Hiroko Kokubu and Ivan Lins -- Passarada

 

A couple of nights ago on the most recent "Uta Con"（うたコン）broadcast on NHK, I got to see jazz pianist Hiroko Kokubu（国府弘子）for the first time on camera since she was collaborating with singer Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）for an album. It was great to see her especially because I've had a couple of albums by the pianist for a few decades, including the one that you see above.

The ironic thing, though, is that even though some of Kokubu's albums are up on YouTube in their entirety, the one that I was really hoping to see up there, her 1991 "Light and Colour", isn't. Although it's tough to choose between the two albums that I have, if push comes to shove, I have to say that I prefer "Light and Colour" for its bossa jazz. Well, as it has been, although I did put up articles on the first two tracks of the album, "Moon Island" and "Pepino Beach", any aural examples have been restricted to excerpts through Amazon and Apple.

Happily, I have been given some hope. Just out of curiosity last night and the fact that I did see Kokubu on screen, I tried looking for "Light and Colour" again on YouTube and then even punched in the individual tracks. Strangely enough, I actually found one track which is Track 3 on the album "Passarada". When I punched in that title into Google Translate's Portuguese to English, I got the translation of "Flyby". Now, my trust in Google Translate isn't anywhere near 100% so if Marcos or anyone from Brazil could let me know if the translation is accurate, that would be much appreciated (October 23, 2022: A very kind person from Brazil has set me straight on the meaning if you check below in the Comments. Thank you very much!).

Anyways, it was good hearing "Passarada" again, and speaking of Kokubu's collaborations, I found out that this particular song was one such cooperative effort between the pianist who composed the tune and the famed Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivan Lins who came up with the lyrics for him to sing. "Passarada" is a mix of funk evoking downtown New York City and some elegant bossa jazz making me think of some resort bar in Rio de Janeiro. It's a song that would be a welcome addition to any stereo speakers on a Sunday morning over brunch. Y'know...I wouldn't mind if a few more full versions of those "Light and Colour" tracks would show up on YouTube, if they're not already there.

Hiroko Kokubu -- Sunset Beach

I figure that since it is Ocean Day or Marine Day in Japan, one of the more recent national holidays added to their calendar, I ought to pick something apropos tonight. Perhaps I have found just the song.

"Sunset Beach" is a calming track from jazz pianist Hiroko Kokubu's（国府弘子）"Diary" album from October 1998, and it makes for a fine aural digestif while sipping some of that other drinkable digestif, brandy (I'll take suggestions for which vintage is best)🍷. As Kokubu stated on her website in Japanese concerning this particular piece (while I translate in English):

"Just idly hanging out on the pier with those sand-filled sandals in one hand. A refreshing cool breeze penetrates into hot skin like a cold lotion. The fishermen, the seagulls...the sound of the waves."

Yes, wouldn't it be nice doing all that on a clear evening by the seashore...preferably with that significant other leaning on your side? I think that Kokubu's languid piano sets the pace of the stroll quite nicely here. "Sunset Beach" is also on her "Moments" BEST album released in America which apparently has different release dates depending on the site. J-Wiki states that "Moments" came out in January 1996 while Amazon says that it was released in February 2000. It doesn't matter, of course. "Sunset Beach" is simply pleasant listening.

Hiroko Kokubu -- Steppin' Out

My history with television goes way back to a small black-and-white set with knobs, dials and a bunny-ear antenna. Yep, no remote control, there were things called UHF and VHF, and this may terrify some of you, but television wasn't always 24 hours a day (and night). That's right...TV stations also closed off for the evening and what we got past midnight was the test pattern for about 6 hours accompanied by an annoying whine. Perhaps it's been within the last few decades that programming like movies and informercials started to fill the overnight hours.

When I first started living in Japan from 1989 during my JET Programme days, I often watched the telly there until the wee hours and even back then, the TV stations would call it a day and throw on the test pattern. But I gotta say that the stations like Fuji-TV really liked to open and end their broadcasting day with panache and perhaps a bit of psychedelia.

However, the gradual transition to 24-hour broadcasting on the national broadcaster NHK may have been sparked in the late 1980s before I arrived there due to the fact that the Showa Emperor's health had been in decline around that time before his passing on January 7th 1989. People stayed up to hear any overnight updates on Emperor Hirohito's condition, but I also think that the same thing occurred in the case of typhoons or earthquakes, too.

Finally from April 1997, NHK went full tilt into overnight service under the overarching title of "Midnight Channel" according to the J-Wiki article on the topic and apparently the programming included dubbed versions of American TV programs such as "Beverly Hills 90210" and local documentaries. Maybe the night owls also enjoyed that jaunty music which adorned the list of upcoming shows (which you can hear right from the start of the video above). In fact, the video was put up onto YouTube because the uploader had wanted to find out who was behind the music. Dang, it's enough to get me to go to the fridge and pull out a Red Bull at 1:00 am!

Fortunately, the fellow did find out. The song is "Steppin' Out" by jazz pianist and composer Hiroko Kokubu（国府弘子）. It's been a long while since she's adorned the pages of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so I bid her welcome once more. Now for me, I found out about "Steppin' Out" only because I hadn't put up an article about her for close to 5 years and consequently was doing some browsing. When I listened to this good-time strut by her with the wonderful keyboards and horns including a cool streetwise sax, that's when I discovered that it was the song to introduce the upcoming programs on "Midnight Channel".

"Steppin' Out" is a track on her September 1993 album "Heaven", a collaboration with fellow jazz pianist Kiyotsugu Amano（天野清継）. It's been hard to find any tracks from my favourite Kokubu album "Light and Colour" (as seen in the thumbnail at the top), but I'm still happy to make my acquaintance with this Kokubu gem.

Lest I forget...there is another older "Steppin' Out" that I also cherish. In any case, KKP is now ending its broadcasting day today.

Hiroko Kokubu -- Pepino Beach

After writing about Akemi Ishii's（石井明美）"SHAKE UP" just now, the Latin flavour there had me thinking about another artist from my memories, Hiroko Kokubu（国府弘子）and her 1991 album, "Light and Colour". Besides the opening track, "Moon Island", I also remember fondly the 2nd track at 3:35, "Pepino Beach", named after the place in Rio de Janeiro. 

While "Moon Island", as I mentioned in that article, evoked images of running along the beach, "Pepino Beach" strangely enough had me thinking of just sitting by the pool under the umbrella while nursing one of those cocktails with the paper umbrellas and an orchid thrust into it. It's just so soothing, but it also strikes me as being something that could be played during mid-morning instead of the afternoon or evening (I think I also compared "Moon Island" similarly). Perhaps it's also the aural equivalent of orange juice as well. In any case, Kokubu provides some fine listening.

Hiroko Kokubu -- Moon Island

As much as I (and the other contributors) for this blog have shown our love for Showa and Heisei era pop music, the other genre that I finally got into during my years in Japan was jazz. Along with the enka records that my parents played on the Victor, there were also a number of standards that flowed through the ancient speakers by folks like Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney and Ann Margret, and jazz has been a genre whose songs have always managed to peek through the media even when the airwaves were filled with rock, disco and then New Wave during my formative years.

The first jazz CD (after finally getting bitten by the jazz bug) I bought was at a Virgin Records (now defunct) megastore in East Shinjuku in the late 90s, and it was a generic disc of pianist Bill Evans' best material like "Waltz for Debby". After that, the floodgates opened up and I started to buy my share of jazz albums to complement my purchases of J-Pop/kayo kyoku stuff. So, it was only a matter of time before the genres would mesh and I would also check out some of the examples of J-Jazz.

However, almost a decade before I started embracing my inner Count, Duke and Louis, I had actually already dipped my toe into the water by purchasing a CD by jazz pianist Hiroko Kokubu （国府弘子）during the Gunma years. I don't exactly remember what precipitated the purchase, but I think it was probably because I had heard the nimble fingers of the Tokyo native fly over the keys while I was in one of the music stores and was intrigued enough to give the disc a go.

Titled "Light and Colour", the Latin-flavoured album was Kokubu's 4th in May 1991 and one of the tracks I've remembered all these years is the first song above, "Moon Island". Her playing there is as light and limber as young folks trying to avoid the surf as they run across Copacabana Beach. I'd consider it fine for Sunday morning or early afternoon listening while noshing on that brunch.

As for further information on Kokubu, you can check out her website in which is an English-language profile on the pianist-composer.