Coal mines x Latin What is the folk song that the world is watching? Jan 7, 19:00
"Minyo" such as coal mines and soranbushi which have been sung in Japan for a long time. Nowadays, there are bands that play the folk songs in a novel style based on the rhythms of the world, such as Latin music, and attract attention from overseas.
The name is "Minyo Crusaders".
At the root of their music is the desire to make folk songs into “folk songs” again. What is a new folk song that makes people dance across national borders? (Tetsuro Kawai, Reporter, Science and Culture Department)
Folk songs and world rhythms
First, please see this live video.
The singer is Aizu Bandaisan, a folk song from Fukushima prefecture.
But… the attention is the performance.
A brass instrument that resonates violently with percussion struck violently. The performance of the venue is like a Latin band.
"Omoteyan" in Kumamoto sings in a slightly mysterious reggae style.
The tune of the song is transformed into a new folk song by playing it on the rhythms of countries around the world.
I want to get back the song of the people
"Minyo Crusaders" was formed in 2012, a band of 10 members.
Their activity base is the US military house in Fussa, Tokyo.
We have lively sessions here once a week while we work.
The main vocal is Freddie Tsukamoto (53). I'm a folk singer for 30 years.
I met folk songs when I came to Tokyo from Ehime Prefecture in my 20s. I heard the folk song I happened to hear on TV and immediately hit the classroom gate.
It is said that there are 20,000 folk songs such as labor songs for daily work, tatami mat songs that connect people's circles, and songs that sing local culture. Freddie learned many songs from his teacher and became obsessed with its charm.
Freddy Tsukamoto: "A once-in-a-lifetime Japanese landscape that I had never seen before came to my mind. Such music has never been encountered before."
However, the more they sang folk songs, the more they felt a sense of danger in the situation where folk songs were placed.
Folk songs used to be popular with many people, such as Showa singers such as Misora Hibari and Eri Chiemi singing folk songs from various places.
In Tokyo, during the period of rapid growth, there are many “Minyo Taverns” where visitors who come to Tokyo for group employment and miss their hometown gather. However, over time, folk songs as popular culture have followed a path of decline.
Speaking of singing places, Freddie often held competitions for skills. The importance of singing correctly for preservation and succession was emphasized, and I felt that it had become a song far from ordinary people.
Freddy Tsukamoto: "Teached by the teacher, announces it at the tournament, and the judge sits down and checks. It's because I keep the folk songs carefully, but I don't feel much fun there. I thought I wouldn't do it. ''
Folk songs as "songs of the people" sung in people's lives. The desire to regain it became the starting point of our activities.
Proposal of "what everyone can enjoy"
Freddie was inspired by guitarist Katsumi Tanaka, who played Latin music.
Two people met on the edge of living in the same Fussa world dwarf.
Folk songs and Latin sounds completely different, but both are popular music that was loved in our lives. I thought it would be possible to create unprecedented music by fusing well, so I dug up an old folk record and tried to arrange it.
The first band to play was Kushimoto Section in Wakayama Prefecture.
Surprisingly, the melody of the folk song has a strong affinity with the minor scale of Latin music, and Tanaka came up with the idea of putting it on Columbia's cheerful music "Cumbia".
What we arrived at was music that people can sing, dance and enjoy together by incorporating the rhythms of the world.
Katsumi Tanaka: "I would like to propose a folk song as popular music now that it is like this. Making party music, music that everyone can enjoy, and music that anyone can enjoy is also a respect for folk songs. I think it will be connected. "
Japanese folk songs that captivate the world
This is the new folk song of the folk song Crusaders.
Its reputation reached the ears of overseas music professionals, and released an album on a UK label in April last year and made its world debut.
And in November, we launched our first overseas tour. In 10 days, I visited 8 cities in 6 European countries. For most audiences, this is the first Japanese folk song to be heard.
Tanaka spoke at the live MC with an English camp to one hand.
Katsumi Tanaka "Minyo is an old Japanese folk song. It has a long history, but it has not been heard much in Japan. We want to regain that folk song again."
And when the performance begins ...
Japanese folk songs have fascinated Europeans beyond the language barrier. After the show, the members were surrounded by the audience's smile.
Folk songs resounding now
A folk song Crusaders that made a successful European tour.
After returning to Japan, the crowd was crowded at the Gaisen live on November 30 in Tokyo.
On the last day of the “Coal Mine Festival”, dance bands spread throughout the venue in time with the band's performance, and the sight of folk songs connecting people became one.
Freddy Tsukamoto: “I wonder if it would be fun to laugh and go back to the scenery that would return with a laugh. I hope it will become a real folk song,“ song of the people. ”
"Minyo Crusaders" will be performing at music festivals in Okinawa in February and in Australia and New Zealand in March.
The real attraction of this band is not only the novelty of the music, but also the opening of a door to the world of folk songs that have never been known before.
If you listen to their music and find it “cool” or “interesting”, be sure to listen to the folk songs themselves. Surely there is a rich world of singing that connects people, and I think that everyday scenery will look a little different.
Ministry of Science and Culture Reporter
Tetsuro Kawai Joined in 2010 Maebashi bureau, Chiba bureau, then Science and Culture Department covers a wide range of literature, music, movies, go and shogi