove) was a highlight. The album which contains this song, "Super Drive", has only been included in the Hiromi Go BOX collection and not been released as a separate CD (which seems to be a corporate issue). But what I was hearing on stage was the real thing and so far, the lineup has been impressing me.
As I was basking in the afterglow, I received the biggest delight of the evening...Emiko Suzuki. A talented singer who has been in the business for four years, I knew of her vaguely but this was the time to actually listen to her, and her magnificent balladry reminded me of Whitney Houston. The audience was absolutely rapt into her performance. Her take on "Maboroshi no Suiheisen" (The Direction You Take) is a masterpiece that had been performed by shakuhachi player Kazu Matsui when he was working in the United States along with Carlos Rios with the original singer being Jennifer Warnes. Warnes is a well-regarded songstress but Suzuki's ability is on a par with her. Impressed with here talent, as I was listening to her singing Mariya Takeuchi's "September", I actually preferred to hear her sing another epic ballad.
The excitement started to build from around this point, and at first, we had Momoko Kikuchi with her three songs. She sported a vivid green dress but her delivery was her usual whispery tones and so her singing wasn't quite up there like Iyo-chan's. As if she were aware of this, she was waving her arms about and charming everybody, but she was still one of the highlights of the show. Akira Terao made his presence felt in a different way. A stool and a table were set up for him and he began singing in a subdued and calm way while sporting those sunglasses. It was difficult to comprehend his connection with Hayashi from the time his appearance had been announced, but Hayashi did contribute one song, "The Stolen Memories" to Terao's 1987 album "Standard". As well, the arrangement was by Tsuyoshi Kon. Midway through, he got into higher spirits and started banging the tambourine. Terao also stated that he had wanted to appear because Samurai Band members Kon and Takamizu were here, and he trotted over to them and showed how well they played together. As if this performance were the segue, Samurai Band was indeed the next on the playlist. The song "Shining Star", another Hayashi creation that was a revelation to me, was from the album "Painted Woman" by the late Masaki Matsubara. Being so familiar with it, the guys were pretty easygoing with it.
Afterwards, Sugiyama, who frequently appears in Hayashi's live concerts, returned for another song followed by Junichi Inagaki who performed three of his own classics before the main concert ended. For the encore, Kikuchi performed "Blind Curve" which has been especially popular overseas and then Inagaki came back to the stage to sing "Ichi-Das no Iiwake" (One Dozen Excuses). Hayashi returned to give his thanks to everybody after which he gave his full feelings on "Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay with Me", the song that no longer had its main character but Miki Matsubara's original vocal track was extracted and synchronized with the Samurai Band's live backing performance. Past images of her were shown on the large screen and all of the performers showed up for the outro and a final chorus.
As I felt with the three-CD "Melody Collection" that had come out a couple of years back, when I was immersed in the works of one composer for four hours like this, I discovered that person's chord progression patterns and ways of holding a melody. Naturally, I was able to feel things even more strongly. And this has remained consistent throughout his 50-year career, and regardless of the commercial success of his work, it continues to live on in every song as a universal thing. Perhaps it's something easy to express, but I'm sure that Tetsuji Hayashi was able to stand on this stage because he's been doing what he has done unwaveringly.
Tetsuji, I once again salute you!
Thanks again for translating the review. It's safe to say, I might not enjoy every single tune but the chance to hear them performed live will definitely outweigh it. Also, thanks for the heads up the 3-cd set. I ordered it after you mentioned it and listening to it right now. I hope one day the stars align when I am in Japan again and Tetsuji and co., do another show.
ReplyDeleteGreat that you were able to get your own copy of the set. It would be nice if Hayashi opted for another show but I hope that it's not too far off in the future since none of us are getting any younger.
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