PoiL Ueda

(JP/FR)

If there are unlikely encounters in music, this collaborative project between French experimental and progressive rock band PoiL, bassist Benoit Lecomte (from Ni) and Japanese traditional music singer Junko Ueda is one such case. But it is also a clear example of how, in the arts, borders, physical or mental, are an irrelevant concept. The motto that united these (apparently) very different universes was to recreate the 13th century Japanese epic story 'Heike-Monogatari', based on traditional epic singing, usually accompanied by Buddhist Shomyo chanting and the sound of the satsuma-biwa, an instrument traditional Japanese strings, once used in the moral formation of the samurai, of which Jumko Ueda is also an excellent player. The result of all this is a cross between contemporary European musical training and ancient Japanese traditional music, which has allowed the creation and exploration of a new musical universe.