Visitors from Tokyo at the Folk Music Days: Bavarian-Japanese friendship sounds

Created: 05/22/2022, 08:00

By: Veronica Power

The children's music project Schlawindl Move at the primary school on Lodererplatz had musical support from Japan (from right): "Adi" Kihara, Rainer Huber, bandleader Andi Starek and Andrea Merkert.

© Vroni power

Visit from Japan at the Folk Music Days: clarinetist Ado "Adi" Kihara made music with Andi Starek and "Schlawindl Move" at the elementary school on Lodererplatz.

Erding

– Oberkrainer music mixed with rock and Far Eastern sounds.

Sounds weird, but it's extremely popular in Japan.

Andi Starek from Eichenried has ventured into this mix of styles and makes music with the band Tokio Spitzbuam.

The children of the elementary school on Lodererplatz experienced what that sounds like on Friday.

As part of the Folk Music Days, Starek played with his music project Schlawindl Move - and had the support of Ado "Adi" Kihara from Tokyo, who is visiting at the moment.

Now the Bavarian-Japanese music project is going on a small tour.

Starek has been making music as Andisan with the group Tokio Spitzbuam for several years.

The crossover band comes in a typical Oberkrainer line-up: Kihara on clarinet, Kazunori "Charlie" Kuwata on trumpet, Ryo "Richi" Yamashina on baritone and Kazuma "Franzl" Abe on accordion, Starek himself picks up the guitar.

When he performed at the Schule am Lodererplatz, the musician from Eichenried had the support of Kihara, he is one of the best-known clarinettists in Japan and has won several awards.

On the occasion of the Folk Music Days, the focus was on music in the primary schools in Erding.

"But you're the only ones who get a rock band with a few surprises today," Starek said at the beginning of the performance and promised: "The program will never be like this again." Kihara made sure of that with his clarinet.

And so children, teachers and parents could hear the Schlawindl songs with a new sound, but also alpine folk music.

CD "A Tribute to Slavko Avsenik" with the greatest hits of the Original Oberkrainer

Starek and Kihara traveled to Baden-Baden together last week to record a TV show that will be broadcast in the fall.

Starek is not allowed to reveal too much, but of course the show will be about Schlager.

Because the rest of the Tokio Spitzbuam will not arrive until the end of May, the musicians had prepared a suitable video for the recording.

A recording in hybrid format – you already know that.

In this way they have already recorded a CD together.

“The songs were arranged in two studios – mine in Eichenried and one in Tokyo.

It worked quite well over the Internet,” says Starek.

At the moment the new CD "A Tribute to Slavko Avsenik" with the greatest hits of the original Oberkrainer is being created.

It's supposed to come out in the fall.

Then Andisan and the Tokio Spitzbuam are planning another small tour in Japan.

But now it's time for a tour in Europe.

At the end of May, the musicians set out for Styria to perform at the Kern country café together with the well-known Kern-Buam.

Then it's off to Slovenia for two performances at the Avsenik inn – “the Oberkrainer house par excellence” – for the jubilee festival of the Lower Styrians, who are celebrating their tenth anniversary.

"Slovenia is the cradle of Oberkrainer music, that's of course the greatest thing for the musicians from Japan," says Starek.

And at the end of the tour, on Sunday, June 5th, a concert with Coconami from Munich is on the program in the small theater in Haar, a kind of Bavarian-Japanese friendship evening.

At these concerts you can hear the Tokio Spitzbuam's own songs, which were mainly composed by Adi and written by Starek.

But there are also Oberkrainer classics that “you just have to play”, plus two songs from Starek's repertoire, only in Japanese and in the Oberkrainer style.

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Starek has had a special relationship with Japan since his youth.

By chance he came to sumo wrestling in his early 20s, competed at the World Championships in Tokyo and was a member of the German national team of sumo amateurs for four years.

During the Corona period, he also started special language training: three times a week he talks to Kihara in an online meeting - "he now speaks German really well, and I can also make myself understood," says Starek with a laugh.

By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Erding newsletter.