Flamenco Jazz

Live at Someday July 7, 2005

Kiyoshi Kobayashi and the Gypsy Swing Gang
Live at Blue Drag May 19, 2005
Kiyoshi Kobayashi—guitar, ukelele
Nao Kobayashi—guitar
Masayoshi Tomioka --guitar
Yuji Nagayama--bass

Kobayashi is a master string-bender. One of those amazing musicians who can feel the wood, string and fret of any contraption known, he has a great sense of performance, too. He plays throughout Tokyo nightly and records widely. With two CDs out this year, "Douce Ambiance" and "Ukelele Swing 42," he seems to always have more to say on the fret. His solos flow with smoothness, sensitivity and a big sense of humor.

What catches the ear first is Kobayashi's amazing technique. He takes complex knots of chords and untangles them into lovely, fluid melody lines. Following his intricate voyages into and out of songs is a real pleasure. He has an uncanny ability to lay down solo after solo with clever directions, unexpected rhythms and unerring swing. He lifts the music up to a buoyant level that seems to just float in air.

A relaxed person, with a huge, hilarious personality, he also brings warmth and humanness into his playing. His huge "joie de vivre" is very infectious. You can't help but like the way his fingers ramble all up and down the entire instrument, whether on one of his special style of guitar or a rare, prized ukelele, just two of the instruments he casually switches between.  Whether playing a classic jazz number, a Django Reinhardt tune or one of his originals, he keeps the acoustic sound bright and fluid.     

A relaxed person, with a huge, hilarious personality, he also brings warmth and humanness into his playing. His huge "joie de vivre" is very infectious. You can't help but like the way his fingers ramble all up and down the entire instrument, whether on one of his special style of guitar or a rare, prized ukelele, just two of the instruments he casually switches between.  Whether playing a classic jazz number, a Django Reinhardt tune or one of his originals, he keeps the acoustic sound bright and fluid.

Once he takes the stage, there's always a casual feeling in the room, even though the music actually demands dexterity and concentration. He makes the difficult look easy. Accompanied by his son on guitar, the father-son duo makes a good case for musical ability being genetic. His son, Nao, has a distinct style influenced perhaps from different listening, or just a different age. The tandem lead lines, father and son side by side, are amazing. You hear them both expressing themselves together, then diverging, then back to some agreement, all the time swinging hard.

Jam session Thursdays led by Kobayashi at Blue Drag are not to be missed. Though some of the participants are clearly still working their way up their learning curve, many of the customers who hop up on stage to play with Kobayashi know their stuff.     
You have to love a hard-working salaryman, still in tie and white shirt, having the guts to play the one Django piece he learned in the past couple months. Also cool was a huge burly longhaired biker in thick leather boots and a Harley Davidson t-shirt, who looked like he just came from a heavy metal concert, who sat down to nimbly pluck out a brisk set of chord changes before launching into a lyrical rendition of "Caravan" in fast swing style. Only Kobayashi's elfish magic and appealing energy could make that kind of thing work so wonderfully.

Kiyoshi Kobayashi's homepage is: http://www1.ttcn.ne.jp/~k-koba/