Masakazu Yoshizawa
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese American
flutist and musician
, known for his mastery of the bamboo flute
, specifically the shakuhachi
. Yoshizawa also mastered several other traditional Japanese flutes, in addition to other Japanese and Western musical instruments. He was also considered a scholar of ancient and modern Japanese traditional music
. Yoshizawa's work and music were featured in a number of major Hollywood studio films and soundtrack
s, including The Joy Luck Club
and Memoirs of a Geisha
.
, Japan
. His mother was the only obstetrician in their village and his father was a veterinarian
. Yoshizawa was required to play a musical instrument in his elementary school. He began playing the accordion
when he was 9 years old, and soon moved to the piano
, several woodwinds and the shakuhachi
, which he was to become world famous for playing.
He soon became a proficient musician, especially with the shakuhachi
. Yoshizawa began playing as both a studio musician and in orchestras in Tokyo
by the age of 19. He studied Western music at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
, where he earned a degree in the early 1970s.
to Los Angeles
in the mid-1970s. He initially worked as a musician, often as a clarinet
and saxophone
player.
He also worked as a sushi
chef. However, when he was specifically requested to play the shakuhachi
for a certain job, it sparked his interest in the instrument, as well as in Japanese music.
Yoshizawa returned to Japan to take shakuhachi lessons before moving back to California
. He began to be hired as a shakuhachi player for film
and television
, which quickly converted his passion for Japanese music into a full fledged career. Yoshizawa explained the interest that film and television producers had in his music in a 2005 interview
with the Cultural News
, a web site that focuses on Japan-themed films: "they wanted a sound that Western music didn't have . . . that was new and fit the film."
Yoshizawa ultimately played the shakuhachi on dozens of different movies and television shows. His early movie credits included the Karate Kid sequels and the 1993 film, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
.
Yoshizawa began his collaboration with acclaimed film composer
, John Williams
, on Steven Spielberg
's 1993 blockbuster
, Jurassic Park
. He once told the Cultural News web site that Williams asked him to play the shakuhachi for Jurassic Park because the instrument "sounds like a dinosaur
's cry."
Masakazu Yoshizawa would next work with John Williams again in the film version of Memoirs of a Geisha
, which was released in 2005. Yoshizawa was initially hired for the movie as a drummer for the Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack, but was soon asked to play the shakuhachi and other traditional instruments for the film instead. The soundtrack for the movie was expanded by Williams into a concert suite which featured Yoshizawa on the shakuhachi and Yo-Yo Ma
on the cello
. It was performed by the musicians at the Tanglewood Music Festival
in Massachusetts
in 2006.
, of stomach cancer on October 24, 2007. He was survived by a daughter, Chrissy; his son, James; a sister, Chieko; and a granddaughter. He was a divorcee.
John Williams released a statement to the Los Angeles Times
following Yoshizawa's death: "Masa was a brilliant musician and a very important member of the orchestra, and he will be greatly missed."
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
flutist and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, known for his mastery of the bamboo flute
Bamboo flute
Flutes made of bamboo are found in many musical traditions.Some bamboo flutes include:Flute Country of Origin Atenteben Bashi Bansuri Chi Dizi Daegeum...
, specifically the shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
. Yoshizawa also mastered several other traditional Japanese flutes, in addition to other Japanese and Western musical instruments. He was also considered a scholar of ancient and modern Japanese traditional music
Music of Japan
The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 , combining the kanji 音 with the kanji 楽...
. Yoshizawa's work and music were featured in a number of major Hollywood studio films and soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s, including The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club (film)
The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
and Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha (film)
Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...
.
Early life
Masakazu Yoshizawa was born on September 10, 1950, in Hida, GifuHida, Gifu
is the northernmost city in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It received its name from the historical province of Hida Province, which was centered around the same area.The official kanji for the city is actually 飛驒, which uses the old rendering of the 騨 character...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. His mother was the only obstetrician in their village and his father was a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
. Yoshizawa was required to play a musical instrument in his elementary school. He began playing the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
when he was 9 years old, and soon moved to the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, several woodwinds and the shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
, which he was to become world famous for playing.
He soon became a proficient musician, especially with the shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
. Yoshizawa began playing as both a studio musician and in orchestras in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
by the age of 19. He studied Western music at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
or is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju, Adachi, Tokyo...
, where he earned a degree in the early 1970s.
Career
Yoshizawa moved from JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in the mid-1970s. He initially worked as a musician, often as a clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
player.
He also worked as a sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
chef. However, when he was specifically requested to play the shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
for a certain job, it sparked his interest in the instrument, as well as in Japanese music.
Yoshizawa returned to Japan to take shakuhachi lessons before moving back to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He began to be hired as a shakuhachi player for film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, which quickly converted his passion for Japanese music into a full fledged career. Yoshizawa explained the interest that film and television producers had in his music in a 2005 interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
with the Cultural News
Cultural news
The Cultural News is a Los Angeles-based English language publication about traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. It is a monthly tabloid newspaper format with eight pages.-Markets served:...
, a web site that focuses on Japan-themed films: "they wanted a sound that Western music didn't have . . . that was new and fit the film."
Yoshizawa ultimately played the shakuhachi on dozens of different movies and television shows. His early movie credits included the Karate Kid sequels and the 1993 film, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a 1993 American semi fictionalized biographical martial arts action film telling the story of actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee, starring Jason Scott Lee as Bruce Lee, Lauren Holly and Robert Wagner...
.
Yoshizawa began his collaboration with acclaimed film composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
, on Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's 1993 blockbuster
Blockbuster (entertainment)
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
, Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
. He once told the Cultural News web site that Williams asked him to play the shakuhachi for Jurassic Park because the instrument "sounds like a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
's cry."
Masakazu Yoshizawa would next work with John Williams again in the film version of Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha (film)
Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...
, which was released in 2005. Yoshizawa was initially hired for the movie as a drummer for the Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack, but was soon asked to play the shakuhachi and other traditional instruments for the film instead. The soundtrack for the movie was expanded by Williams into a concert suite which featured Yoshizawa on the shakuhachi and Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
on the cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
. It was performed by the musicians at the Tanglewood Music Festival
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....
in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in 2006.
Death
Masakazu Yoshizawa died at his home in San Gabriel, CaliforniaSan Gabriel, California
San Gabriel is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is named after the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founded by Junipero Serra. The city grew outward from the mission and in 1852 became the original township of Los Angeles County. San Gabriel was incorporated in 1913...
, of stomach cancer on October 24, 2007. He was survived by a daughter, Chrissy; his son, James; a sister, Chieko; and a granddaughter. He was a divorcee.
John Williams released a statement to the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
following Yoshizawa's death: "Masa was a brilliant musician and a very important member of the orchestra, and he will be greatly missed."
External links
- Obituary in The Times, 11 December 2007
- Concert in Phoenix, AZ Matsuri, February 24, 2007, Video record from the concert (part 1)
- Concert in Phoenix, AZ Matsuri, February 24, 2007, Video record from the concert (part 2)
- Concert in Phoenix, AZ Matsuri, February 24, 2007, Video record from the concert (part 3)
- Concert in Phoenix, AZ Matsuri, February 24, 2007, Video record from the concert (part 4)
- Concert in Phoenix, AZ Matsuri, February 24, 2007, Video record from the concert (part 5)