Minyo Crusaders and Moriah Plaza in #SessionLive from Japan to the Dead Sea!

The site of Married Crusaders.

“For the Japanese, min’yō is both the closest and most distant popular music,” explains group leader Katsumi Tanaka. “We may not feel it in our daily city life, but the melodies, vocal style, and rhythm of Taiko.” “Drums are in our DNA.” Initially indifferent to Min’yō, a tragic event in recent Japanese history set Tanaka on his current path: “After the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, I thought about my life, my work and my identity.” As a fan of world music, I was looking for Japanese roots music that I could identify with. When I discovered the bands Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri, and the Tokyo Cuban Boys in the mid-20th century, I was fascinated by their eccentric arrangements and the way they blended min’yō with Latin and jazz. Singer Freddie fell in love with Min’yō after hearing a song from his hometown at a TV competition in a restaurant. It was a revelation – by then he had been a budding jazz singer, but he was uncomfortable singing in English.

The restaurateur told him that a Min’yō teacher was his neighbor and that the two knew each other. Tanaka and Freddie founded Minyo Crusaders in 2011 in Fussa, a city in western Tokyo where the US military air base Yokota is located. They recruited other local musicians skilled in Afro and Latin rhythms and began holding jam sessions at the “Banana House,” a building that had previously been part of the US military airfield and housed American soldiers. After various member changes, the band recorded their debut album for P-Vine Records in 2016. Released in 2017, the album received critical acclaim in Japan and was selected for an international release (May Um 2019). A first European tour with top festivals (Trans Musicales, Le Guess Who, Oslo World Music) followed in autumn 2019, followed by WOMADelaide and WOMAD New Zealand. The European summer tour – 11 countries, 20 shows, including WOMAD UK, Greenman, Lowlands, Sziget or Ezperanzah, has definitely made the Minyo Crusaders the most dynamic representative of the Japanese music scene.

Titles listed in the big studio

-Aizu Bandaisan Live RFI Watch the RFI Videos clip

– Cumbia from Mount Fujifrom the album see the clip

-Haiya Bushi Live RFI Watch the RFI Videos clip.

Cast: Moeko Hayashikeyboards, Ichiro Tsukamotovoice Freddy, Katsumi Tanakaguitar, cats, Koichiro OsawaSaxophone, Mutsumi Kobayashibongos, Sonoo IdeTimpani, Hiroshi EnamiWith gas, Yusuke NoguchiTrombone, Toshio FujinoBass + Maia Barouh (Translation).

Sound: Benoît Letirant, Mathias Taylor.

►album Echoes from Japan (More One Discs 2021).

Then we receive Moriah Plaza arriving from Berlin via Tel Aviv to present a groundbreaking first album.

Moriah Plaza (It’s Brazilian soul, psyche, bossa and jazz reinvented from Berlin across the Dead Sea).

The co-founders of Moriah Plaza, Tamir Chen etc Moosh Lahavfell in love with the beautiful and hypnotic sounds of Brazilian bossa nova and samba as a child in Tel Aviv in the 90’s many local bands and cover bands that had sprung up across the world since the first “Bossa” wave. They also developed a fascination for elevator music and film soundtracks and even the hotel pianist, who performed daily in the lobby of the Sheraton Moriah, where Tamir’s mother worked and which overlooked the Dead Sea.

Years later, they settled in the completely different environs of Berlin, the capital of a country that had its own Brazilian period. Tamir and Moosh’s shared passion for Brazilian music encouraged them to create their own songs inspired by the warm heartbeat of Brazil, albeit a world apart but with a very different look.

While Moriah Plaza’s original inspiration can be traced back to Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea, the band itself was formed by Tamir and Moosh at Solarium Studio in Berlin from the shattered fragments of their former shoegaze band Soda. Fabric, honored with accompanying underdog legend Daniel Johnston. They then wrote and recorded their first album in close collaboration with two Brazilians living in Berlin, the poet and singer Cecília Erisman and the singer, composer, synthesizer operator and founder of the Tropical Disco Club, Flavia Annechini.

Moriah Plaza’s self-titled debut album is a major addition to the global soul and jazz scene. It’s the perfect summertime soundtrack for groove lovers everywhere.

Titles listed in the big studio

– I ask you Live RFI

– Stellarfrom the album

– more love Live RFI.

Cast: Tamir Chenbassist, Moosh Lahavflute, keyboards, Alice MossDrummer, Gretchen Schadebrodtguitar and vocals and Cecilia Erismannsing + Thomas RoseTranslation.

Sound: Mathias Taylor, Jeremie Besset.

► album Moriah Plaza (Batov Records 2023).