Music videos speak louder than words

Musicians often get caught making sweeping statements about how "music can change the world," or how "music brings people together," or how "music speaks where words fail." Meanwhile, the rest of the population rolls its eyes at such "new-agey" abstraction and looks the other way.

But ask a member of the instrumental jazz fusion band Hiroshima and you'll know that it's true.

Hiroshima, an all Asian American group, formed in the late 1970s, after the tumultuous period in which America was first recognizing its diversity and the civil rights movement had gained momentum across the spectrum of American enthic minorities. Blending Japanese koto and taiko drums with Western jazz and popular sounds, the band recognized the power of exploring and promoting a unified and harmonious world through music. Hiroshima's leader Dan Kuramoto sums up the band's philosophy: "We create musically a cross-commentary about a multitude of cultures that comes from our backgrounds as Asian Americans growing up in a racially diverse America."

On Monday, September 27, Mu Performing Arts will host a lecture with Dan and June Kuramoto at the Hopkins Center for the Arts about "The Movement" in the 1960s and 70s that inspired the turn toward civil rights that ultimately inspired the group's message of unity.

But apart from its reason for existing, how does an instrumental ensemble--a group that depends purely on sound without the benefit of lyrics--send that message to a public that is none the wiser?

Enter. . . the music video.

In 1983, music videos were still a new, novel idea. We may look back on it today as the beginning of materialism and frivolity in music, the point at which "the look" became just as if not important than "the sound." But Hiroshima took the concept of creating a "music-inspired film" and used it to show the world who they were and what their music means. Observe:



Ignore the mullets and high-waisted tapered jeans for a moment and look at the people themselves. About two thirds of the way through the video, we have our main character removing a pair of mirror shades from his mysterious pursuer, revealing an all-inclusive dance scene where the divisions of race are non-existent. A small band of traditionally-dressed geishas perform with fans while young, fresh faces--white, black, Asian alike--groove together to electric guitars, drums. . . and koto.

If only MTV in 2010 had so much substance.

Find out more about the free lecture with Dan and June Kuramoto, as well as the performance by Hiroshima, here (scroll down for information).