OTTIMA RECENSIONE DI DOUCE ERRANCE DEL JAPANISTAN TRIO IN OLANDA
The Japanistan Trio is a trio that fuses Afghan, Japanese, and Persian music into a highly original mix, initiated by Kengo Saito.
Rarely heard music that shows such an original blend of music from the Far East and Japan. Kengo Saito, leader of the Japanistan Trio, is a sitar and rabāb player (Afghan stringed instrument) who currently lives in France. He attended high school in Pennsylvania and played violin and guitar in a rock band. His visual arts studies in France changed his life, especially after a subsequent trip to India. There, he encountered Indian tonality, which is much more expansive than Western tonality. He took sitar and rubāb lessons and began composing. He founded his Japanistan Trio, along with Suizan Lagrsot on shakuhachi (Japanese flute) and percussionist Ershad Therani on tombak and daf (drum and frame drum, respectively).
They released their album Douce Errance. A truly stunning mix of Afghan, Japanese, and Persian-oriented compositions and originals interwoven like a patchwork. First and foremost, the instruments have their traditional timbres, reflecting their countries of origin. For example, the tombak is unmistakably Persian, the rubab Afghan, and the shakuhachi Japanese. The compositions feature repetitive melodic lines, irregular time signatures, time changes, and unison rhythmic passages. Pentatonic scales (the five-tone scale found in Japan, but also in China, North Africa, gospel music, and Western blues) are also used.
Besides all this beauty, there is ample room for improvisation. Just as in Western jazz and blues music, the theme starts and is played with verve, sometimes with unison melodic and/or rhythmic patterns. These passages also reappear between the solos, adding variety to the composition. The pieces are played with virtuosity. Both Saito, Lagrsot and Therani possess astonishing mastery of their instruments, beautifully giving each other space, complementing and supporting each other. And despite the many notes in the themes and improvisations, it are the long melodic lines and the stirring lyricism that makes you love this magical Afghan-Japanese-Persian crossover!