The 14-year-old winner of the 1988 All-Japan Tsugaru-Shamisen Competition, held at the Kanagicho in the Aomori Prefecture, began his studies of the instrument at the age of six.
For several more years, the young artist continued to develop his talents and for two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996 was awarded the prestigious top prize in the Tsuguru-Shamisen National Competition held in Hirosaki, Japan.
Receiving high acclaim in Hogaku (traditional Japanese music) inspired Agatsuma to continue exploring the unique qualities of the Tsugaru-Shamisen, and in turn, his own musical specialty.
In 2001, on his critically acclaimed debut (self-titled Agatsuma), he received the award for ‘Album of the Year’ at the Japan Gold Disc Awards.
On his second release, Beams, Agatsuma blended his many musical influences of jazz, rock fusion and Latin based grooves with traditional Japanese folk music. As he noted, “I appreciate the foundation made by my ancestors. It has given me the opportunities to appreciate and perform many different types of music.”
About Beyond, his third release, Hiromitsu Agatsuma said: “I tried so many different things on this album, such as song motives, scales, play styles and so on. I even discovered new things during the recording, so I could have comfortable feelings of tension in the studio.
Several experiences gave me great influences on composing music for this album. The U.S. east coast tour on February 2003, the U.S. west coast live performances in August 2003, and the collaborations with Marcus Miller and Larry Coryell. I had lots of opportunities to perform in front of people saying’ what is Shamisen?’ and ‘how is it played?’, who never heard Shamisen before. Those were the great experiences for me.
I was able to feel the wide potentials of the world of Shamisen by those experiences, and I believe that I could express more of the fusion with the contemporary music scene, in other words Agatsuma-ish Shamisen World. Further more, this album contains the collaborations with guest artists. Playing together with each artist made this album very provocative and innovative.
I would like to keep creating Agatsuma World with learning by trial and error.“
Discography
Agatsuma (EMI Music, 2001)
Beams, Agatsuma 2 (Domo Records, 2002)
New Asia (2002)
Classics, Agatsuma III (2003)
New Asia II (2003)
Beyond (2004)
Eien no Uta – Eternal Songs (Toshiba EMI, 2005)
En (EMI Music, 2006)
Soufuu (2007)
Agatsuma Plays Standards (2008)
The Best of (2010)
Jukki (2010)
Kusabi (2012)
Gen (2014)
Sui (2016)
NuTrad (2016)
Website: http://agatsuma.tv
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.