"Bass Ninja": International bassist Quagero Imazawa, on a quest to put Rwanda's Music on the Map

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Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:02 Hello, I am Japanese bass player, Kagero Imazawa,

00:25 from Tokyo, Japan.

00:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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00:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:37 Keep it going.

00:38 Next drum song.

00:44 Bass.

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01:50 I'm professional bass player.

01:53 Since 1983, I started playing the bass.

01:58 For 36 years, I play the bass all of year.

02:05 I started as a professional musician in 1991.

02:12 At first, I played together with some musicians,

02:17 and sometimes was as a studio musician.

02:20 After my graduation from university,

02:24 I went to Europe and the US.

02:27 I started a career as a solo bass player from 1994.

02:35 And then when I participated in the Eastern Germany's

02:40 International Art Festival, some of German audience

02:45 called me Bass Ninja.

02:48 And more and more, this nickname is spread all over Europe.

02:52 When I participated in a rock festival in Europe and the US,

02:56 so many people called me Bass Ninja.

02:58 The reason is maybe speed and high technology

03:02 and high technique, and then black cloth, I think.

03:06 And then 1990s, they really loved the kind of Japanese

03:11 music.

03:12 I released the first album since 1996.

03:16 I have released a 2020 album.

03:21 More than 134 countries of audience

03:24 can check out my album.

03:27 So now, I have more than 250 gigs in a year.

03:34 And then not only all of Japan, all the world,

03:37 more than 34 countries.

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03:45 I really love the traditional music of the world.

03:50 And then in childhood, I checked out so many kind

03:54 of African traditional music.

03:57 I would like to compose a kind of not only newest jazz

04:02 and not only hip hop, modern music,

04:05 mixed with not only traditional instruments,

04:12 but also atmosphere sound and the nature sound,

04:17 bird and insect and people laughing and baby playing

04:26 and something.

04:27 As possible as I can, I really want

04:29 to check out all of sound.

04:32 Then mixed with my music and making rhythm and harmony

04:35 and something.

04:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:39 Yes, first time when I came to Rwanda,

04:50 yes, I collaborated with a Inanga player, Dio.

04:54 When I checked out the Inanga sound,

04:57 I thought that more similar to Japanese

05:00 with the traditional instrument.

05:01 It's an another African country's traditional instrument.

05:05 By gathering so many nature sound in Rwanda,

05:09 I mixed with a studio in Japan.

05:12 2006, my 11th album, I won the top 10 chart.

05:23 Top 10 chart, top one, I won.

05:25 And then in 2007, I won the best iTunes jazz album.

05:31 2006 and 2007, I would choose the top 10 best players

05:38 of the world in Europe.

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