Who is Ryo Fukui? 福居良
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- The RUclips legend, the self taught Jazz Master. Ryo Fukui.
This is a retrospective into the world of Japanese Jazz and the life and times of Ryo Fukui, looking through his entire discography.
日本語字幕は画面右下のCCを押してください・
PATREON- / stevemmmmm
Follow me on Twitter for Updates on Videos- / stevemccarthyii
Support Fukui's music- wrwtfww.com
References
Sakamichi no Apollon (2012)
Drunken Angel (1948)
www.jazzinjapan...
History of Japanese Jazz
www.unesco.org/...
www.npr.org/se...
dlib.bc.edu/is...
Ryo Fukui's Slowboat (most of his autobiographical information is from here, Japanese only)
www.jazz-slowbo...
/ artists_from_japan_int...
overblown.co.u...
www.jazziz.com...
Rise of Communism in Asia
• History of Communism (...
Cosmopolitanism
hbr.org/2016/1...
www.britannica...
Recommending Japanese Jazz
projectrevolver...
Original Ending Tribute by Barry Harris
• Fukai Aijo (深い愛情) dedi...
On Toshiko Akiyoshi
• Video
#ryofukui #japanesejazz #福居良
The friend I mention at the end is "BARRY HARRIS, one of the most prominent and recorded hard bop pianists in the history of jazz, AND the most selfless and dedicated voice in jazz education.
Ryo got Barry gigs, and Barry gave Ryo pointers. They became good friends thereafter."
I got a message from r/vinyl that I never mentioned his name or who he is so I'll do it in the pinned rest assured you should also check his work out too. Especially if you like Fukui.
Stevem Do you have any Hypothesis on why My Favourite Tune fell into rarity and was lost?
I asked Marcel, but he didn't have an answer.
My theory is that it was self published at the Slow Boat, so you could only get it at the club or on tour ( though I'm not sure if they were touring at that time still). So there were not many copies made.
Stevem oh ok, interesting theory and it does seem most plausible. I hope the Jazz club is still open. I aspire to go to it sometime in my life.
Yeah Josh told me (the guy that got Marcel the copy of my favourite tune) they still do shows every week , in fact some of the images from this video are from there Facebook page .
Stevem oh that is awesome. Well I better save up money
I saw this documentary maybe 2 weeks ago. I went to Sapporo last week and went to a Jazz bar without really paying attention to the name of it. After the concert, I was talking to the owner of the bar. During our conversation, I realized the poster of Ryo Fukui on the wall and told the owner that I recently saw a documentary about this jazz musician on RUclips. She told me that Ryo Fukui is her husband and that this jazz bar is actually "Slowboat". I felt a little bit dumb and couldn't believe it. I told her how people all over the world learn about Fukui's amazing music and she said that she's so happy to know that. Just wanted to let you know that...
That's wonderful, I did send Slow Boat a link to this video and they set me up with a Jazz Critic who helped me transcribe it into Japanese.
Hope you had a good time there !
Stevem yes I had a wonderful time there. Thank you for spreading Ryo Fukuis legacy all over the world
This is awesome! The internet remains undefeated once again.
That's very cool.
I met Ryo and Yasuko Fukui in September 1978 in Sapporo at a performance of his at the long-defunct jazz club Veedro. We became close friends and our friendship lasted until his death, which came as a terrible shock. I last saw him in Tokyo in October, 2015, and there was as yet no sign of his illness. I am still in touch with Yasuko-san (and owe her a call). Incidentally, he much preferred his second album, Mellow Dream, to his first, Scenery, and the title cut became his signature tune. The trio performed live for several years but did not record again, as noted in the documentary. I have a copy of his third "long lost" album, My Favorite Tune, sent to me by Yasuko-san. It was recorded in a church in 1993. Though not a Christian, Ryo-san liked the piano and acoustics. His father was a helluva a shamisen player and took of jazz in his 60s. Bye for now.
What an honor it must have been to receive that record. Thank you for sharing this, I found it amazing to read
Stumbling on his music was one of my happiest moments.
Yeah I remember when I saw the cover to Scenery , I thought it would be an electronic experimental Japanese thing but then it was Modal Jazz .
Pleasant Surprise all things considered.
Quickly became one of my favorite musicians, I got all of his albums now
Melanie Anne Ahern
Same
let me guess: you got his album recommended while letting youtube autoplay japanese city pops
Dongsheng Han I bet you are so much better than us plebs by stumbling onto him in a different way
ryo's album in my recommendation feed was a gift from the gods
I loved how you took an unusual topic, some random quirk of youtube's algorithm, and tied into a historical perspective of Japanese jazz and the way digital and online music which helps to give new generations of music listeners a chance to discover old, obscure pieces of music.
Thanks man! I'm glad it all came together
Can confirm. RUclips recommended Ryo Fukui to me and it was love at first listen.
You have no idea how many people have told me that after making this video it's real sweet to hear
I would love for you to make deep-end discoveries like this in perhaps other genres or for other albums/artists. A historical documentary type of theme would really go well with what you're doing. I can only hope you gain many more subscribers for doing such! Great work!
I had an idea to do one on Nujabes, I believe he's the most popular Japanese artist on the internet.
Also might do a shorter video on the single Plastic Love
Stevem my Japanese wifu would greatly appreciate nujabes
I would love to do it to be honest, it's all on if I can find all the information I'd like and can build the narrative.
Does your wife have any good sources of info I could look into ?
Very neat video! I was the one who sent My Favorite Tune to Marcel a few months ago. Ryo's wife Yasuko is still running Slowboat in Sapporo and there are shows there every week! :)
Oh damnnnnn , You're that legendary Josh!
How is the Slowboat I'd love to go there one day.
I was going to send them an email, but I heard they don't speak English ?
Stevem Naturally they mostly speak Japanese, but they should be able to reply to you in English if you send an email.
Do you think I should send them the video?
It might be interesting to them, although of course they will know all that's been shown, and a lot more about Ryo Fukui.
More just for the sake of hey I made this about Fukui, you might enjoy to see it
Self taught at 23 with no prior experience. That’s brilliant.
I'm 23 right now, kinda motivating me to start 😭
Glad this has been posted. Listened to his album 'Scenery' about 3 months ago thanks to a RUclips recommendation. Fell in love
Ryo is by far my favourite jazz pianist. I live in Sapporo, Japan and its amazing how much admiration the Jazz scene in Sapporo has for him. A new take on "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" is played every week and its like a thank you letter to Ryo. I love it.
札幌で産まれ、自身多感な頃に彼の演奏をTVで視て育った者です。私も、My favorite tune のアップロードを熱望していました。勿論今は大事に聴いて居ますが、以前彼のサイン付きで、彼の親戚から頂いたCD、熱聴して大好きだったのに、若い頃に生活の為に売ってしまって居たからです。時が流れ今は、ここで日本ジャズの歴史を知る良い機会となったのも勿論ですが、彼の、魂に沁み入る名演を、世界に再発信して頂けているこの動画に、とっても感謝と共感をしています。
繰り返しますが、アップロード本当に有難う御座いました。涙が出る程嬉しいです。
It was my pleasure , thank you for watching and commenting
dude i became a fan of him when he popped out of my feed. its like accidentally founding a diamond in a pile of hay. its goddamn life changing and thats not even an exaggeration. i listen to this every chance i get.
thank you universe.
Gino Israel I feel you man, freaking magic
Thank RUclips's very random algorithm, its calculations are either a gift or a travesty...
Outstanding video in every regard. I was left with not only a newfound appreciation for Ryo Fukui, but also a lot of respect for your work.
Great video, terrific visuals as well!
The animation of Barry at the end tho, deadass brought me to tears. An old friendship between two masters.
This is like a success story for the internet, though. We were there when Barry re-dedicated Fukai Aijo for his late friend, and we were there when Marcel (the absolute Madman) uncovered My Favorite Tune.
It's a great feeling, like Ryo's story is still being told, and we've got seats in the front row.
That's high praise I'm glad the story could connect with you so well, I was hoping to bring the whole narrative to people beyond Japan.
youtubes music recs have improved greatly, i used to just get recommend that one tycho album(dive) but now theres a lot more variety and a lot more obscure great stuff
lol is everyone getting the same recommendations??
@@kmanc8571 yep, plantasia, cassipea, even the rainbow goblins where some random, and equally great, recommendations ive got recently
@@h.e.c.t.o.r. ey I know those lol
@@kmanc8571 The youtube algorithm is working just as in the 10s, lets hope it continues like that. PD great taste youve got there imo
One of the biggest things I regret not doing was visiting the Slowboat Cafe when I was visiting Sapporo in February, literally months before Ryo Fukui died. I was so close to it, and possibly passed by it once, but it completely phased my mind when I was there, at it will forever be one of my biggest regrets.
I'm sorry to hear that , his Jazz club is still running so if you do get the chance perhaps you can go back and pay your respects one day
I found his album on the recommendations almost a year ago and when I first found it I listened to it in full everyday for about 3 months and it inspired me to take up learning the piano. I’ve taken two semester of piano now at my local community college and have a newfound appreciation and love for all things piano and jazz related. Thank you Ryo
Edit: Wow, just found out that him and I have started the piano at the same age. Interesting how life does that huh?
Oh wow that's fantastic, I hope you keep up the Piano in future if Fukui shows anything, its that it is never too late to try something
Reading this two years later. Did the piano continue? Or did the flame die
@@bentoth3814 Still playing! However, I don't believe I am as good as I should be for starting 2 and a half years ago. I know some stuff though: several scales by heart, can play and read any scale for 2 octaves, got myself a full 88 key board 2 christmases ago and last christmas got myself the offical final fantasy song book and learned several of my favorite songs able to play mostly perfect at full speed, reading pieces comes pretty easy to me now, and I know a good bit of basic music theory. I play here and there all the time to keep myself warm and to not get rusty but I don't play as much as I would like to since life and whatnot. Last piece I learned was "return to zanarkand" and that took me about the whole summer since I had to go back and forth on it constantly
sick dude, nice to make a video on fukui, i love his music.
He's a dude , I've been planning a video on him for like a year, just needed to have the resources to do it.
I love "Early Summer".
Great song
So happy to find out more about Ryo. Scenery has stood out in my musical life for the past couple years. Thank you.
No problem I hope to do this for more artists in future
To continue...Ryo-san was a serious amateur baseball player, a knuckleballer. He dropped out of HS because he wanted to be a pro (his HS in tiny Obihiro didn't have a team). He came from a musical family but had limited formal education in Western music. He briefly dabbled in rock guitar when he was 14 but quickly lost interest. He began studying accordion when he was 18 and was a suburb jazz accordionist. I'm surprised he never recorded his accordion playing in a studio. His wife, Yasuko-san, has many cassette tapes of live sessions featuring both instruments. It would be wonderful if they could be digitized. Ryo-san was one of the wittiest people I've ever met and a gourmand, to boot. Wonderful people. He is seriously missed.
I want to share a thought with you all internauts. I find Fukui's pianism so odd and standard at the same time, it's a vibe I don't get from most jazz pianists (not saying they're not good, because they are VERY good, but they do have a different style). You can tell he used to practice standard classical methods, and there are some typical classical harmonies here and there, but at the same time he had this innocent, pure jazz soul, almost like a beginner who just started listening to modal and hard bop. So it's a unique blend of simplicity and rigorous methods, of standard bop pianism and heartfelt melodies. And these feelings are not separate, it's like if they are two faces of the same coin.
Scenery is so raw, so simple, yet its semplicity makes it intellectual and thought-provoking and even technical. Furthermore you have this typical japanese atmosphere, this neon-lights-street/urban-landscape background that is cause and consequence of an imaginary nostalgia for a past in your small house, the power of being forever young in your adult and then decrepit body. It's like if Fukui is telling us: you live an adult life, you succumb to the rigorous laws of history and evolution, but you're never too old to be young inside. It's the power of dreaming, of never growing up deep inside.
Scenery and Mellow Dream are two gems, they are not pretentious or overtly original, but they stand out in the crowd of jazz LP's because of their pureness. Just my two cents, just my interpretation and what it makes me feel.
--EDIT--
You have no idea how many hidden jazz gems exist in the world. It's the same for every music genre (for example metal, classical, electronica) , but the nice feeling here is even stronger. If you're interestes, check out these artists from my country (Italy): Vittorio Chessa, Stefano Bollani, Paolo Fresu, Eneide, Perigeo.
On a more rock/prog field we have PFM, La Locanda delle Fate, Banco del Mutuo soccorso, Area.
Maybe you will never read this, but Fukui stole his album from Mustaine, just like all the songs in the world were composed by Mustaine
Thank you so, so much for making this video!
It was my pleasure
top quality video. not often you see them. im so sad that i missed liking jazz when he was alive but its thanks to youtubes platform that i have come to love it.
I will never forget it....I discovered Scenery in the end of March of 2016, I liked it so much and I wanted more information about Ryo and I look for it in Google. Wikipedia show me that he passed away some days before, I felt sad and in shock. I thought why!!?? Anyway, he left us a beautiful master piece.
it was time someone talk about this, incredible video essay love it!
Just want to say: Thank you for doing this, thank you for opening our eyes to a new world and to history. You earned a subscriber. I know it's not a lot, but I'm really happy to see your videos.
I think a lot of people go about finding out about Ryo Fukui the same way. First you see the recommend video. You ignore it for a month or two, and then, when nothings being uploaded, it appears again, you say to yourself, fuck it let's see what this is like.
And you just fall instantly in love with it, and all his other albums you go on to listen to.
You're not wrong
Funny thing I saw him in my recommendations was sad to find he passed away after doing a google search, I'm happy you did this video on him. This actually inspired me to do videos on more talented artist like him never got there due!
I can't thank you enough for this video! Discovering Ryo just a year or so back has been such a boon to my quality of life, and I am very happy to hear more about him!
No problem, that sentiment has been spread all over since I posted this video, I'm glad his music was such a force for positivity.
I remember in early 2017 finding this album as many have through youtube reccomendations. At the time the album was only viewd about 100,000 times and at this point I've had to have listened to it about half a dozen times, maybe even more. This album carried me through one of my toughest semesters so far in college and the hardest time of my life so far. This album carried me through nights of strudying, sadness, and struggle. I always turned back to the soothing tones and exciting movements in this album to remind myself that there is so much beauty in this world that I have yet to discover.
Love the Jazz homage to Refused! Took me a bit of scrolling to see it was your work.
Now I know you do all of the animations too, fantastic!
Haha, maybe next time I'll mention what I did and didn't make, but yeah the animations were all me.
I'm glad you enjoyed
Great retrospective!
I appreciate the effort put into this video. Also had a soft spot for Ryo Fukui. It was a year before he died when i discovered him and the album had just come out. Felt lucky he was still alive. My luck ran thin.
Instant subscribed. Very informative and well made. "Scenery" and "A Letter From Slowboat" have special places in my heart.
I'm glad you enjoyed it !
Many people have told how much his albums have meant to him and its reassuring that a one off recommendation can make that kind of a difference
This all started with a YT named Hyper who made a joke video about Vaporwave. I got instantly hooked. Then came Future Funk and "madmen" Marcel the Drunkard and Van Paugam who helped me to rediscover those lost gem. Those stuffs and US 60-80's music are the only things I'am listen to now as contemporary music (especially pop music) are getting way too EDM and monotonous. Thanks again for this incredible video :)
I want to talk with Van Paugam, my next video is on a notorious citypop piece, maybe i'll see if I can contact him on Twitter.
As long as you can find something that you enjoy music wise, that's all that matters regardless on when it comes from
Great! I'am looking forward to it. There is an another guy who runs jpop80ss.blogspot.cz owning an extensive collection of Asian music including city pop albums. Maybe he knows quite a lot of things too.
I shall send them an email thank you!
The production on this video is fucking insane. Great job dude
Thanks :) I just a got new computer set up so I got to go back to what I know After Effects and animation wise
Saw Mugi, hit like.
same buddy
that's exactly what I did too
As a new Ryo Fukui fan, I was lucky that I was able to sit in on a set in Slow Boat. It was an experience. His wife and the staff were very friendly.
Grateful for the information provided in this video! Great work my man!
I stumbled across Ryo through different circumstances than youtube. I was 24 years old, in Berlin at the most notorious techno club of Europe, Berghain. I was experiencing MDMA for the first time in my life and after the DJ, San Soda, had played for 8 hours straight until Monday morning, he ended the set with “Early Summer” on vinyl. After an incredible night of San Soda playing precisely the type of groove I live for I asked him what he was playing and he just passed me the cover of the vinyl. The next day I was too fucked to remember so I messaged the DJ on facebook and he sent me the youtube link to the song. What a night!
Wow that sounds like a wild and wonderful way to find out about Ryo , but it does make me chuckle that it still ends back at youtube.
Stevem so true! :)
Fantastic video my man. I've been so curious of Ryo's past after discovering his music while I was in Japan. Awesome that he's getting the recognition his talent derserves
Thanks for making this video, Ryo sure needs more recognition. Scenery and his other albums are masterpieces.
No probs the more I think about it Mellow Dream might be my preferred Ryo album that or Favourite Tune
Someone finally did it. Thank you
What a stylish ending and way to convey jazz as a kind of transitioning canvas. I also discovered Scenery thanks to RUclips recommendations, and I will never forget the name Ryo Fukui ever again. Thanks for making this beautiful video, I salute you.
No problem Angel glad you enjoyed
Been waiting for a video like this for a long time. Thank you.
No problem and more to on Japanese Music (for a little while at least)
Excellent documentary! Like many others on RUclips, I stumbled on this by total accident. However, it was one of the most happy accidents I could've ever experienced. Fukui is right up there with some of the best jazz pianists(Bill Evans, Robert Glasper, Monk, etc)
Thank you for making this video!
No problem I plan to make on similar topics
I just went to japan and bought his album. The quality was superb. Thank you Mr Fukui for this wonderful art...
I never thought i would enjoy video essay about jazz... glad i did
RUclips recommendations made me discover a lot of 70s80s music from Japan.
Wow what an amazing video! Fascinating history. So bizarre that a bunch of youtube addicted music nerds now know his music. Really glad Marcel found my favorite tune. So beautiful.
The dude who found the album was in the comments his name is Josh, he went to Japan and got a copy first hand from Fukui's widow, then gave it to Marcel.
I sent Fukui's widow an email with this video and they referred it to a Japanese Jazz Critic who has now translated the video for Japanese audiences. So yeah this has been a wild ride I was not expecting
日本語字幕、本当にありがとうございます。素晴らしい動画です。勉強させてもらいました。
Thank you for making this !
No problem been thinking of doing a quick Japanese Jazz album primer soon if it all works out
The effort put into this documentary is crazy. Great informative package coupled with really pleasing visuals and musical recommendations.
Ryo's story has to be told to every single young musicians out there.
I'm gonna be turning 23 in a few weeks and I've always wanted to learn to play the piano. Great vid.
Awesome video thanks for making this. Also the editing on this is top notch
Thank you I wanted to get back using programmes like after effects with more visual design, I'm glad the extra time put in payed off
Thank you so much for this video!! I loved it.
This video is posted on the front page of the jazz Slowboat, the bar owned by Ryo and his wife. Congrats!
I am now a subscriber because of this right here. I discovered Ryo a couple years back and have been a fan of his work ever since. In the back of my mind I've thought it would be great to see video essay on him and his work but figured it'd be unlucky since he's relatively obscure. You did a fantastic job, thank you for taking the time to share it with the wider RUclips community.
I remember listening to this when i was 5, so chill and deep
That young wow
Thanks for that, your documentary is all I wanted to learn.
Dude, thank you so so much for your work.
Thank you for sharing all this info, I'm so grateful. This guy's are really important for me, specially master Barry Harris.
Thank you for letting ppl know where the things come from and how our views are fed.
Metta
That ending was beautiful buddy, well done
Thanks dude!
This channel is such a gem, I’m so glad I found it!
thanks for the posting! I found Ryo Fukui's album on youtube few years ago but don't know much about him. this one helps me to know him (and Japan's jazz culture) better. I'm planning to go to Tokyo this year for Tokyo Jazz festival and other jazz places around there. :)
Ryo's club, the Slow Boat still does shows every week in Sapporo
hi i’m back here to say that this is one of my most beloved youtube videos ive seen to date… and i’m glad barry harris spoke about his friend ryo before he passed himself
for barry n ryo together forever once again
ryo fukui ( 6/1/1948 - 3/15/2016 )
barry harris ( 12/15/1929 - 12/8/2021 )
Ngl, had to fight back tears at the end of the video. Thank you for making this
I'm glad to hear that you had such a strong emotional reaction from the video, it was my pleasure.
i've wondered about this artist for awhile now. thx for all the info!
I'm so glad you put that Sakamichi no apollon clip in there. I appreciate this
It seemed the most relevant (and the best quality footage you can get that relates to the topic)
I am so happy this video came out. I found Scenery last year at the start of Summer and as a lover of Jazz I could not stop listening to it. I am glad Fukui's mysteriousness is finally solved through this video. I did my own research on Fukui but nothing can beat this video. I also find it interesting you used "Kids on the Slope". Assuming you have seen it, I hope if a season 2 comes out that Ryo Fukui and his album are played respects.
日本語字幕ありがたいです！応援しています😘
Great video! RUclips recomended me this gem to me in the begining of last year and I fell in love w his music since then
I've heard that a lot in the last couple of weeks, it does make think how music is this universal language no matter where your from you can get with it.
Stevem Yees! This is something so amazing
Amazing work! Thank you for making this.
Im so glad you covered Ryo Fukui. Been listening to him for a couple years and he is amazing.
He started learning piano at 23. This has really motivated me. There is still time...
Syfoll there's always time
maybe
Fantastic video. The editing made it such a visual journey. Good job!
Excellent video!
Thanks for this!
I have this framed on my apt along with my sister. We love that record.
this video is a true piece of art (and heart too). subscribed
aaaaaayeee ive been listening to his shit for a while now im so glad someone made a video
Anj Valdez i thought it was worth a video topic wise
Very informative! Thanks for this.
No problem, I hope to do more in the future
Great editing and great topic choice ;) relatable and interesting
I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Thank you for this great vid.
Awesome video Stevem, thanks!
This video is perfect. I don't mean it in terms of facts checking out because i don't know more than anyone about this subject but just the writing, editing, clear narration, sound quality and mixing just right, I was fully engrossed the 11+ minutes and that's a really rare thing to experience in a RUclips video. Love your channel and high quality videos, leaving this comment to appreciate and say i hope this channel gets more popular. Subscribed 👍
thannnnkkk youuuuuu, waiting for someone to make a vid about him
Kept ya waiting huh?
Great video! Just earned a new subscriber. Japan's jazz culture is so interesting.
Thx for this video I found him thru RUclips recommendations and loved his music without knowing anything abt him
I needed this
Videos like this make RUclips worth visiting. Thank you for the excellent material!
no problem i'll try and keep it up
Thanks Steve, this is why I love RUclips’s music recommendations.
Thank you for this tribute to Fukui's work. I was in awe when I first listened to Scenery, and that album combined with Stacey Kent's work really jumpstarted my love of jazz and music in general. I don't pretend to know anything about music, but I know something special when I hear it.
Like everyone else, I discovered him through an algorithm quirk, and because of this I discovered DOZENS of new artists that I had never heard of before. Starting off with Japanese jazz artists like Minoru Muraoka (I proudly have Bamboo sitting on my album shelf right now), but soon delving into the works of folk rocker Hako Yamasaki (two albums on my shelf), folk singer Anne Briggs, jazz artist Masaru Imada, Linda Perhacs, Yoshiko Sai, Urszula Dudziak, Ghost Rhythms and so many more, in so many genres. Despite the easy "switch on/switch off" capability of today's music options, I have actually DISCOVERED more albums that I am sitting down and listening to (and consequently buying) than ever before, thanks to the efforts of the diggers like Marcel the Drunkard or Funked Up East making this old, hard to find material available.
Yeah , see for me the digital space is the only place I've known for discovering music, I wasn't into that kind off thing in the pre digital age.
However it sounds like its gave you so much content you've truly enjoyed especially if you bought the albums afterwards. There's a reason I put Bamboo in the section about artists defying a decade, Maraoka was a trend setter. I have some kind of long form article somewhere about all his albums
I own "scenery" on LP and it's really a joy every time I put it on the turntable. simply my favourite jazz pianist
I love this guys music
Finally someone made a video about this man!!!!
Great job, thank you for your research.
No problem I enjoy the process
Thank you so much for making this video. I knew nothing about the history of jazz in Japan, only that there were devotees of it to be found there. I had never heard of Ryo, and was so moved by his story. I am going to check out his albums now.
I'm glad you related to the topic so much, even if you didn't know about it coming in, if anything that means I did the job right
This was amazing
Thank you!!