The Great Music Experience
Encyclopedia
The Great Music Experience
The Great Music Experience was a concert starring Japanese and international musicians staged at the eighth century Buddhist temple of Todai-ji, in Nara, Japan in May 1994. The concert, held over three nights and part-backed by UnescoUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, took place in front of the world's largest wooden building, housing the largest Buddha statue in the world.
Unesco hoped that the event would be the first of seven annual concerts that would take place at some of the world's architectural treasures - the sites it had in mind included the Pyramids, China's Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
and the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
- but nothing came of the idea. A concert earmarked for a Mexican pyramid was called off because of the collapse of the peso.
The Todai-Ji concert brought together Japanese and Western musicians playing music showing the influences of both cultures. The musicians included Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
and INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
. Dylan played in front of the Tokyo New Philharmonic orchestra, the first time he had played with an orchestra.
The priests of Todai-Ji agreed to stage the concert only after talks lasting several months with British producer Tony Hollingsworth. Shinkai Shindoh, the head priest, said that Buddhism aimed to make people happy and that the concert would make the religion more appealing to young people. Unesco said that it would not have gone ahead if it was not convinced that the site would be respected in a physical, cultural and religious sense.
Unesco hoped that a series of concerts would be able to use the appeal of rock musicians to widen the audience for the world's cultural heritage. The Todai-Ji concert would also help to promote traditional Japanese music. It was important for traditional musicians to stand on the same stage with Dylan and Bon Jovi.
Hollingsworth said that his aim was to create a "roller coaster of musical cultures", with Japanese and Western artists playing together after a week of rehearsals. The final night's concert on May 22 was broadcast to 50 countries but, with a breakdown of equipment, a tape recording of the second night was interwoven with the live concert for some of the time. Two documentaries were also broadcast, showing western artists watching Japanese cultural events and rehearsing with Japanese musicians.
The star of the show turned out to be Dylan who said as soon as he came off-stage that he had not sung so well for 15 years. Dylan opened with A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a song written by Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962. It was first recorded in Columbia Records' Studio A on 6 December 1962 for his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The lyric structure is based on the question and answer form of the traditional ballad "Lord...
which Q magazine said was "no ordinary version...[he] really opens his lungs and heart and sings, like he's not done for many a year...The only word for it majestic."
Hollingsworth's original idea was for the concert was to help overcome western hostility towards Japan caused by the highly-successful Japanese economy. The economic bubble, however, had burst by the time the concert took place.
Rights in the event are held by Tribute Inspirations Limited
Tribute Inspirations
Tribute Inspirations Limited is a UK-registered company which owns rights in nine of the world’s largest global broadcast events, all executive-produced by TonyHollingsworth:Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday TributeThe Wall Live in Berlin...
.
Artists appearing at the event
- Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
- Cara Butler
- Hasedera Temple Shomyo
- Hiroshi Hori
- INXSINXSINXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
- IshidaIshidaIshida is a Japanese surname and the former name of a town in Japan. The name is also sometimes romanized as Isida. It may refer to the following:-People:* Akira Ishida , voice actor...
- Jon Bon JoviJon Bon JoviJon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
- Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
- Koji TamakiKoji Tamakiis a Japanese singer-songwriter, and actor. He has been well known as a frontman of the band Anzen Chitai that debuted in 1982 and enjoyed their successful career particularly during the 1980s....
- Leonard Eto and His Drummers
- Richie SamboraRichie SamboraRichard Stephen "Richie" Sambora is an American rock guitarist, producer, musician, singer, and songwriter who is the longtime lead guitarist of the rock band, Bon Jovi. He and frontman Jon Bon Jovi form the primary songwriting unit of the band...
- Roger TaylorRoger Meddows-TaylorRoger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...
- Ry CooderRy CooderRyland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
- Ryu Hongjun and Tempyo Gafu
- Shoukichi KinaShoukichi Kina, born June 10, 1948 in Koza , Okinawa, is an Okinawan rock musician who, along with his band Champloose, played a large role in the Japanese home-grown "folk rock" scene in the 70s and 80s. His first big hit was "Haisai Ojisan" in 1972, which he wrote when he was in high school...
- The ChieftainsThe ChieftainsThe Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
- Todai Ji Shomyo
- Tokyo New Philharmonic Orchestra
- Tomoyasu HoteiTomoyasu Hoteiis a Japanese musician, guitarist and actor. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked Hotei at number 70 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts.- Life and career :...
- Toshinori KondoToshinori KondoToshinori Kondo is an avant-garde jazz and jazz fusion trumpeter. He resides in Tokyo, New York City, and Amsterdam....
- Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
- X JapanX Japanis a Japanese heavy metal band founded in 1982 by Yoshiki and Toshi. Originally named X , the group achieved their breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album Blue Blood...
- Yoshiki
Backing musicians
- Ray CooperRay CooperRay Cooper is an English musician. He is a session and road-tour percussionist, and occasional actor, who has worked with several musically diverse bands and artists including George Harrison, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, and Elton John. Cooper is commonly regarded by music fans, critics and fellow...
- Ed Shearmur
- Jim KeltnerJim KeltnerJames Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
- Phil PalmerPhil PalmerPhilip 'Phil' John Palmer is a sideman and session guitarist in jazz and rock who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous famous artists...
- Pino PalladinoPino PalladinoPino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
- Wix Wickens
External links
- The Great Music Experience - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055285/