Noh performance at Itsukushima Shrine

Okina hōnō (dedication of Noh play A Venerable Old Man) on New Year's Day

Noh (能, Nō^?), or Nogaku (能楽, Nōgaku^?)^[1]—derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent"—is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and consists of five Noh plays interspersed with shorter, humorous kyōgen pieces. However, present-day Noh performances often consist of two Noh plays with one Kyōgen play in between.

While the field of Noh performance is extremely codified, and regulated by the iemoto system, with an emphasis on tradition rather than innovation, some performers do compose new plays or revive historical ones that are not a part of the standard repertoire. Works blending Noh with other theatrical traditions have also been produced.

History[link]

Together with the closely related kyōgen farce, Noh evolved from various popular, folk and aristocratic art forms, including Dengaku, Shirabyoshi, and Gagaku.

Kan'ami and his son Zeami Motokiyo brought Noh to what is essentially its present-day form during the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573)^[2] under the patronage of the powerful Ashikaga clan, particularly the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. It would later influence other dramatic forms such as Kabuki and Butoh. During the Meiji era, although its governmental patronage was lost, Noh and kyōgen received official recognition as two of the three national forms of drama.

By tradition, Noh actors and musicians only rehearse together once, a few days before the actual performance. Generally, each actor, musician, and chorus member practises his or her fundamental movements, songs, and dances independently, under the tutelage of a senior member of the school. Thus, the mood of a given performance is not set by any single performer but established by the interactions of all the performers together. In this way, Noh could be seen as exemplifying the medieval Japanese aesthetics of transience, exemplified by the saying of Sen no Rikyu, "ichi-go ichi-e", "one chance, one meeting".

One of the important centres of Noh was Nagoya, which upholds its tradition in today's Nagoya Noh Theatre.

Roles[link]

Noh stage. Center: shite; front right: waki; right: eight-member jiutai (chorus); rear center: four hayashi-kata (musicians); rear left: two kōken (stage hands).

There are four major categories of Noh performers: shite, waki, kyōgen, and hayashi.^[3]

1. Shite (仕手, シテ). In plays where the shite appears first as a human and then as a ghost, the first role is known as the maeshite and the later as the nochishite.
   • Shitetsure (仕手連れ, シテヅレ). The shite's companion. Sometimes shitetsure is abbreviated to tsure (連れ, ツレ), although this term refers to both the shitetsure and the wakitsure.
   • Kōken (後見) are stage hands, usually one to three people.
   • Jiutai (地謡) is the chorus, usually comprising six to eight people.
2. Waki (脇, ワキ) performs the role that is the counterpart or foil of the shite.
   • Wakitsure (脇連れ, ワキヅレ) or Waki-tsure is the companion of the waki.
3. Kyōgen (狂言) perform the aikyōgen (相狂言) interludes during plays. Kyōgen actors also perform in separate plays between individual noh plays.
4. Hayashi (囃子) or hayashi-kata (囃子方) are the instrumentalists who play the four instruments used in Noh theater: the transverse flute (笛, fue^?), hip drum (大鼓, ōtsuzumi^?) or ōkawa (大皮^?), the shoulder-drum (小鼓 , kotsuzumi^?), and the stick-drum (太鼓, taiko ^?). The flute used for noh is specifically called nōkan or nohkan (能管^?).

A typical Noh play always involve the chorus, the orchestra, and at least one shite and one waki actor.^[4]

Plays[link]

The current repertoire consist of approximately 250 plays, which can be divided according to a variety of schemes. The most common is according to content, but there are several other methods of organization.^[5]

Categories[link]

Noh plays are divided by theme into the following five categories, which are numbered in this order and referred to by these numbers (a "3rd group play", for instance).

1. Kami mono (神物) or waki nō (脇能) typically feature the shite in the role of a human in the first act and a deity in the second and tell the mythic story of a shrine or praise a particular spirit.
2. Shura mono (修羅物) or ashura nō (阿修羅能, warrior plays) have the shite often appearing as a ghost in the first act and a warrior in full battle regalia in the second, re-enacting the scene of his death.
3. Katsura mono (鬘物, wig plays) or onna mono (女物, woman plays) depict the shite in a female role and feature some of the most refined songs and dances in all of Noh.
4. There are about 94 "miscellaneous" plays, including kyōran mono　(狂乱物) or madness plays, onryō mono (怨霊物) or vengeful ghost plays, and genzai mono (現在物), plays which depict the present time, and which do not fit into the other categories.
5. Kiri nō　(切り能, final plays) or oni mono (鬼物, demon plays) usually feature the shite in the role of monsters, goblins, or demons, and are often selected for their bright colors and fast-paced, tense finale movements.

Mood[link]

• Mugen nō (夢幻能) usually deals with spirits, ghosts, phantasms, and supernatural worlds. Time is often depicted as passing in a non-linear fashion, and action may switch between two or more timeframes from moment to moment.
• Genzai nō (現在能), as mentioned above, depicts normal events of the everyday world. However, when contrasted with mugen instead of with the other four categories, the term encompasses a somewhat broader range of plays.

Style[link]

• Geki nō (劇能) or drama plays are based around the advancement of plot and the narration of action.
• Furyū nō (風流能) or dance plays focus rather on the aesthetic qualities of the dances and songs which are performed.

Okina (or Kamiuta) is a unique play which combines dance with Shinto ritual. It is considered the oldest type of Noh play, and is probably the most often performed. It will generally be the opening work at any programme or festival.

Sources[link]

The Tale of the Heike, a medieval tale of the rise and fall of the Taira clan, originally sung by blind monks who accompanied themselves on the biwa, is an important source of material for Noh (and later dramatic forms), particularly warrior plays. Another major source is The Tale of Genji, an eleventh century work of profound importance to the later development of Japanese culture. Authors also drew on Nara and Heian period Japanese classics, and Chinese sources.

Some famous plays[link]

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Noh plays (A–M) N–Z.

Plays with a separate article are listed here.

The following categorization is that of the Kanze school.

Performance elements[link]

Noh performance combines a variety of elements into a stylistic whole, with each particular element the product of generations of refinement according to the central Buddhist, Shinto, and minimalist aspects of Noh's aesthetic principles.

Stage[link]

World's oldest Noh stage at Miyajima

1: hashigakari. 2: kyōgen spot. 3: stage attendants. 4: stick drum. 5: hip drum. 6: shoulder drum. 7: flute. 8: chorus. 9: waki seat. 10: waki spot. 11: shite spot. 12: shite-bashira. 13: metsuke-bashira. 14: waki-bashira. 15: fue-bashira.

The traditional Noh stage consists of a pavilion whose architectural style is derived from that of the traditional kagura stage of Shinto shrines, and is normally composed almost entirely of hinoki (Japanese cypress) wood. The four pillars are named for their orientation to the prominent actions during the course of the play: the waki-bashira in the front, right corner near the waki's standing point and sitting point; the shite-bashira in the rear, left corner, next to which the shite normally performs; the fue-bashira in the rear, right corner, closest to the flute player; and the metsuke-bashira, or "looking-pillar", so called because the shite is typically faced toward the vicinity of the pillar.

The floor is polished to enable the actors to move in a gliding fashion, and beneath this floor are buried giant pots or bowl-shaped concrete structures to enhance the resonant properties of the wood floors when the actors stomp heavily on the floor (compare nightingale floor). As a result, the stage is elevated approximately three feet above the ground level of the audience.

The only ornamentation on the stage is the kagami-ita, a painting of a pine tree at the back of the stage. The two most common beliefs are that it represents either a famous pine tree of significance in Shinto at the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, or that it is a token of Noh's artistic predecessors which were often performed to a natural backdrop.

Another unique feature of the stage is the hashigakari, the narrow bridge to the right of the stage that the principal actors use to enter the stage. This would later evolve into the hanamichi in kabuki.

All stages which are solely dedicated to Noh performances also have a hook or loop in ceiling, which exists only to lift and drop the bell for the play Dōjōji. When that play is being performed in another location, the loop or hook will be added as a temporary fixture.

Costumes[link]

The garb worn by actors is typically adorned quite richly and steeped in symbolic meaning for the type of role (e.g. thunder gods will have hexagons on their clothes while serpents have triangles to convey scales). Costumes for the shite in particular are extravagant, shimmering silk brocades, but are progressively less sumptuous for the tsure, the wakizure, and the aikyōgen.

For centuries, in accordance with the vision of Zeami, Noh costumes emulated the clothing that the characters would genuinely wear, whether that be the formal robes of a courtier or the street clothing of a peasant or commoner. It was not until the late sixteenth century that stylized Noh costumes following certain symbolic and stylistic conventions became the norm.^[6]

The musicians and chorus typically wear formal montsuki kimono (black and adorned with five family crests) accompanied by either hakama (a skirt-like garment) or kami-shimo, a combination of hakama and a waist-coat with exaggerated shoulders (see illustrations). Finally, the stage attendants are garbed in virtually unadorned black garments, much in the same way as stagehands in contemporary Western theater.

Masks[link]

Three pictures of the same female mask showing how the expression changes with a tilting of the head. In these pictures, the mask was affixed to a wall with constant lighting, and only the camera moved.

A "Ko-jo" (old man) mask; in the collection of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Noh masks (能面 nō-men or 面 omote) all have names. They are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress (檜 "hinoki"), and painted with natural pigments on a neutral base of glue and crunched seashell.

Usually only the shite, the main actor, wears a mask. However, in some cases, the tsure may also wear a mask, particularly in the case of female roles. Noh masks portray female or nonhuman (divine, demonic, or animal) characters. There are also Noh masks to represent youngsters or old men. On the other hand, a Noh actor who wears no mask plays a role of an adult man in his twenties, thirties, or forties. The side player, the waki, wears no mask either.

Several types of masks, in particular those for female roles, are designed so that slight adjustments in the position of the head can express a number of emotions such as fear or sadness due to the variance in lighting and the angle shown towards the audience. With some of the more extravagant masks for deities and monsters, however, it is not always possible to convey emotion. Usually, however, these characters are not frequently called to change emotional expression during the course of the scene, or show emotion through larger body language.

The rarest and most valuable Noh masks are not held in museums even in Japan, but rather in the private collections of the various "heads" of Noh schools; these treasures are usually only shown to a select few and only taken out for performance on the rarest occasions. This does no substantial harm to the study and appreciation of Noh masks, as tradition has established a few hundred standard mask designs, which can further be categorized as being one of about a dozen different types.

Props[link]

The most commonly used prop in Noh is the fan, as it is carried by all performers regardless of role. Chorus singers and musicians may carry their fan in hand when entering the stage, or carry it tucked into the obi. In either case, the fan is usually placed at the performer's side when he or she takes position, and is often not taken up again until leaving the stage.

Several plays have characters who wield mallets, swords, and other implements. Nevertheless, during dance sequences, the fan is typically used to represent any and all hand-held props, including one such as a sword which the actor may have tucked in his sash or ready at hand nearby.

When hand props other than fans are used, they are usually introduced or retrieved by stage attendants who fulfill a similar role to stage crew in contemporary theater. Like their Western counterparts, stage attendants for Noh traditionally dress in black, but unlike in Western theater they may appear on stage during a scene, or may remain on stage during an entire performance, in both cases in plain view of the audience.

Stage properties in Noh including the boats, wells, altars, and the aforementioned bell from Dōjōji, are typically carried onto the stage before the beginning of the act in which they are needed. These props normally are only outlines to suggest actual objects, although the great bell, a perennial exception to most Noh rules for props, is designed to conceal the actor and to allow a costume change during the aikyogen interlude.

Chant and music[link]

Hayashi-kata (noh musicians). Left to right: taiko, ōtsuzumi (hip drum), kotsuzumi (shoulder drum), flute.

Noh theatre is accompanied by a chorus and a hayashi ensemble (Noh-bayashi 能囃子). Noh is a chanted drama, and a few commentators have dubbed it "Japanese opera". However, the singing in Noh involves a limited tonal range, with lengthy, repetitive passages in a narrow dynamic range. Clearly, melody is not at the center of Noh singing. Still, texts are poetic, relying heavily on the Japanese seven-five rhythm common to nearly all forms of Japanese poetry, with an economy of expression, and an abundance of allusion. The singing parts of Noh are called "Utai" and the speaking parts "Kataru".^[7]

It is important to note that the chant is not always performed "in character"; that is, sometimes the actor will speak lines or describe events from the perspective of another character or even a disinterested narrator. Far from breaking the rhythm of the performance, this is actually in keeping with the other-worldly feel of many Noh plays, especially those characterized as mugen.

Noh hayashi ensemble consists of four musicians, also known as the "hayashi-kata". There are three drummers, which play the shime-daiko, ōtsuzumi (hip drum), and kotsuzumi (shoulder drum) respectively, and a shinobue flautist.

Jo, Ha, Kyū[link]

One of the most subtle performance elements of Noh is that of Jo-ha-kyū, which originated as the three movements of courtly gagaku. However, rather than simply dividing a whole into three parts, within Noh the concept incorporates not only the play itself, but the songs and dances within the play, and even the individual steps, motions, and sounds that actors and musicians make. Furthermore, from a higher perspective, the entire traditional Noh program of five plays also manifests this concept, with the first type play being the jo, the second, third, and fourth plays the ha (with the second play being referred to as the jo of the ha, the third as the ha of the ha, and the fourth as the kyū of the ha), and finally the fifth play the kyū. In general, the jo component is slow and evocative, the ha component or components detail transgression or the disordering of the natural way and the natural world, and the kyū resolves the element with haste or suddenness (note, however, that this only means kyū is fast in comparison with what came before it, and those unfamiliar with the concepts of Noh may not even realize the acceleration occurred).

Audience etiquette[link]

Audience etiquette is generally similar to formal western theater—the audience quietly watches. Surtitles are not used, but some audience members follow along in the libretto. At the end of the play, the actors file out slowly (most important first, with gaps between actors), and while they are on the bridge (hashigakari), the audience claps restrainedly. Between actors, clapping ceases, then begins again as the next actor leaves. Unlike in western theater, there is no bowing, nor do the actors return to the stage after having left. A play may end with the shite character leaving the stage as part of the story (as in Kokaji, for instance)—rather than the play ending with all characters on stage—in which case one claps as the character exits.

During the interval, tea, coffee, and wagashi (Japanese sweets) may be served in the lobby. In the Edo period, when Noh was a day-long affair, more substantial makunouchi bentō (幕の内弁当, "between acts bento") was served. On special occasions, when the performance is over, お神酒 (o-miki, ceremonial sake) may be served in the lobby on the way out, as it happens in Shinto rituals.

In terms of seating, there is seating in front of the stage, to the left side of the stage, and in the corner front-left of stage; these are in order of decreasing desirability. While the metsuke-bashira pillar obstructs the view of the stage, the actors are primarily at the corners, not the center, and thus the two aisles are located where the views of the two main actors would be obscured, ensuring a generally clear view regardless of seating.

Actors[link]

Kanze Sakon (観世左近, 1895–1939), sōke of Kanze school

There are about 1500 professional Noh actors in Japan today, and the art form continues to thrive. Actors begin their training as young children, traditionally at the age of three. Historically, the performers were exclusively male. In the modern day, a few women (many daughters of established Noh actors) have begun to perform professionally. Zeami isolated nine levels or types of Noh acting from lower degrees which put emphasis on movement and violence to higher degrees which represent the opening of a flower and spiritual prowess.^[8] Many people also study Noh on an amateur basis. While the field of Noh performance is extremely codified with an emphasis on tradition rather than innovation, some performers do compose new plays or revive historical ones that are not a part of the standard repertoire. Works blending Noh with other theatrical traditions have also been produced.

The five extant schools of Noh shite acting are the Kanze (観世), Hōshō (宝生), Komparu (金春), Kongō (金剛), and Kita (喜多) schools. Each school can have different leading families, where the iemoto family, carrying the same name of the school, is considered as the most important. The iemoto holds the power to create new plays or modify lyrics and performance modes.

The society of Noh (Nōgaku Kyōkai), to which all professionals are registered, strictly protects the traditions passed down from their ancestors (see iemoto). However, several secret documents of the Kanze school written by Zeami, as well as materials by Komparu Zenchiku, have been diffused throughout the community of scholars of Japanese theater.

Actors normally follow a strict progression through the course of their lives from roles considered the most basic to those considered the most complex or difficult; the role of Yoshitsune in Funa Benkei is one of the most prominent roles a child actor performs in Noh. Other 'graduation pieces' include Shakkyō, Dōjōji and Hachi no Ki. In his maturity, an actor will be confronted with pieces where the main character is an elderly person, especially the 'Komachi' pieces, portraying the famous Heian period poetess Ono no Komachi, such as Kayoi Komachi or Sekidera Komachi.

Besides professional acting, Noh is practiced by thousands of amateurs who train in chant and dance and often producing recitals.

Influence in the West[link]

Western artists influenced by Noh include:

Theatre practitioners[link]

• Bertolt Brecht
• Peter Brook
• Jacques Lecoq
• Jacques Copeau
• Eugenio Barba
• Jerzy Grotowski
• Heiner Müller
• Eugene O'Neill
• Osvobozené divadlo
• William Butler Yeats
• Paul Claudel

Composers[link]

• William Henry Bell
• Benjamin Britten
• Carlo Forlivesi
• Olivier Messiaen
• Karlheinz Stockhausen
• Iannis Xenakis
• David Byrne
• Harry Partch

Poets[link]

• Ezra Pound

Aesthetic terminology[link]

Zeami and Zenchiku describe a number of distinct qualities that are thought to be essential to the proper understanding of Noh as an art form.

• Hana (花, flower): the true Noh performer seeks to cultivate a rarefied relationship with his audience similar to the way that one cultivates flowers. What is notable about hana is that, like a flower, it is meant to be appreciated by any audience, no matter how lofty or how coarse his upbringing. Hana comes in two forms. Individual hana is the beauty of the flower of youth, which passes with time, while "true hana" is the flower of creating and sharing perfect beauty through performance.
• Yūgen (幽玄): an aesthetic term used to describe much of the art of the 13th and 14th centuries in Japan, but used specifically in relation to Noh to mean the profound beauty of the transcendental world, including mournful beauty involved in sadness and loss.
• Kokoro or shin (both 心): Defined as "heart," "mind," or both. The kokoro of noh is that which Zeami speaks of in his teachings, and is more easily defined as "mind." To develop hana the actor must enter a state of no-mind, or mushin.
• Rōjaku (老弱): the final stage of performance development of the Noh actor, in which as an old man he eliminates all unnecessary action or sound in his performance, leaving only the true essence of the scene or action being imitated.
• Myō (妙): the "charm" of an actor who performs flawlessly and without any sense of imitation; he effectively becomes his role.
• Monomane (物真似, imitation or mimesis): the intent of a Noh actor to accurately depict the motions of his role, as opposed to purely aesthetic reasons for abstraction or embellishment. Monomane is sometimes contrasted with yūgen, although the two represent endpoints of a continuum rather than being completely separate.
• Kabu-isshin (歌舞一心, "song-dance-one heart"): the theory that the song (including poetry) and dance are two halves of the same whole, and that the Noh actor strives to perform both with total unity of heart and mind.

See also[link]

• Iemoto
• Higashiyama Bunka
• Shuhari

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• James R. Brandon (editor). "Nō and kyōgen in the contemporary world." (foreword by Ricardo D. Trimillos) Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. 1997.
• Karen Brazell. Traditional Japanese Theater: An Anthology of Plays. New York: Columbia University Press. 1998.
• Eric Rath. The Ethos of Noh: Actors and Their Art. Harvard University Asia Center Press, 2004.
• Royall Tyler (ed. & trans.). Japanese Nō Dramas. London: Penguin Books. 1992. ISBN 0-14-044539-0.
• Arthur Waley. Noh plays of Japan. Tuttle Shokai Inc. 2009 ISBN 4-8053-1033-2, ISBN 978-4-8053-1033-5.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nō

• An Introduction to Noh & Kyogen
• Noh Stories in English Ohtsuki Noh Theatre Foundation
• Nō Plays -Translations of thirteen Noh plays- Japanese Text Initiative, University of Virginia Library
• Virtual Reality and Virtual Irreality On Noh-Plays and Icons
• "Noh & Kyogen". Japan Arts Council. http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/index.html. 
• Page on the variable expressions of Noh masks
• Noh plays Photo Story and Story Paper the-Noh.com : Comprehensive Site on Noh
• "Hachi-No-Ki, A Perspective"

Linton Kwesi Johnson at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2008

Linton Kwesi Johnson (aka LKJ) (born 24 August 1952, Chapelton, Jamaica) is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series.^[1] His performance poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell. His middle name, "Kwesi", is Ghanaian.

Johnson studied for a degree in sociology at Goldsmiths College in New Cross, London (graduating in 1973),^[2] which currently holds his personal papers in its archives; in 2004 he became an Honorary Visiting Professor of Middlesex University in London. In 2005 he was awarded a silver Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica for distinguished eminence in the field of poetry.^[3]

While still at school Johnson joined the British Black Panther Movement,^[3] helped to organise a poetry workshop within the movement, and developed his work with Rasta Love, a group of poets and drummers.

Poetry[link]

Most of Johnson's poetry is political, dealing mainly with the experiences of being an African-Caribbean in Britain, "Writing was a political act and poetry was a cultural weapon...",^[4] he told an interviewer in 2008. However, he has also written about other issues, such as British foreign policy or the death of anti-racist marcher Blair Peach. His most celebrated poems were written during the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The poems contain graphic accounts of the racist police brutality occurring at the time (cf. Sonny's Lettah). Johnson's poetry makes clever use of the unstandardised transcription of Jamaican Patois.

Johnson's poems first appeared in the journal Race Today, which published his first collection of poetry, Voices of the Living and the Dead, in 1974.^[2] Dread Beat An' Blood, his second collection, was published in 1975 by Bogle-L'Ouverture.^[3]

A collection of his poems has been published as Mi Revalueshanary Fren by Penguin Modern Classics. Johnson is one of only three poets to be published by Penguin Modern Classics while still alive.

Other writing[link]

Johnson wrote for New Musical Express, Melody Maker, and Black Music in the 1970s, and served as writer in residence for the London Borough of Lambeth.^[2]

Music[link]

LKJ on stage in Cardiff 1980

Johnson's best-known albums include his debut Dread Beat an' Blood, Forces of Victory, Bass Culture and Making History. Across these albums are spread classics of the dub poetry school of performance – and, indeed, of reggae itself – such as "Dread Beat An' Blood", "Sonny's Lettah", "Inglan Is A Bitch", "Independent Intavenshan" and "All Wi Doin Is Defendin". His poem Di Great Insohreckshan is his response to the 1981 Brixton riots.^[4] The work was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 program in 2007.

Johnson's work, allied to the Jamaican "toasting" tradition, is regarded as an essential precursor of rap.

Johnson's record label LKJ Records is home to other reggae artists, some of whom made up The Dub Band, with whom Johnson mostly recorded, and other Dub Poets, such as Jean "Binta" Breeze. Past releases on the label include recordings by Mikey Smith.^[2]

Of late, Johnson has only performed live on an intermittent basis, perhaps as a result of modern reggae's shift towards the more spontaneous and rapid-fire performers of ragga or dancehall.

Discography[link]

• Live in Paris with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band – Wrasse, 2004 ().
• Live in Paris – Wrasse, 2004.
• Straight to Inglan's Head – Universal, 2003 (Compilation).
• LKJ in Dub: Volume 3 – LKJ Records, 2002.
• More Time – LKJ Records, 1999.
• Independent Intavenshan – Island, 1998 (Compilation).
• A Cappella Live – LKJ Records, 1996.
• LKJ Presents – LKJ Records, 1996.
• LKJ in Dub: Volume 2 – LKJ Records, 1992.
• Tings An' Times – LKJ Records, 1991.
• Dub Poetry – Mango, 1985 (Compilation).
• LKJ Live in Concert with the Dub Band – LKJ Records, 1985.
• Reggae Greats – Mango, 1984.
• Making History – Island, 1983.
• LKJ in Dub – Island, 1980.
• The Best of Linton Kwesi Johnson – Epic, 1980 (Compilation).
• Bass Culture – Island, 1980.
• Forces of Victory – Island, 1979.
• Dread Beat an' Blood – Virgin, 1978. (As Poet And The Roots.)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Linton Kwesi Johnson

• LKJ Records – News, releases, tour dates, etc.
• Linton Kwesi Johnson at Contemporary Writers includes a "Critical Perspective" section
• Spike Magazine Interview
• Interview with Graham Brown-Martin for Trace Magazine
• Interview with Yuri Prasad in Socialist Review (2002)

Lee Young (March 7, 1914 – July 31, 2008) was an American jazz drummer and singer.^[1] His musical family included his father Willis Young and his older brother, saxophonist Lester Young. In 1944 he played with Norman Granz's first "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concert.

Early life and education[link]

Young was born in 1914 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Willis Young and Lizetta Teresa Johnson. His father was a musician, as were other relatives. His older brother Lester Young became a famed saxophonist. Lee began playing from an early age and the family had a band for several years.^[1]

Career[link]

In 1944 Lee Young was the drummer at Norman Granz's first "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concert,^[2] which also featured guitarist Les Paul, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and saxophonist Jean-Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet, amongst others.

Young played with such jazz and swing music notables as Mutt Carey, Fats Waller, Les Hite, Benny Goodman, and Lionel Hampton. In the 1950s Young played with Nat King Cole's trio. From the 1960s on, he worked as an artist & repertory man for such record labels as Vee-Jay and Motown.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Lee Young's obituary

This article about a jazz singer from the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Yngwie Malmsteen
Barcelona, Spain, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck
Also known as	Yngwie J. Malmsteen Lars Y. Loudamp
Born	(1963-06-30) 30 June 1963 (age 48) Stockholm, Sweden
Genres	Heavy metal, neo-classical metal, speed metal, power metal, hard rock, instrumental rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals, sitar, cello
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Polydor, Polygram, Elektra, Rising Force Records, Universal Music
Associated acts	Steeler, Alcatrazz, Rising Force, Hear 'n Aid, G3
Website	Official website
Notable instruments
Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (/ˈɪŋveɪ ˈmɑːlmstiːn/ ING-vay MAHLM-steen; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing style in heavy metal. Steve Huey of Allmusic stated that, "Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarist to emerge during the '80s."^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Malmsteen was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden, as the second child of a musically-talented family.^[2] At age seven, he saw a television news report on the death of Jimi Hendrix, an event which had a profound impact on his musical path. Malmsteen, however, has stated that Hendrix had no musical impact on him, but on 18 September 1970 he saw a TV special of Hendrix, where he smashed and burned his guitar, and Malmsteen thought: "this is really cool".^[3] To quote his official website, "The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born".^[4]

At the age of 10 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsten as his surname, slightly changed it to Malmsteen, and Anglicised his third given name Yngve to "Yngwie". Malmsteen created his first band "Track On Earth" at the age of 10, consisting of himself and a friend from school on drums (Armin). Malmsteen was a teenager when he first encountered the music of the 19th century violinist composer Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical music influence. Ritchie Blackmore and Uli Jon Roth are also cited as being significant influences, as is Brian May of Queen.

Music career[link]

In early 1982 (at the age of 18), Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who had heard a demo tape of Malmsteen's playing, brought Malmsteen to the U.S. He had brief engagements with Steeler, for their self-titled album of 1983, then Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz, for their 1983 debut No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll, and the 1984 live album Live Sentence. Malmsteen released his first solo album Rising Force in 1984, which featured Barrie Barlow of Jethro Tull on drums. His album was meant to be an instrumental side-project of Alcatrazz, but it contained vocals, and Malmsteen left Alcatrazz soon after the release of Rising Force.

Rising Force won the Guitar Player Magazine's award for Best Rock Album and was nominated for a Grammy for 'Best Rock Instrumental', achieving #60 on the Billboard album chart. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (as his band was thereafter known) next released Marching Out (1985). Jeff Scott Soto filled vocal duties on these initial albums. His third album, Trilogy, featuring the vocals of Mark Boals, was released in 1986. In 1987, another singer, former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined his band. That year, Malmsteen was in a serious car accident, smashing his Jaguar E-Type into a tree and putting him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported. During his time in the hospital, Malmsteen's mother died from cancer. In the summer of 1988 he released his fourth album Odyssey. Odyssey would be his biggest hit album, mainly because of its first single "Heaven Tonight". Shows in Russia during the Odyssey tour were recorded, and released in 1989 as his fifth album Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad.

Malmsteen's Neo-classical-style of metal became popular among some guitarists during the mid 1980s, with contemporaries such as Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore becoming prominent. In late 1988, Malmsteen's signature Fender Stratocaster guitar was released, making him and Eric Clapton the first artists to be honored by Fender.

1990s[link]

In the early 1990s, Malmsteen released the albums Eclipse (1990), The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection (1991), Fire and Ice (1992) and The Seventh Sign (1994). Despite his early success, and continuous success in Europe and Asia, by the early 1990s, heavy metal styles such as neoclassical metal and shredding had become out of fashion in the US.

In 1993, Malmsteen's future mother-in-law, opposed to his engagement to her daughter, had him falsely arrested for holding the woman hostage with a gun. The charges were dropped.^[5] Malmsteen continued to record and release albums under the Japanese record label Pony Canyon, and maintained a devoted following from fans in Europe and Japan, and to a lesser extent in the USA. In 2000, acquired a contract with a US record label Spitfire, and released his 1990s catalog into the US market for the first time, including what he regards as his masterpiece, Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra, recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague.

In the mid-90s, Malmsteen went on to release the albums Magnum Opus (1995), Inspiration (1996), Facing the Animal (1997), Double LIVE! (1998) and Alchemy (1999). In 1996, Malmsteen joined forces with former band members Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob on the Human Clay album where he played lead guitar on the track "Jealousy". He guested with Saxon on the song Denim And Leather on their live album The Eagle Has Landed - Part II.

2000s[link]

Malmsteen in Barcelona

After the release of War to End All Wars in 2000, singer Mark Boals left the band. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Doogie White, whose vocals were well received by fans. In 2003, Malmsteen joined Joe Satriani and Steve Vai as part of the G3 supergroup, a tour showcasing guitar performances. Malmsteen made two guest appearances on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's albums Black Utopia (2003), and Blood of the Snake (2006) where Malmsteen is heard on the same tracks as Al Di Meola and Zakk Wylde. In 2004, Malmsteen made two cameo appearances on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. In 2005 Unleash the Fury was released through Spitfire Records. As stated in an issue of "Guitar World" magazine, he titled this album after an infamous 'airline incident', which occurred in a flight to Japan during a 1988 tour. He was drunk and behaving obnoxiously, until he fell asleep and was roused by a woman pouring a jug of iced water on him. Enraged, he shouted, "You released the fucking fury!" The audio from this incident was caught on tape by a fellow band member.^[6] Malmsteem says that the name of the album refers to both the energy of the album and the incident.^[7] The release of Unleash the Fury was followed by a DVD release of Concerto Suite For Electric Guitar And Orchestra In E Flat Minor, Op. 1 -- With The New Japan Philharmonic Live. The DVD chronicles Malsteem's first time playing in front of a live audience with an orchestra, an experience that he describes as “fun but also extremely scary”.^[7]

In 2007, Malmsteen was honored in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. Players can receive the "Yngwie Malmsteen" award by hitting 1000 or more notes in succession.^[8] February 2008, saw the replacement of singer Doogie White with former Iced Earth and Judas Priest and current Beyond Fear singer Tim "Ripper" Owens, with whom Malmsteen had once recorded a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's song "Mr. Crowley", for the 2000 Osbourne tribute album Bat Head Soup: A Tribute to Ozzy. The first Malmsteen album to feature Owens is titled Perpetual Flame and was released on 14 October. On 25 November 2008, Malmsteen had three of his songs ("Caprici Di Diablo", "Damnation Game", and "Red Devil") released as downloadable content for the video games Rock Band Rock Band 2 and later Rock Band 3.

In 2008 Malmsteen was a special guest on the VH1 Classic show "That Metal Show". On 10 March 2009, Malmsteen's label Rising Force has launched his new release Angels of Love, an instrumental album which features acoustic arrangements of some of his best-known ballads. In August 2009, Time magazine named Malmsteen #9 on its list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all-time.^[9] Malmsteen recently released another album compilation entitled High Impact on 8 December 2009.

On 23 November 2010 Relentless was released, the second album to feature Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals. The US version features a remake of "Arpeggios From Hell" as a bonus track. Yngwie appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon along with Dana Carvey on 3 February 2011 to promote his album. On 6 August 2011, Malmsteen made another appearance in the United States, playing a rendition of Star Spangled Banner before a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium.^[10]

Personal life[link]

Malmsteen is married to April (Ebru Solmaz, born in Istanbul, Turkey)^[11][12] and has a son named Antonio after Antonio Vivaldi, and they live in Miami, Florida. A Ferrari enthusiast, Malmsteen owned a black 1985 308 GTS^[13] for 18 years before selling it on eBay, and a red 1962 250 GTO.^[14] In a 2005 issue of Guitar Player magazine, Malmsteen discussed his often-ridiculed behavior, saying that, "I've probably made more mistakes than anybody. But I don't dwell on them. I don't expect people to understand me, because I'm pretty complex, and I think outside the box with everything I do. I've always taken the un-traveled path. Obviously, people have their opinions, but I can't get too wrapped up in that, because I know what I can do, and I know what kind of person I am. And I have no control over what anybody says about me. Back in Sweden, I'm 'Mr. Personality' in the tabloids. But, obviously, I can't take that seriously. I know in my heart that if I do the absolute best I can do, maybe ten years from now, people may turn around and say, 'He wasn't that bad.'"^[15]

Equipment[link]

Malmsteen has been a longtime user of Fender Stratocasters. His most famous Stratocaster is his 1972 blonde Strat, nicknamed "The Duck" because of its yellow finish and the Donald Duck stickers on the body. An alternative nickname for this guitar is "Play Loud" due to a sticker on the upper horn of the guitar. Fender made 100 replica copies of this guitar and marketed it as the "Play Loud Guitar". He also has a signature Stratocaster. It comes in a Vintage White finish with a maple neck, either a maple or rosewood fretboard with scalloped frets and, from 2010, Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM "Fury" Model pickups. There is also a signature YJM100 Marshall amplifier, based on the '1959' amplifier range.

Malmsteen has stated that he prefers Stratocasters from the period of 1968-1972; he claims that the bigger headstock on these generates more sustain. Malmsteen customizes his guitars by fitting a brass nut, removing the middle string tree and scalloping the fretboard. Malmsteen previously disconnected the tone controls on his guitars but has said that he no longer does this. Malmsteen has previously used DiMarzio pickups - most notably the HS3 and the HS4 (Formerly known as the YJM). Malmsteen would use an HS3 in the bridge and the HS4 in the middle and neck positions. He now uses his signature Seymour Duncan YJM Fury pickups which have been out for the past couple of years or so. In his earlier recordings, Malmsteen used an HS3 in the neck and bridge positions and a disconnected stock fender in the middle. Malmsteen had also use a Fender Telecaster in a tour when in England, 1997.

Band members[link]

Current members

• Tim "Ripper" Owens—vocals (2008–present)
• Bjorn Englen—bass (2008–present)
• Patrick Johansson—drums, percussion (2001–present)
• Nick Marino—keyboards (2005–2006, 2010–present)

Discography[link]

Steeler[link]

Alcatrazz[link]

Solo[link]

See also[link]

• Guitar Moves
• Sweeping

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yngwie Malmsteen

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Yngwie Malmsteen

• Official website
• Audio interview with Yngwie // Metalpaths.com 2010
• Audio Interview with Yngwie on GuitarJamDaily.com
• HardRadio.com interview with Yngwie