Takio Ito and the Takio Band

The Old School House Arts Centre (TOSH) in Qualicum Beach, B.C. and the Consulate-General of Japan in Vancouver are pleased to announce that in conjunction with TOSH’s Eighth Annual Harvest of Music festival (September 27-30, 2012 www.harvestofmusic.com) renowned Japanese traditional folk/contemporary music artist Takio Itō, originally from Tomakomai in Hokkaido, and his band will be in residence in British Columbia from September 27 through October 11. Mr. Itō is eager to perform in coastal British Columbia as an expression of gratitude for Canada’s contributions to the earthquake/tsunami relief and recovery efforts in Japan.

Vocalist TAKIO ITŌ has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in Japan modernizing and internationalizing that coun-try’s traditional folk music by creating innovative arrangements that mix elements of rock, jazz and Latin-American music with the traditional Japanese forms and blend Western instruments with Japanese instruments.

Don’t miss this unique and exciting intercultural ensemble featuring vocalists, traditional folk dancers, shakuhachi, shamisen, taiko drums, clarinets, piano, bass and drum set.

Born in Tomakomai, Hokkaido (Japan’s northern-most island) in 1950, TAKIO ITŌ was brought up listening to the tradi-tional ‘Oiwake’ songs of his fisherman father and the folk songs of his mother’s home region of Tsugaru. The youngest of twelve brothers and sisters, TAKIO often engaged in singing competitions at home, where his father would line up his bothers and sisters to see who could give the best performance. TAKIO’s singing outside the home started at the age of ten, when he began singing at ‘minyō sakaba’ (local pubs where folk songs are performed).

After entering junior high school, TAKIO joined the ‘Tsugaru Suwako Ichiza’, a traditional folk singing troupe that per-formed in various local towns. He was often the singer used to warm up the audience with local songs before the troupe performed.

After finishing junior high school, at the age of 15, TAKIO travelled to Tokyo to pursue training in ‘minyō’ folk music. He subsequently won awards and championships in numerous minyō contests.

TAKIO however, began to have doubts about the traditional ways of the minyō world, in which training and performing were conducted in accordance with the age-old customs of the teacher-pupil hierarchy. So in the 1980s, he began a quest for a new form of ‘minyō’ that would use the rhythms and sounds of the modern day. He collaborated with musicians from different musical genres and backgrounds, before finally forming the TAKIO BAND in 1985.

The TAKIO BAND combines traditional Japanese instruments such as taiko drums, shakuhachi and shamisen with more contemporary instruments such as keyboards, bass, kit drums and Latin percussion. Fusing traditional and modern forms of music, TAKIO ITO and the TAKIO BAND have created a new minyō folk music style and travel all over Japan and the world for performances in a continuing effort to share and perpetuate the music and songs that constitute the grass roots soul of Japanese culture.