KEIJI HAINO
Genres: Jazz Related Improv, Composition, Jazz Related Electronica, Hip-Hop • Japan

When attempting to describe what Keiji Haino does to a guitar, the verb "play" seems terribly insufficient. Mauling might be a more appropriate choice, maybe even destroying. Whatever, whether it is as a solo performer or leading his tremendous trio Fushitsusha, Haino has been leading the loud, free form, noise-loaded, jazz/rock guitar movement in Japan for nearly three decades, starting with seminal noise-jazz/rockers Lost Aaraaff in 1971. He remains a virtual unknown, even among the music connoisseurs in his own country (I once asked a group of Japanese students, all of whom admitted to being eclectic music fans, about him, not one had heard of him) but his music as beautiful as it is coruscating is jarring, unpredictable and well worth hearing, especially by those enamored of those on the fringes of music performance. Affecting a rock star pose (long black hair, ever-present sunglasses) Haino is an accomplished player who enjoys read more...