Amira El-Naqeeb had a taste When I was invited to attend Aga-shio's concert from Japan, I wasn't sure what to expect. After all it was "unprecedented music crossover" or that is what the flyer denoted. Going to this concert for me was like getting out of my comfort zone, something you have to do every once in a while to train your spirit, and your mind on flexibility. And since I'm a faithful dogmatic listener in the temple of Jazz, that wasn't easy. After all, if one's job is to review art and culture, so he has got to have a taste of everything, I believe. So I took my self and a friend on this music quest. The band consists of Hiromitsu Agatsuma who plays on the shamisen, which is a traditional instrument, which is close to El-Oud in our culture and pianist Satoru Shionoya. At the beginning of the concert, I felt that the band was tense and their tension seeped into my soul. I guess it was the skepticism of how the audience is going to receive their music. After three or more excerpts, they began to relax; Agatsuma even made a joke about Shionoya loosing his voice when he said a very powerful "Wow" when he saw the Pyramids. Then everybody laughed, and loosened up. Their music is a fusion of jazz, blues, rock, and Japanese folklore. The exceptional thing is how they glide smoothly between the different genres. Sometimes the rhythm is soft and melancholic; other times the beat is loud and violent, especially since the shamisen is an instrument with a very sharp sound. Aga-shio featured Mahmoud Kamal flute player and professor of flute in the High Institute of Arabic Music. When the trio started to play, the flute's deep melancholic tunes added a mystical ambience.The music flowed easily and smoothly. The gift they gave the audience was wrapping up with Aziza, a song composed by the late Egyptian legendary composer and singer Mohamed Abdel Wahab. The heavenly tunes flew in the air enveloping the place in a bubble of euphoric sensations. For these brief moments all the audience was wrapped in one aura of ecstasy and trance. Never before I appreciated the music of Abdel Wahab like many of my peers, who grew up in the pop culture. This time, I tasted, how authentic, deep, and soothing this piece is. I was curious to meet the two young Japanese artists touring the world, promoting their music. The hall outside their room had a queue of reporters, journalists and some fans. After a while I managed to make my previously designated interview, with the help of a Japanese translator. Both Agatsuma and Shionoya looked worn out, yet polite and welcoming. I asked when did they start as Aga-shio? The translator said that the band is two years old, but they collaborated together four years ago. Thirty-six-year- old Agatsuma, started playing when he was six-years-old, on the shamisen which is "a traditional Japanese instrument mainly played in folkloric music, that is not so popular amongst Japanese youth now," he added. When asked if they can identify their music with a specific genre, they both looked at each other and said in English, "it's a fusion". Agatsuma said that the strongest influences rooted in his music were rock, jazz and Japanese folkloric music. However through this world tour, they both aim to introduce the world to their music and at the same time they are open to the influences of "the indigenous music" of the places they are going to visit. "We believe that through music the world is united," Shionoya concluded. I guess they managed to deliver their message. As I left the opera House's Small Theatre that night, I was exhilarated with my newly discovered comfort zone.
