An Interview with Emiko Minakuchi

Please introduce yourself for those who may not know you yet?
Emiko Minakuchi: I am a bit shy, which makes things difficult. Well, I am a pianist and I have been living in Paris for eight years. I started to write music three years ago, at the same time the trio was formed and we then started to play in Paris. Alternatively, I am a teacher at the school where I studied.

What encouraged you to play the piano from the age of four and then to start jazz?
Emiko Minakuchi: Jazz comes from the time when I was in university. When I was about 21 years old, I saw a jazz concert by Junko Onishi (a Japanese jazz artist who plays bop). I was surprised by her harmonics. After that I was starting to notice that at many concerts, but I wasn't familiar with jazz at all or any artist. I liked how she played in Boston, I said to myself that after my studies, I would leave for the USA and would become a jazz pianist. I worked for two and a half years to earn enough money. While waiting, I listened to French musicians. And thanks to a friend, I saw Richard Galliano (accordionist) and Didier Lockwood (violinist) in a trio in 1997. I was shocked, it was an amazing concert! They were in Tokyo for a week and I saw them on a Wednesday. Eventually I went back there on Saturday. At that moment, I said to myself that I wanted to live in France but I didn't know anybody and didn't speak French, however, afterwards I kept to my idea of going to the USA. Three months later, I saw Michel Petrucciani at the same place and with this concert it became clear that I couldn't go anywhere else but France. I then changed my mind and so I arrived in Paris in 1998. I started playing the piano when I was four because my great grandfather was a music teacher who insisted that I would learn it and that I would go to the university he went to.

You had a connection with the late Michel Petrucciani. How did this start for you?
Emiko Minakuchi: For two of his songs I was in tears. His music was magnificent; there were so many emotions...
Was this the first time that you felt so many emotions when listening to music?
Emiko Minakuchi: Yes, I had had some emotions with the trio of Galliano, but it was in the sense of "we had a good time" with Petrucciani; it was pure emotion.

How did you meet Hugo Céchosz and Francesco Pastacaldi who are part of your trio?
Emiko Minakuchi: I met them at jam sessions. In fact I had a friend who organizes jazz sessions at the Seven Lizards Club. I used to be an integral part of these concerts as the pianist for three years and I accompanied a group every Sunday. Hugo Céchosz came by one time and we exchanged phone numbers. We then worked together but not yet for our music. Eventually Hugo became the bass player for the jam sessions. He also entered the CNSM (National Superior Conservatory of Music of Paris) and met Francesco there who joined him, also thereafter, at the jam sessions.
What made you decide to choose them for your trio?
Emiko Minakuchi: Most simply, I really liked how they played.

Have you played in Japan yet?
Emiko Minakuchi: Not yet!
Would you like to?
Emiko Minakuchi: Of course but I don't have enough time. I had four jobs at the time at the time to earn money quickly in order to live. I taught on the side and I did piano demonstrations. Moreover, I didn't even know that it was improvisation: when I saw Michel Petrucciani and Junki Onishi, I didn't know that it was improvisation.
You therefore didn't have knowledge of the pentatonic scales (series of 5 notes per octave, system used a lot in jazz) for example?
Emiko Minakuchi: No, I didn't imagine that at all!

Do you feel apprehension when you introduce yourself as Japanese to the person in charge of a club?
Emiko Minakuchi: No and besides I have never been afraid about that. I had more doubt about my skill level, "do I have a good enough skill for this place?" and "is my music good enough to please?" But no, nationality has never been a barrier.

How does one organize a week of concerts like you have given at Duc des Lombards, playing every night?
Emiko Minakuchi: Unfortunately, at that time it was summer and all the musicians were either on vacation or were leaving left and right to accompany other groups. We didn't have enough practices for that week. On the other hand, we had worked a lot before, very regularly and we even leaned over on other parts, which takes a great amount of time. We then looked for full time things. And sometimes I'm not happy, even if it is my music. They also make me propositions but sometimes these don't please me, it moves forward badly therefore we start working on it all over again.
Do you have the same set list that you follow each time?
Emiko Minakuchi: Yes.
Then you organize yourselves on definite parts or can you improvise, which is very common in jazz?
Emiko Minakuchi: Of course, there is a basic structure and then we improvise.

During the concert, I was touched by some song called Tristesse et beauté (Sadness and beauty). What is hidden behind this song that has mastered very melodious chords but is sad at the same time, were you trying to deliver a particular message?
Emiko Minakuchi: Unfortunately, none in fact. I don't even know how this song was born. When I wrote it, I told myself that it was sad however I wasn't sad myself.
Even so, the audience, which at first reacted and talked only a little, felt that there was a change and everyone was very attentive.
Emiko Minakuchi: I can't say what this means. What is difficult each time when I write music is to put a title on top of it. For me, the music and the words are separate.
It's difficult to put words to the music?
Emiko Minakuchi: Exactly. I have trouble doing it each time.
Does this come from the barrier of the French language also or not at all?
Emiko Minakuchi: No no, even in Japanese it's the same.

The title of your album is Kokolo ('kokoro' meaning heart in Japanese) and on the other hand your song titles are in French, why this difference?
Emiko Minakuchi: For the title, I proposed to my producer the title Kokoro no koe (voice of the heart), but my producer understood 'body'. He didn't like it and he chose the sound of Kokolo after having learned the difference. Also I had some complexes with my music; I find it difficult to have confidence in myself. I've had major periods of depression. To get out of this was truly difficult. A lot of people helped me: my piano teacher, Antoine Arvet, my producer who pushed me to make a CD with only some compositions. I was very shocked, why my music? It isn't swing, not jazz! I felt shame...
At this point?
Emiko Minakuchi: Yes, I didn't want to play in public.
It was of shyness mixed with a fear that the audience wouldn't like your music?
Emiko Minakuchi: Yes both. I was sure that they weren't going to like it. My producer pushed me well and I learned various things. I started to listen to something other than my head, before my head used to take control: It's better to do this or that, etc. As a result I didn't listen to my heart. It's because of that that things went poorly. I blocked myself and didn't move forward. I began to listen to what I did, even in improvisation. That's how I found the title Kokolo.
So why the titles in French, is it because you lived in France?
Emiko Minakuchi: Exactly, otherwise I would have preferred to put them in Japanese.
And why not put them in French with a Japanese translation then?
Emiko Minakuchi: Oh yes, why not.

What have you pulled from the Japanese culture and put into your music?
Emiko Minakuchi: I can't say what it is. I haven't analyzed that but I think when I listen to my music and see the result, one finds the fact that I have listened to Japanese music.
For example?
Emiko Minakuchi: All of it!
But more pop, rock, classical, and so on?
Emiko Minakuchi: More pop and classical, I love both. There are some jazz musicians who think that variety is useless, I don't agree with that. I like variety a lot. I feel also in my music that I miss Japan, with sadness and melancholy. Every day I think of my family in Japan.
Have you returned since you've come to France?
Emiko Minakuchi: From time to time but there is a great withdrawal.
Do you intend to remain in France or not?
Emiko Minakuchi: I would like to return to Japan even if to juggle my time between the two countries. I'm quite the homebody, I don't really like trips and therefore I don't like to leave. If I arrive to do concerts in France and in Japan, that's alright (laughs). My producer is trying to see into other countries; Israel contacted us amongst others. I don't know why, but the more the better!

If we offered you a tour in Europe would you be ready for it?
Emiko Minakuchi: If I could meet people, it would be with pleasure because I love meeting new people!

Today you're a teacher in the school where you studied, how did this come to be? In fact that was very quick!
Emiko Minakuchi: I can't say if that was quick because I don't compare with others. Everyday I used to tell myself that I was lucky (laughs). For my studies it was a good school for me. They chose me for a scholarship for three, four years even though when I arrived I had the level of a beginner in jazz and French.
You had the same good foundation in classical music. Did that help you to move forward with jazz, with the rudiments and theory?
Emiko Minakuchi: I didn't even know how to create a chord! Tonic, thirds, sevenths, etc. What's a thirteenth! (laughs)
They were very kind and taught me well, I'm happy about that. What was funny was that the year they asked me to be a teacher was the same year I had to get married, otherwise I wouldn't have had the right to work here. All at once, I had all those who came to me for lessons and I didn't expect it. My marriage was in September and during that vacation, they asked me if I wanted to be a teacher, I accepted the offer with pleasure. That was in 2003.

How does a lesson with your students go, what is the message that you want to give them?
Emiko Minakuchi: I teach for beginners who are very timid, having no confidence in themselves. So to each person I tell them that everyone can become a good musician. It's necessary to have them to leave the lesson knowing that they have good in them. That's something one must do, it's not all about technique. One can have technique without as much as touching others when they play, that isn't music! What I try to make them understand, it's all that. What is also unbelievable is when I put the score in front of the person to play they become stuck, strained and aren't playing very well. When I remove the score and say, "now you play anything you want with the piano!", already the sound completely changes. It's a very good method, I advise everyone to do five minutes of anything at home. To start with a person who is afraid of not doing well, but when that person has the right to do anything they want, there is truly something on the inside that stands out and that is magnificent. They aren't the same students if I were to close my eyes for only an instant.

You have some music that is sometimes sweet and sad, sometimes more rhythmic and joyous. What inspires you and pushes you to make music more in one emotion or another?
Emiko Minakuchi: Nothing specific is chosen because if I choose one then I won't manage to get anything done so I let my mind run. Sometimes the feeling comes to me when I imagine myself on the scene with my musicians and there I tell myself what I wish to hear.
You put yourself in the place of the audience?
Emiko Minakuchi: From time to time, that depends. As soon as I listen to an intro, I note the music and I try to keep the atmosphere.

You have played in different places, but is there one place that you hold to more your heart?
Emiko Minakuchi: We didn't have enough experience but our first festival at Oloron Sainte-Marie (Editor's note: Festival de Jazz des Rives et des Notes) went very well. They were extremely nice; I have very good memories of them. They told me that about twenty years ago Michel Petrucciani came here to play.
Inevitably, that reminded you of a certain concert?
Emiko Minakuchi: Exactly, and at this moment, Petrucciani wasn't well known like he is today therefore there weren't many people. However some people who attended that concert told me that it was truly superb.
So it touched you to say that the person who influenced you played in the same room that you perform in now? It's a beautiful story.
Emiko Minakuchi: Yes it is.

You have already released one album, Kokolo. Do you intend to release a new one with the songs we heard during the concert?
Emiko Minakuchi: We will definitely work on it next year, perhaps in January with the same members.

Who are your musical influences? Michel Petrucciani?
Emiko Minakuchi: That's a bit difficult to say because what I write at that moment is rather influenced by what I was listening to when I was in Japan with the memories that I have for some of the Japanese variety and classical music. Petrucciani is too new for me at the moment. I haven't yet matured enough to take a step backward on these more recent events. On the other hand to work on improvisation I practice with artists like Petrucciani or like Keith Jarret, Brad Mehldau, and so on.

During the concert on Friday, I thought you were somewhat singing.
Emiko Minakuchi: Yes, I'm unable to control myself. I don't listen to myself except if it's too strong or if I have a sore throat. Even when I work at home I stop myself from singing because I get really thirsty.
Then you aren't interested in singing?
Emiko Minakuchi: No, not at all, certainly not!
Why not?
Emiko Minakuchi: In 2005 the sound recording engineer of the album wasn't able to remove my voice. I tried working on not making a sound, but it wasn't possible. I was shocked that he wasn't able to do it, but that was coming from the atmosphere microphone that was taking the sound from the piano, thus inevitably my voice as well.

How did this recording of your first album at Rouen go?
Emiko Minakuchi: That wasn't too difficult for me to decide on the improvisational parts apart from the tension that could be created. We played each piece at most five or six times. We were on the other hand very tired; we only had two days to make the whole album. We did two thirds the first day and the second day we were tired both physically and mentally. Since it was my first recording, I hadn't expected that.

About the technical side on the piano, how many hours do you practise per day?
Emiko Minakuchi: I practised a lot until January of this year because now I have some problems with the owner of my flat who is my neighbour. I have bought a baby grand piano and I've worked on it during the day, but not at night. I had accepted that little contract because I had the right to plays as much as possible except on night. This year, the owner is working in her flat so now it's difficult. My daughter was also born in April, so playing just two hours a day is not easy.
You don't play at the jazz school?
Emiko Minakuchi: It isn't the best for me. Right now I'm focusing to develop my ear for composition. I don't necessarily have need of piano. When you don't have piano, it's easier to decide on things.

If you could play with a well-known artist, who would it be?
Emiko Minakuchi: I've never thought of that before... It's difficult for me to decide! If I have to quickly pick someone it would be Richard Galliano, a jazz artist.

And to play with a singer?
Emiko Minakuchi: I haven't met anyone with which I would like to work with.

Why have you taken the title Ringo no Oiwake from Masao Yoneyama on your album?
Emiko Minakuchi: I had bought Junko Onichi's album and she plays this type of music, but we don't have the same arrangement as she does. For three years, we played that and a few standards with some compositions. And as soon we play Ringo Oiwake, the audience appreciated just as much as my musicians.

In your next album, will there be re-recordings or only new compositions?
Emiko Minakuchi: I don't know yet but mainly new compositions.

What is your composition that resembles you the most and why?
Emiko Minakuchi: Ah... a little of everything comes from me, but the strongest would be Tristesse et beauté (Sadness and beauty) or Mélancolie (Melancholy) because I think about Japan and my family.

Thank you very much for your time.
Emiko Minakuchi: It was a pleasure.