Hiroshima

Photo: Ken Fong

At the vanguard of enriching the language of American pop-jazz

By Ken Capobianco

When a band succeeds for more than 40 years in the music business, it can come to a crossroads. The group can continue on the familiar lucrative path until the wheels fall off or make a pitstop, take a breath and reconsider the direction of its career. For the enduring, boundary-breaking and inventive jazz-popR&B act Hiroshima, the time has come for an indefinite hiatus as they ponder their future. The much-heralded band, led by multi-instrumentalist Dan Kuramoto and world-class koto player June Kuramoto, are currently on what they’ve dubbed the “Domo” tour. It’s a thank-you celebration for their fans (domo is “thank you” in Japanese)––for supporting the genre-bending act that helped introduce Japanese instrumentation like the koto, shakuhachi and taiko to Western pop music. Hiroshima have been among the vanguard acts in pop-jazz, bringing a fierce social conscience to their complex, yet accessible, Asian-influenced music that has reached across cultural boundaries and elevated the conversation of what American pop music can be. As they celebrate on tour four decades of uplifting, soulful music with a purpose, they want to emphasize that this is definitely not goodbye. “We’re not sure what the future holds––I’m sure we will play again together, but what we know is we are going on hiatus now, and it feels right,” said Los Angeles native and Hiroshima’s co-founder Dan Kuramoto, via phone in a wide-ranging interview covering many topics, including the band’s history, pop music, cultural identity, the divide in America and the importance of community in our lives. “We are very blessed just to have a band. That was always our intent––a group of people who play and work together conceptually, and to have done something that was kind of different than anyone else was doing,” he continued. “We knew, at our best, we would never be The Beatles, but we had our own cultural point to make. We stayed with it, even as the band evolved. At this point, though, June went through a series of things––she broke her back last year––and the pandemic gave us some pause for thought. “We changed agencies, and right now new markets are opening up for us, but June wanted to take a break, and it made sense.” The band have had a remarkable run. While they were never major stars in pop or jazz, they have been popular, selling over 4 million records and garnering three gold albums. The group have made challenging, intricate music that blended Eastern and Western influences in a way that had not been previously attempted. Founded in the early 1970s, Hiroshima released their debut album, Hiroshima, in 1979 at the height of disco, heavy metal and the further expansion of jazz experimentation. Although they have been embraced by the jazz community throughout most of their tenure, Hiroshima began more as a pop-R&B band with a mission to infuse their Japanese musical and cultural influences into the mainstream, and establish Asian representation in a pop world where Asian musicians were mostly invisible. “We are not necessarily a band that can be categorized and never have been,” said Kuramoto. “That’s why we never expected to be wildly popular, but we wanted to make a multicultural statement and introduce a component that was specifically Asian––June was born in Japan, and I’m third-generation Japanese American.” When they started, both he and June Kuramoto (they were previously married before splitting and continuing on as creative partners) understood that there was a genuine void in pop music and an erasure of Asian presence and sensibility. “When I grew up, the only things I saw that were Asian were negative stereotypes, so it was important for us to create a band that presented a more honest sense of Asian,” Kuramoto said.

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They created transformative music, featuring June Kuramoto’s transcendent koto playing, that has enraptured audiences and brought them a devoted international audience.

continued from page 19 As a kid, he recognized that the pop universe didn’t reflect the diversity and eclecticism of his own community. “I was born and raised in East Los Angeles, a very multicultural neighborhood that was heavily Latino and almost equal parts Black and

Jewish along with Asian, and we wanted to have a voice of our own. “That was the genesis of the band, and we wanted to make a multicultural political statement, thus the name H iroshima have been among the vanguard acts in Hiroshima. We knew that would be wildly unpopular in certain quarters, and we thought, ‘Good, pop-jazz, bringing a fierce let’s talk about it, and look at social conscience to their what this country has done.’” complex, yet accessible, He emphasized that he and the band didn’t want to place Asian-influenced music blame on the devastation of that has reached across Hiroshima and the Japanese cultural boundaries and prison camps in America that elevated the conversation his and June’s parents were of what American pop confined to during World War II. music can be. Rather, they wanted to create dialogue and raise questions about subjects that have long been ignored. “We speak as citizens of this country––June’s uncle fought for the United States and got a Bronze Star for saving his platoon as a sharpshooter for the 442nd Infantry Regiment, which was the most decorated in the war. The point is to level the playing field, and we need to make things right because we care and give a damn.” And they created transformative music, featuring June Kuramoto’s transcendent koto playing, that has enraptured audiences and brought them a devoted international audience. The koto––rarely, if ever, used in pop music––is one of the essential elements of the Hiroshima sound. “What June does is extraordinary. What she does on the koto is inexplicable,” Kuramoto said with hints of awe in his voice. “It is not designed at all to be played in Western diatonic music, and only she can really do it in real time. It’s 6 feet long in the shape of a dragon, and the 13 strings represent the moons in a year. When you are a minority in this country, your native culture is vital to you because you need it for a sense of feeling whole somehow.” The group, which have shape-shifted with different personnel throughout their 40 years of existence before settling on their current lineup of Dan and June Kuramoto, multi-instrumentalist Danny

Yamamoto, keyboardist Kimo Cornwell and bassist Dean Cortez, made a sharp musical turn when they opened for Miles Davis’ tour in 1990. They moved further away from a pop-R&B band with Asian influences and expanded their sound––ultimately morphing into the band smooth jazz audiences recognize today. “Miles made it very clear that the mission for those of us committed to music is to continually grow and evolve,” Kuramoto said. “And that’s what we did. We’re a lot more jazz-centric now, and a long way from where we started as an eight-piece band with two singers.” Their fine, expressive 2020 album, 2020, their 17th, might be their last, but Kuramoto is not ruling anything out. He believes the industry has changed so much that making records just isn’t viable. Unless your name is Bruce Springsteen, if you are a musician or band that started recording in the ’70s, albums are either an excuse to keep a never-ending legacy going, or a way to let the public know you still exist. “How do you sell a record?” Kuramoto lamented. “Streaming has got you over a barrel. There’s no money there, and it’s exploitive. Obviously, we were never into this for the money––who would call a band Hiroshima if they were into it for the money? But years ago, making records made sense for musicians. It doesn’t anymore. We’ve sold over 4 million records and had several gold ones. That’s pretty good to me.” For now, the future of Hiroshima is a question mark, which is just fine with Kuramoto. “If we could take a turn into what we’d like to do next, it would be into performing arts theater,” he said. “There are a lot of possibilities. “In the right situation, I know we will play again at some point. This is just another part of our evolution. We don’t know what the next step is for June. Whatever she does is a gain for humanity. She’s the greatest koto player in the world––she’s played on over 50 albums and worked on so many film scores. It’s all wide open. Time will tell.” The band’s legacy up until this point is about great music, trailblazing and making Japanese music, instruments and sensibilities part of the popular music consciousness. “We wanted to be a throughline to the kind of committed, humane music that inspired us and got us into this in the first place,” he reflected. “Offer the multicultural aspect that broadens the culture while elevating our own culture. “We’ve been really blessed and the best thing to do with a blessing is share it with other people.” For more information on Hiroshima, including their complete tour schedule, visit www.hiroshimamusic.com.

Tour n O

Aug. 21 (Trio: Dan Kuramoto, June Kuramoto and Kimo Cornwell)

Yosemite Jazz Train

Lewis Creek Amphitheater Fish Camp, California www.yosemitejazztrain.com

Sept. 10

5th Annual Oxnard Jazz Festival

Oxnard Beach Park Oxnard, California www.oxnardjazzfestival.com/