Yoshida Brothers

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Yoshida Brothers
Origin Noboribetsu, Hokkaidō, Japan
Genre(s) Tsugaru-jamisen
Instrument(s) Shamisen
Years active 1999–current
Label(s) Domo Records
Website domo.com/YoshidaBrothers
Members
Ryōichirō Yoshida (吉田 良一郎?)
Ken'ichi Yoshida (吉田 健一?)
Notable instrument(s)
Shamisen

The Yoshida Kyōdai (吉田兄弟) are Japanese musicians and have released several albums under the Domo label internationally as the Yoshida Brothers.

They are a pair of brothers and performers of the traditional Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen which originated in northern Japan. They debuted in 1999 in Japan as a duo playing the shamisen. Their first album sold over 100,000 copies and made them minor celebrities in Japan, a fact that surprised the Yoshida Brothers themselves. [1] They have since attracted an international audience.

Their music has been a fusion of the rapid and percussive Tsugaru-jamisen style along with Western and other regional musical influences. In addition to performing songs that are only on the shamisen, they also use modern instruments such as drums and synthesizers.[2]

The commercials for the Nintendo's Wii video game console that began airing in North America in November 2006 feature the Yoshida Brothers song, "Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix)."[3]

Contents

[edit] Members

Ryōichirō Yoshida (吉田 良一郎 Yoshida Ryōichirō?, born 26 July 1977) and Ken'ichi Yoshida (吉田 健一 Yoshida Ken'ichi?, born 16 December 1979) were born in Noboribetsu in Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan. The two brothers have played the shamisen from a very young age.[2] They both began to study and play the shamisen from five years of age under Koka Adachi, learning the Minyō-shamisen style; from about 1989 they studied the Tsugaru-jamisen style under Takashi Sasaki.

[edit] Discography

[edit] International albums

[edit] 2003 - Yoshida Brothers

  1. Starting on a Journey
  2. Blooming
  3. Madrugada
  4. Storm
  5. A Hill With No Name
  6. Tsugaru Jyongara Bushi
  7. Labyrinth - "Modern"
  8. Sprouting - Moyuru
  9. Beyond the Deep Sea
  10. Storm -TM Mix-

[edit] 2004 - Yoshida Brothers II

  1. Frontier
  2. Gales of Wind (Hayate)
  3. Mirage (Shinkiro)
  4. Lullaby of Takeda
  5. Kodo
  6. Indigo
  7. Kagero
  8. Evening Calm (Yuunagi)
  9. Nikata
  10. Old/New-"Modern" Third Movement
  11. Arigato
  12. Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix)

[edit] 2006 - Yoshida Brothers III

  1. Erghen Diado
  2. Passion
  3. Canon
  4. Hit Song
  5. Overland Blues
  6. Cherry Blossoms in Winter
  7. By This River
  8. Morricone
  9. Oh My Love
  10. Tsugaru Jinku
  11. My Heart Holds
  12. Tsugaru Jongara Bushi

[edit] 2007 - Hishou

  1. Prelude Hishou
  2. Ibuki
  3. Kodo
  4. Ringo Bushi
  5. Ajigasawa
  6. Yasaburo
  7. Panorama
  8. Tsugaru Yosare
  9. Time of Sand
  10. Tsugaru Aiya
  11. Modern
  12. Dual
  13. Tsugaru Jongara
  14. Postlude Hishou

[edit] 2008 - Best of Yoshida Brothers - Tsugaru Shamisen

  1. Storm
  2. Kodo (Hishou version)
  3. Overland Blues
  4. A Hill With No Name
  5. Modern (Hishou Version)
  6. Saiun
  7. Passion
  8. My Heart Holds
  9. Blooming
  10. Cherry Blossoms in Winter
  11. Kodo (Inside The Sun Remix)
  12. Rising
  13. Morricone

[edit] Japanese albums

  • Ibuki (1999)
  • Move (2000)
  • Soulful (2002)
  • Frontier (2003) (a.k.a. Yoshida Brothers 2005)
  • Renaissance (2004)

[edit] References

  1. ^ J-Pop World interview
  2. ^ a b Four Notes - Yoshida Brothers. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  3. ^ MySpace - Yoshida Brothers (official). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.

[edit] External links

[edit] Video

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