Yoshi Senzaki Blues Band

One of the frequently asked questions to me is why sometimes I also play a left handed guitar upside down while I am right handed (as in the picture below).

ライブでよく聞かれる質問の一つは、僕は右利きなのに時々どうして左利き用のギターを逆に持ち替えて弾くのかだ (写真にあるように)。

The purpose of flipping a…

My blues band started performing weekly at a blues club in Milpitas CA last summer when the state reopened for business. It is great to have regular gigs because I do not have to spend my energy on booking gigs.…

Since the reopening of business in California last Summer, fortunately I have had performance of my own twice a week on average. I realized that adding more would leave me no time to do anything else. 

昨年夏にカリフォルニア州のビジネスが再オープンして以来、平均して週に２回のペースでライブを行なってきた。自分のバンドのライブの本数をこれ以上増やすと、もうそれ以外のことは何も出来なくなりそうだ。 

From 2017 for…

Three months have passed since the reopening of California State in June this year. I am now actively performing at a rate of 100 shows a year with my band plus including some of my solo shows “unplugged”. 

今年6月にカリフォルニア州が再オープンして3か月になる。今では自己名義で年間100本のペースでライブをやっているが、それにはベースとドラムとのトリオに加えて、ソロでのパフォーマンスも含まれる。 

As…

One of the most frequently asked questions is how I got into blues music while I was born and raised in Japan. 

アメリカで僕がよく聞かれる質問の一つは、日本人なのにどうしてブルース音楽にハマったのかだ。 

In the 1970s, there was a big blues boom that took place in Japan. Many big name…

As the COVID vaccination rates go up, the infection rates are going down significantly in California. The state is aiming to fully reopen on June 15. I do hope it will happen as planned. 

カリフォルニア州では、コロナウィルスに対するワクチンの接種率が上がるに連れて、感染率が大きく下がって来た。この6月15日に州内のビジネスがフルオープンする予定だ。その通りに事が進むことを願っている。 

I have started booking gigs…

Today I was fully vaccinated for COVID-19 at last. The past year has been difficult for everybody. I keep my hope that the day to go back to our normalcy will come soon. 

今日、遂にコロナ・ワクチンをフルに接種した。この1年は誰にとっても厳しいものだった。やがては正常な生活に戻ることを願っている。 

During the lock down, it became…

I left my day job in a corporate environment 7 years ago. I have been playing music full time since. Although it was financially a risky move, it turned out to be one of the happiest decisions I made in…

Earlier this year, I made a decision to move back from Chicago to the Bay Area in California. After nearly 3 years of my residency in Chicago, I reached the point that I accomplished most of what I could achieve…

Another major influence in my younger days was Magic Sam. His masterpiece albums 

 “West Side Soul” and “Black Magic”, recorded in the 1960s are still among the top of my favorites. 

僕が若い頃に影響を受けたもう一人は、マジック・サムだ。彼の2大傑作アルバム、“ウェストサイド・ソウル” と “ブラック・マジック” は今も最も好きなアルバムの中に入る。 

His distinguished guitar tone in…

( Continued)　（前回からの続き） 

When I moved to Chicago in 2017, I attended all the blues jams happening in town for my networking with the local musicians. 

2017年にシカゴに引っ越したとき、最初は街のクラブで催されているブルース・ジャムセッションに毎晩のように参加して、当地のミュージシャンと顔なじみになった。 

After continuing blues jam attendance for 3 months, I shifted my exposure to…

(Continued)　（前回からの続き） 

In fact, in my humble opinion, playing chords on a lefty is more difficult than playing solos because I need to decode each chord and figure out the fingering in reverse orders. 

私見ながら、実はこの弦逆張り奏法はソロを弾くより、コードを弾く方が難しい。それは、標準のコードをいったん分解してどのフレットを指で押さえられるのか、いちいち逆順に考え直さねばならないからだ。 

While I was living in…