As a martial artist, from a traditional Japanese background, I have been immersed in Japanese culture for some time. Japanese people are generally, very polite, conservative and very precise in their attention to detail. I had the great pleasure to meet a unique blues harp musician last night at the Aquila open mic by the name of Ken Yoshioka.
The uniqueness of a Japanese musician playing blues harp, guitar and singing black soul is like having a black man leading a Japanese Tea Cermenony. Not impossible, just very unique. Many Japanese young people come to North America to break out of the traditional conforming roles set upon them by their society. It appears that they like American culture such as baseball, golf and now blues.
I had attended the Toronto Blues Society Harmonica seminar and Ken was there as one of the instructors. He developed his skills while busking in the Toronto subway system, doing open mic's and practicing alot.
As I inquired about his background he explained that he learned almost everything by ear. This appears to be a common trademark of accomplished musicians in the Open Mic circuit.
Ken explained that he was the feature of a short fim entitled Harmonica Man from Japan http://youtu.be/0_qnMtAiRFc on you tube.com which I watched and enjoyed. His message is that it is not easy to succeed at your chosen calling, but nonetheless, pursue it with all your heart and you will be able to accomplish it one day. Ken also has written Harmonica instruction books in Japanese. His first CD entitled I Love Harp is an acoustic blues collection of songs that he wrote and performed. A nice piece for collectors. You can check out Ken Yoshioka at the Brunch at Aquila's Jam every Sunday in the Toronto Junction
347 Keele.
Rock On.,
The Adventure Guy
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