Motoshi Kosako: Humble Harpist leads a disciplined life

Jazz harpist Motoshi Kosako can perhaps best be described as a Renaissance man of modern music. At age 55, he divides his time between refining his craft as a musician and tending to the fifteen-acre ranch he runs with his wife Terra in Oregon House, 68 miles north of Sacramento.

As a young man in his native Japan, Kosako walked away from a lucrative promising medical career to become a jazz guitarist. His parents weren’t pleased with his decision, but Motoshi felt he had to follow his heart. In the 1970’s Kosako was influenced by many of the albums being released by the German ECM label, including work by guitarists Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie as well as pianist Keith Jarrett.

Jarret’s fascination with the philosophy of G I. Gurdjieff also influenced Kosako, so much so that he decided to move to Northern California in 1997 to join a community practicing the esoteric/self-developing work advocated by Gurdjieff.

Gurdjieff, who died in 1949, was a mystic philosopher who felt people are not generally conscious of themselves and that a higher state of consciousness could be reached by developing physically, emotionally, and intellectually through music, dance, and manual labor.

“I was a crazy guitarist. I was practicing so much as a harpist as well, and then I hit the ceiling, no matter how much more I practiced, nothing changed,” Kosako said. 

He started wondering what was missing. “And then I met Gurdjieff’s teaching, shifting my attention toward more consciousness,” he said. 

He began thinking about his awareness and internal state when he was playing. “That dramatically changed the outcome of my music,” he said.

When he came to Northern California in 1997, Kosako switched exclusively to harp and played classical music for four years as a member of the Stockton Symphony. Before long, he felt a need to rededicate his attention to jazz, this time playing harp.

“Harp is a plucking string instrument. The quality of sound is kind of similar to guitar, much closer to guitar than piano,” Kosako said. “At the same time, we use both hands equally when we're playing harp, that part is very similar to piano. And it's possible to play more complicated music structure on the harp. So, I really felt like, ‘oh, the harp has a nice characteristic from both instruments.’”

Kosako combined what he learned from Gurdjieff with a strong work ethic based on Japanese philosophy and his background in martial arts, all tempered by his genuine sense of humility. All this experience has helped him manage the performance anxiety and stage fright that sometimes plagues musicians.

“I think one of the reasons why we experience severe stage fright or performance anxiety, is because the person in the practice room is different from the person on the stage,” he said.  “We change our personality or put a different mask when we go out for performance.”

Kosako said he tries to be himself in his living room and on stage. 

“I try to live my life as the same person, as much as I can,” he said.“I try to experience the moment intentionally in daily life as if I'm playing harp. So, that way, the moment I'm experiencing in my daily life is not very, very different from the experience I'm having on stage.”

When not practicing his harp, Kosako can be found driving fence posts, splitting logs, or tending to their chickens, goats, and cattle dogs. Family is very important to him. Both he and Terra are excited to care for their new granddaughter.

Mostoshi Kosako with his dog Tucker on his ranch in Oregon House, CA.Courtesy of Mostoshi Kosako

In performing, Kosako exudes both confidence and genuine humility, approaching his instrument with single minded focus. His background in martial arts serves him well as a musician. Like the late jazz pianist, Cedar Walton, Kosako sits erect and balanced. His posture and the way he embraces the harp enables him to shift gears with the speed of a race car driver as he negotiates the improvisation in each song.

At a recent solo performance at Twin Lotus Thai in Sacramento, Kosako put the audience at ease, telling succinct stories about the music and its makers between his complex arrangements of jazz standards and uplifting, spiritual original compositions.

While living in a large metropolitan area would certainly bring him more career opportunities and wider recognition, Kosako seems content with the disciplined, self-sustaining lifestyle he and his wife Terra pursue on their property in rural Northern California. “Being recognized is good, but it’s kind of secondary,” says the humble harpist. “It’s more important that I’m able to create music with my wonderful band including great musicians like Michael Manring and Chris Garcia.”

Motoshi Kosako will perform a solo harp concert on Friday, April 3 at Twin Lotus Thai in Sacramento. On April 16, he’ll participate in the World Harp Competition in the Netherlands.