Kishi Bashi is a well-known artist in the Indie music sphere. Based in Athens Georgia, where other Indie luminaries such as the B52s and REM launched their careers, his blend of classical, folk, and rock is unlike anything I have heard.
Bashi is also a filmmaker, having written and produced a multimedia piece of remembrance on Executive Order 9066—the removal and internment of Japanese American citizens after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Under the Baton of Maestro Scott Speck, the Chicago Philharmonic gave the Chicago premier of Improvisation on EO9066 to a sold-out crowd at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance on Saturday.
Kishi Bashi and the Chicago Philharmonic. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
Kishi Bashi—born Kaoru Ishibashi—trained at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and started his career in New York. He toured with other Indie artists and performed with the Athens-based group Montreal, in addition to composing and performing his unique blend of sound. Bashi has an ethereal voice that swoops from tenor to countertenor/falsetto. His lyrics have an emotional punch with whispered endings. The joy and pain in his music are given without artifice.
His song I Am the Antichrist to You was introduced as a love song and the lyrics dig beneath the surface of literal definition. I am the antichrist to you fallen from the sky with grace into your arms race... This transcends religious inference and adds dimension to the many meanings of love.
Improvisations on EO9066 is a six-movement piece with a prologue. For most of the concert, the superb Chicago Philharmonic under Speck accompanied Bashi. I have seen several Philharmonic performances and there was a deep connection with Kishi Bashi for this moving reflection on racism and cruelty against Japanese Americans. The photos by Dorothea Lange and footage from director JJ Gerber are brought to life as are the people who were incarcerated based on their race.
The movements are in order of how incarceration proceeded during WWII. From the rounding up of citizens being able to bring only what they could carry to the coming to terms with what happened among the Japanese Americans. It is remembrance, empathy, and giving meaning to the experience of being incarcerated as an enemy of one's own country.
Maestro Scott Speck. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
Kishi Bashi is a charismatic and fun performer and throws in one-liners about playing different instruments. He connects with the audience by giving out high fives, taking an audience member's phone to take a video, giving a loving shout-out to his fiance after singing a song about heartbreak, and most endearing he talked about how cool Chicago is, and how the Philharmonic is the best orchestra. He and Maestro Speck had wonderful and mutually respectful interactions. The players looked to be genuinely enjoying the music.
Chicaco-based Tsukasa Taiko Ensemble opened the concert. They forge cultural connections between Japanese and Asian American identities. The quintet is kumi-daiko—exclusively drums in a tradition that has been around for over two centuries.
Drumming is probably the first musical sound and communication for indigenous people all over the world. It has a physical effect that I will describe as primordial. As with other cultures, the drums in Japan have a ceremonial and choreographed aspect that is a visual delight. As with other Japanese arts, each movement has meaning and moves energy in a contemplative manner. It was the perfect opening for Kishi Bashi as a sort of invocation to feel the energy that filled the evening.
Tsukasa Taiko. Photo by Kathy D. Hey.
I highly recommend that you buy and listen to any of Kishi Bashi's music solo or with Montreal and if you can, definitely catch a show with him the next time he plays with the Chicago Philharmonic. It is an experience that will remain with me and I am exploring his extensive catalog to hear more. For more information on Kishi Bashi, visit www.kishibashi.com. For more information on the Chicago Philharmonic, visit www.chicagophilharmonic.org.