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ABOUT THE
ARTIST
Toshi began to search for soul
music on vinyl. As a young teenager, he came across an offer
on a soda bottle in his father's store. In exchange for dozens
of bottle tops, he would receive a free album. "I don't know
if my father ever found out," says Toshi with a smile. "But
there were a lot of opened soda cans with no tops in that
store!" His reward was a vinyl album from The States with an
English title that he couldn't even read. "There were five
black men with Afros standing there. And all I could read was
'Stylistics.' And it took me three years after that to finally
get a record player so I could hear it!"
By then, Toshi had also been
introduced to Stevie Wonder and the album that changed his
life. "Songs In The Key of Life was the first album I actually
bought,” says Toshi. "And it changed everything for me. His
voice, his songs, everything was different from anything I had
ever heard before." Don't bother asking Toshi how or why his
definitive obsession for soul music came about because there
is no earthly reason. But understand this when Toshi opens his
mouth in song nothing but bonafide soul spills out.
"I can't explain it," he
says with a sigh. "It's just always been this way. I love soul
music and that's what I was meant to do. I knew that very
early in my life."
By junior high, Toshi had his own
band. But he was frustrated. "I wanted to sing a specific kind
of music. But my band couldn't play it. It's different,
especially for Japanese people. They loved it but they
couldn't play it. Toshi went to Tokyo to study economics after
high school. But he spent more time performing in various
clubs than hitting the books. And the process was very
humbling. "One night, there'd be one person in the audience,"
he says. "The next night, maybe three people. The next week,
maybe ten people that would be a good night."
His tenacity paid off. On one of
those sparse nights, a major record label representative was
in the house. He introduced Toshi to a jazz musician who was
looking for a vocalist for his upcoming jazz album. "I went to
the studio and performed one song and that was my first
experience in the studio. I was so nervous! But the music was
well received and that song became one of my demo tracks."
Since the release of his vocals on that jazz album, which was
an instrumental part in getting his solo career off the
ground, Toshi has never played to a small audience again. In a
career that has seen Toshi work with the crème de la crème of
the modern soul world, from Raphael Saddiq, to The Roots'
Ahmir Thompson, and Angie Stone, Toshi has enjoyed an
incredible career, selling over ten million records worldwide
and gaining the respect of soul music's most respected
artists.
"It is quite an amazing
feeling when someone I admire like Ahmir from The Roots tells
me that I could change the way people think about soul music,”
says Toshi in a soft voice. "It means so much to me to be
respected by the people who love and understand the same music
that I do."
ABOUT THE ALBUM
On his latest release, Time To
Share, Toshi clearly shows how he has earned the accolades of
his peers and why they all clamored to be a part of his
project. The album’s opener sets the stage for the experience.
"Beating Of My Heart” begins with a soft and peaceful, oceanic
sound. Toshi's gentle murmurs and coos echo the
instrumentation light synthesizers. The effects taper off and
leave nothing but the sound of a steady and strong heartbeat.
Under rich, harmonious backgrounds, Toshi croons: "You are
more to me; you are the very beating of my heart."
With a sound that is part
Maxwell, part D'Angelo, and yet 100% originally Toshi, he
effortlessly commands not just the lyrics or the melody of
soul music, but the very emotional essence of what makes it
real. The instrumentation is sparse, allowing Toshi's voice to
shine through. It is a set-up to a stellar album with a
specific mood.
"You may not notice when
you first listen," says Toshi. "But I use the word 'share' in
almost every love song on this album. Which is why I titled my
album Time To Share. I want people to share with me,
feel the emotions I felt when I recorded the music.
Underground hip-hop favorite and critical darling Mos Def
shows up on the aptly titled "Living For Today,” an intricate
mid-tempo that focuses on the importance of taking things day
by day. It’s about settling in with a loved one and not
worrying about what will happen the next day. Toshi approaches
this track with confident command and his simple lyricism
easily becomes complex thoughts. At a time when the love
sentiment in music is reduced to physical attributes and
material goods, it's enlightening and refreshing to hear Toshi
and Mos Def's heartfelt missives on true love.
In addition to paying homage to
modern soul music, Toshi brings it 80s style, with
pop-inflected tunes that make it impossible to keep still.
"Breaking through,” an album highlight is one of those '80s
throwbacks. The melody and the message are all about that
intense rush of emotion you feel the first time you know you
are in love. The bass and keyboards beg for live
interpretation it's a song made to start of a furious night of
dancing on a promising first date.
Several years ago, Toshi made an
acquaintance in the music industry that would prove to be one
of his most valuable and treasured friendships. "I met Angie
Stone during a writing session with Raphael Saddiq," says
Toshi. "She helped me put into words a lot of the things I
wanted to say and we had so much in common that we just
instantly cliqued. We've been very good friends ever
since."
That kinship is evidence on,
"Hold Me Down," on which Angie and Toshi engage in a sweet
duet. All differences aside, they are truly a natural pair.
Musically, it’s a mellow, lush groove with similar backing
vocals. And Angie's incredible vocals bring out the best
Toshi's as well.
A full, intense introduction,
replete with several backing vocals, starts off the meditative
and pensive "Shadows of Your Love." There are subtle strings
here and percussion here, layered with synthesized keys. The
combination works as a wedding proposal, vows, and a wedding
march, all in one achingly sweet ballad.
On "Neva Satisfied," a dramatic
production, wind instruments compete for space with
gospel-like choirs and a stuttering beat. Toshi wails about
the pull of a woman that he can't escape. With a spoken-word
style of singing, he tries out a falsetto that is accomplished
and pristine.
After one listen to Toshi's
emotionally charged album, there will be one obvious question.
How? How does a man born and raised in one of the most
homogenous countries in the world pick up the vocal styling
that originated in the American Deep South? How? How can he
master the feeling, the effect, and the essence?
You can ask. But be prepared.
Toshi will sit back in his chair, run his fingers through his
hair and sigh. He'll close his eyes for a minute and think.
And then he may try to explain, in his halting Japanese
accent. "Whenever people ask me that kind of question, it's
very tough for me to answer because I have no reason. It's
very natural. I listened to Marvin Gaye. At the same time,
Outkast was listening to Marvin Gaye. At the same time George
Michael listened to Marvin Gaye. Different countries same
music. It motivated me the same ways that it motivated them.
Music truly is universal. We can all understand each other
through music."
Listen without prejudice. Surrender to the
soul. Experience the wonder that is Toshi.
http://www.toshionline.com/ |