Celebrating a Quarter Century of ‘Good Conduct’ With Pacific Symphony

Carl St.Clair is one of the longest tenured music directors of a major American orchestra, celebrating 25 years at the helm of the Orange County-based Pacific Symphony this year. It is the largest orchestra formed in the last 50 years in the U.S. A graduate of the University of Texas, he went on to become a tenured professor at the University of Michigan and studied conducting under Leonard Bernstein and Gustav Meier as a Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood. He was the assistant director of the renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra with the legendary conductor Seiji Ozawa before joining Pacific Symphony. He is on the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music and is the principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. He has led symphonies in the largest cities of North America and he has appeared with orchestras in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and South America. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Carl St.Clair about his 25th anniversary.

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Since opening in 1964, the world famous Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles has hosted some of the biggest rock stars in history. The Doors, The Byrds, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Guns N’ Roses, Mötley Crüe and Metallica have played on the stage that continues to launch today’s up-and-coming artists. In 1972, Mario Maglieri, along with Whisky co-founder Elmer Valentine, Lou Adler and others, started the Rainbow Bar and Grill down the street from the Whisky. Originally the Villa Nova restaurant where Marilyn Monroe first met Joe DiMaggio on a blind date, the Rainbow opened with a party for Elton John. It went on to become a stomping ground for celebrities such as John Lennon, Keith Moon, Neil Diamond, Robert Plant and even Elvis Presley. John Belushi ate his last meal at the Rainbow, while W. C. Fields punched a hole in a wall, Charles Manson got thrown out and Janis Joplin had her last drink at the Whisky. Mario, who over time became the sole owner of the Whisky, passed on the running of these two legendary Hollywood hangouts to his son Mikeal, and now his grandson Mike. Tokyo Journal ’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie met with all three generations of the Maglieri family at the Rainbow Bar and Grill.

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From John Lennon to Green Day 

Bob Gruen is one of the most well-known and respected photographers in rock and roll today. By the mid-1970s, he was already regarded as one of the foremost documenters of the music scene, working with major artists such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Elton John, KISS, Aerosmith, David Bowie and Alice Cooper as well as covering emerging new wave and punk bands including the New York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and Blondie. Tokyo Journal ’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie interviewed his colleague and fellow Tokyo Journal columnist Bob Gruen about his remarkable career.

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The Man Who Shot the Seventies  

Born in 1948 in London, England, Mick Rock is an acclaimed British photographer known for his iconic shots of David Bowie, Queen, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Syd Barrett, the Sex Pistols and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with recent subjects including Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, Jimmy Fallon, Daft Punk and The Black Keys. His 2003 retrospective exhibition of 186 prints at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography was described in the Japanese media as “one of the finest collections of pop art to ever reach these shores.” He was known as David Bowie’s official photographer, and his newest publication by Taschen, The Rise of David Bowie 1972-1973, will be available in September 2015. In August 2015, he began hosting his own TV show On the Record with Mick Rock on the Ovation Channel. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie rapped with Mick Rock about his four decades of memorable musical imagery.

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Introducing Western Rock, Pop and Punk Pictures to Japan 

Brad Elterman is a renowned photographer from California’s San Fernando Valley who captured iconic shots of 1970s rock, punk and pop musicians including Robert Plant, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, The Runaways, Bay City Rollers, ABBA and Leif Garrett. Although his gritty, snapshot-like photographs have appeared in such publications as Rolling Stone, People, Hit Parader and the New York Post, Brad made a name for himself sending his photos overseas long before the days of digital cameras and FedEx. He went on to launch one of the first West Coast celebrity photo agencies, California Features International, Inc., in 1980. In 1992, he co-founded Online USA, Inc., which was sold to Getty Images, Inc., in 2000. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Brad Elterman about his early days in Japan and how social media launched a resurgence in his career.

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Fusing East and West with Old and New

WagakkiBand is an intriguing act that fuses rock music with wagakki (traditional Japanese musical instruments), shigin (Japanese poetry recitation) and Vocaloid songs (a Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer allowing users to input their own lyrics). Singer Yuko Suzuhana, who won the Grand Prize at Nippon Columbia’s nationwide shigin contest in Japan, is joined by seven others playing traditional instruments including the shakuhachi (bamboo flute), tsugaru-jamisen (Japanese three-string guitar-like instrument), koto (Japanese harp) and wadaiko (Japanese drum). Their hit song “Senbonzakura” has over 22 million views on YouTube and their single “Ikusa / Nadeshiko Sakura” is the theme song for the anime TV show adaptation of Koei’s Samurai Warriors video game series. They played their first U.S. show on July 4, 2015 as part of Anime Expo at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, and their new album Yasou Emaki is scheduled for a September 2, 2015 release. Tokyo Journal ’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with vocalist Yuko Suzuhana, shakuhachi player Daisuke Kaminaga, koto player Kiyoshi Ibukuro, tsugaru-jamisen player Beni Ninagawa, guitarist and backing vocalist Machiya, bass player Asa, drummer Wasabi and wadaiko player Kurona at Anime Expo 2015 in Los Angeles.

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Japanese Rock Phenoms HYDE and K.A.Z

Not many Japanese bands tour internationally a year after their founding, let alone perform on the battleship USS Missouri, but VAMPS did just that. Formed in 2008 by L’Arc~en~Ciel vocalist HYDE and Oblivion Dust guitarist K.A.Z, each of the four records released by VAMPS between 2009 and 2014 has reached the top ten on Japan’s Oricon music chart. A stadium headliner in Japan, VAMPS supported Finnish metal band Apocalyptica and the L.A. hard-rock band Sixx:A.M. (featuring Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe fame) for 12 stops on their 2015 North American tour. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with HYDE and K.A.Z in Los Angeles.

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Japan-Influenced Big Hero 6 Scores Oscar for Best Animated Film

Voice Actor Ryan Potter and CG Animator Matsune Suzuki Talk about the Heart-Warming East-Meets-West Story of a Boy and his Robot

Big Hero 6 is a magnificent mashup of Marvel-based Disney animation, Eastern and Western cultures, and the cities of San Francisco and Tokyo. Set in “San Fransokyo,” Big Hero 6 is an action-packed animated comedy adventure that finds robotics whiz kid, Hiro Hamada, forming a special bond with his personal companion robot called Baymax, while his diverse group of science-geek friends forms a band of unlikely heroes. Japanese- American actor Ryan Potter and Japanese CG Animator Matsune (Matt) Suzuki talked to Tokyo Journal shortly after the movie won the 2015 Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year.

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Classical Cello Metal Maestros 

Formed in 1993 in Helsinki, Finland, Apocalyptica has come a long way over the past two decades. First gaining recognition as a Metallica cover band after their 1996 debut album Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, they have gone on to release eight albums and sell over five million copies. Consisting of three cellists (Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen and Perttu Kivilaakso) and one drummer (Mikko Sirén), the band has progressed from playing instrumental music to featuring guest vocalists — such as Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Gavin Rossdale of Bush — to recruiting Franky Perez as their full time lead vocalist. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with cellist, songwriter, producer, arranger and Apocalyptica cofounder Eicca.

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Chiaki

Known simply by her first name, Chiaki has not only been a Japanese television icon for over two decades, but she is also known as the lead vocalist of Pocket Biscuits; a voice actress in the beloved Doraemon anime series; a children’s clothing designer and the author of children’s, cookery and parenting books. Her most recent endeavor is the children’s app Mirno’s Adventures – The Precious Strawberry Ring. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Chiaki about her career and newest project.

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