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. When not practicing scales, Motoshi can be found splitting logs or tending to the chickens and goats on their fully sustainable property. When driving fence posts, he’s also working out new ideas and ways of improvising on his instrument.
Kosako abandoned a promising medical career in his native Japan to become a touring jazz guitarist. When he came to northern California in 1997, he switched to harp and played classical music for 4 years as a member of the Stockton Symphony. Before long, he felt a need to rededicate his attention to jazz, this time playing harp.
While living in a large metropolitan area would certainly bring him more career opportunities and wider recognition, Motoshi seems content with the disciplined, self-sustaining lifestyle he and his wife Terra pursue on their property in rural northern California. He also derives great joy by working with his Komaga Trio featuring bassist Michael Manring and drummer Chris Garcia.
Motoshi will perform a solo harp concert at Twin Lotus Thai in Sacramento on Friday, April 3. His Komaga Trio will then tour southern California. In mid-April, he’s off to the Netherlands to participate in the World Harp Competition!
Interview Highlights
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
On choosing the harp as his instrument
The harp is a plucking string instrument. The quality of sound is kind of similar to guitar, much closer to guitar than piano. 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 a more complicated musical structure on the harp. So, I really felt like, oh, this instrument has a nice characteristic from both instruments.
On the influence of Keith Jarrett
When I started listening to Keith Jarrett’s music and especially his solo improvisation, it felt a little different from the regular jazz performances. He's a mixture of all the different styles. He played classical music, rock music, and jazz beautifully, and I was wondering how he could do something like this. Then I started reading his autobiography, and I realized he's deeply influenced by the philosophy of G.I. Gurdjieff.
On managing stage fright
I think one of the reasons why we experience performance anxiety is because the person in the practice room or living room is different from the person on the stage. We change our personality or put on a different mask when we go out for performance. So, I try to live my life as the same person as much as I can. 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 different from the experience I'm having on stage.
