- artist:Mitsune (Japan/Germany)
- event type:WOMEX 24 Showcase - Official Selection
- date:24 Oct 2024
- time:22:30 - 23:15
- city/area:Manchester
- venue:Warehouse Stage A, Aviva Studios
- country:United Kingdom
- event posted by:Piranha Arts
Links
Berlin-based Japanese neo-folk fusion band, Mitsune, figuratively and literally pluck the Tsuguru Shamisen from its long traditional history and place it in the world of interconnected musics. With members from Japan, Australia, Germany and Greece, Mitsune take their shared love of Japanese folk music and infuse it into surprising encounters with an array of influences to create a joyous psychedelic-prog-jazz, drawing on traditional min'yo songs driven by the Tsuguru shamisen, liberally laced with funk grooves and Hawaiian strains. The Tsuguru style is fast-paced and percussive, a legacy of its street music history, played by itinerant musicians making themselves heard in the byways of the northern Aomori Prefecture. MItsune honours this tradition while modernising it, delivering reimagined Japanese folk songs and original compositions with virtuosity, driving beats and wild group vocals, all dressed in sartorial splendour.