OMG. Yoko Kanno, age 11, recorded in 1974??

[Ed in the Desert]

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g57512675

Holy crap.  This is our Yoko Kanno, right???  Not the other one?  Because if it is, dear God, this vinyl will be THE Yoko Kanno collector's item to have.

Geez, I'm getting jittery here.  Opening bid of 2,000 Yen???  I'll pay 10 times that if I have to, but first we need to confirm if this really is her.  The age is right, the piano is right, and the picture looks like her. 

[Crispain]

Amazing a vinyl album...!! 

[Ed in the Desert]

Ok, I  think it is her.
http://www.monkey-pirate.com/ykdb/index.php?topic=230.0
TenAJs has a great post about this.


EDIT: Wait just a second: http://www.kilie.com/yoko/profile.html This profile of the other piano playing Yoko Kanno says that she started playing piano at age 4...and that's what the Yamaha album says about its Yoko Kanno.  And this http://www.geocities.com/helixcat_2000/profile.html says that our YK began piano at age 3, but it also says that she attended Waseda University, which is something that the OTHER YK did according to her profile page.

So the question is when was the OTHER YK born?? How old was she in 1974??

Hmmm.  In the auction http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g57512675, it says in the description that she used to go by Youko Sugaya, which is the name that the OTHER YK goes by on her site and on her CDs.......


God, what is going on here?  Is it possible that these two Yoko Kannos were born almost within a year of each other and both went onto become professional pianists?   The auction never says anywhere that this is the YK of GITS, ESCAflowne, etc.  The auction picture clearly says that its YK started the study of music at age 4, and the other YK's profile page says that she started playing piano at age 4.

What's going on here guys?  There is strong evidence to suggest that this Yamaha YK isn't our YK but rather the other one.


ALSO: Look at the way that the Yamaha YK spells her name.  It is four characters long, and EXACTLY the way that the other YK spells her name on her website and CD's: http://www.kilie.com/yoko/

Guys......what's going on here?  We need someone who reads Japanese.  I mean, the evidence is starting to build up that the Yamaha YK is NOT our Yoko Kanno.  Just look at the names!  I can't find credible evidence(print proof, like an album liner notes) that our YK spells her name other than 菅野よう子.  Our Yoko Kanno has never spelled her name 菅野洋子 on any printed materials.  Where is the hard, printed evidence that our YK has ever spelled her name 菅野洋子?   

菅野洋子 is what it on the Yamaha, 菅野洋子 is what is on the other YK's own website.  The Yamaha says 4 years old, the other YK's site says 4 years old.

I think that the auction person is confused and thinks that our Yoko Kanno used to to spell her name 菅野洋子, but this girl is really http://www.kilie.com/yoko/profile.html.

We need someone from the Wanna be a Wind forum to start a thread about this.  I can't find any more information about this other YK other than her web page.

Ok, I just emailed the other YK asking her if it's her in the Yamaha record or not.  I hope she responds!

[mike_s_6]

I don't think that's our girl

[roxfan]

I'm pretty sure it's our Yoko. Just look at the photo.
http://www.kilie.com/yoko/images/TARA_L.jpg <- doesn't look like she was born in 1963
As for the name spelling, such changes are quite common among professionals.

[Ed in the Desert]

I'm pretty sure it's our Yoko. Just look at the photo.
http://www.kilie.com/yoko/images/TARA_L.jpg <- doesn't look like she was born in 1963
As for the name spelling, such changes are quite common among professionals.

Photographed face evidence isn't near as compelling as the hard printed word document evidence I've presented.  We have no evidene that our YK used to spell her name the Yamaha way or that she changed her name at some point.

Also: Has our YK ever said in an interview that she studied in the advanced piano course of the Yamaha Music Education System?

[Ed in the Desert]

http://www.ex.org/4.5/16-interview_kanno1.html


I think this interview is the final nail in the coffin.  The Yamaha Yoko Kanno took the "advanced piano course in the Yamaha Music Education System".  This is clearly stated in the hard printed photo evidence.

OUR Yoko Kanno says in this interview that she learned piano entirely with self-taught lessons.  She does not say that she had any formal training.  An advanced piano course in the Yamaha Music Education System is formal piano training and our YK would have told us about this in an interview.

Also: in this interview http://www.atanime.com/v1/i2/04_ax_kanno3.html our YK says she started composing at age 3.  The Yamaha YK "started the study of music at age 4".

At this point the evidence is very strong that the Yamaha YK is NOT our YK.  Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the Yamaha YK is really the other YK, the pianist Youko Kanno with 2 CDs who, according to her own profile page, started playing the piano at age 4.

Using only hard, physical evidence like photographs and interviews, my case is strong.  We CANNOT rely on Wikipedia articles or fan bios/profiles, because there is a very good chance that these have been contaminated by INCORRECT information from the other YK's life.  Again, all fan-based writings must be thrown out as evidence because of the risk of contamination.  This is just like a forensic trial.  We can only trust the hard evidence: printed documents, actual interviews from both our YK and the other YK, our YK's official site(s), and the other YK's official site.  This is all that we should use and nothing more: only primary sources.

This is why the Image Museum is important: It is a reliable, complete, and accurate collection of primary sources, i.e. the scans.

[kannolover71]

Interesting I'm with ed, I believe she has no formal traing whatso ever. the other just happens to share the same name an instrument skill.

[Ed in the Desert]

Interesting I'm with ed, I believe she has no formal traing whatso ever. the other just happens to share the same name an instrument skill.

The undeniable difference in music education between the Yamaha Yoko and our Yoko is indeed the strongest piece of evidence.  But I won't make a final judgement until everyone has examined the evidence and presented their view of the matter.  I urge everyone to again only consider the primary sources that we have.

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://www.suzuya-k.co.jp/kannnoyouko.html&prev=/language_tools
Another piece of primary sources, but all it lets us know is what the other YK looks like for sure.  Not a key piece of evidence, but still valid as a primary source.  I'd be interested to know what the long block of Japanese writing says in the middle of the page. 

[djsilt]

YK had piano lessons with a teacher has she said in the interview i posted, that's this teacher who let her listening to her first big influence for the first time : Maurice Ravel. So yes i think she had piano lessons, she might have started by herself though. For the age, 3 or 4 is the same thing, honestly...
I don't know if that's our Yoko in this record. And then, that Yamaha was perhaps a contest for which she entered. For the different name, it can be a mistake of the editor of the record. And the photo hardly say anything (for me at least)... so i think it's hard to know right now
hopefully Ed will get an answer from the other Yoko Kanno

[Ed in the Desert]

Ah!, very interestig, DJ.    Thanks for this useful piece of information about piano lessons.  I unfortuneately was unable to view the interview, but even if I could it wouldn't make a difference because I don't understand French. 

I think that an English transcript of this interview would be very valuable right now, and I certainly trust you can do it accurately.  The only part of the interview you need to do accurately anyway is the part where she talks about these lessons. 

About the age: While 3 and 4 are close, one must not also ignore that the other YK's profile page says she started at 4, just as the Yamaha Yoko writing says. 

What we REALLY REALLY need is a translation of all the Japanese in the Yamaha Yoko picture.

Can anyone read Japanese?
 

[kannolover71]

I found the same CD tara on cdjapan

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=DAKHKD-2

found the other Yoko's company/personal website with a better picture not ours

http://www.kilie.com/yoko/

the atltivista translation

Beautiful ones, the liner which is, kind ones, harsh ones and strong ones... weakness, it is fleeting, the tear, it is dear. And, your smiling face. Being clumsy, not be able to speak with the person well, the て, the parenthesis attaching, by your by your Weak by your are accustomed, very knowing, to be strong. Being painful, little by little, it probably will keep advancing to before. Without losing desire. When somewhere, you can inquire about my piano, it is happy. Youko Sugaya



with her cd

The improvisational pianist Sugaya Youko long-awaited second album which changes image of the person and the scenery into sound. Like the 菩 薩 the world of the sound where it is kind, like the mother is strong, somewhere feels longing. The melody ground which exceeds genre the harmonic overtone which wraps sound and the space makes the core of the body roar, awakens you of bare fact. The album of the impression which is sent to all people.

[Ed in the Desert]

Crud.  It has no new information on it about the other Yoko Kanno.

The more and more I look at the other Yoko Kanno's profile page, the stranger this becomes. 
Her profile page says "クラシックを基礎に、ロック、ジャズ、レゲエ、民族音楽など様々なジャンルの音楽 と出会い、 独学で作曲・即興演奏を始める。"

The alta-vista translation of this is: "The classic it encounters with the music of various genres such as lock, jazz, reggae and folk music the foundation, begins composition improvisational performance with self-education".

"Self-education"?  Did BOTH Yoko Kannos teach themselves music at some point?

We really need a clear translation of the other Yoko Kanno's profile page, and maybe even someone to have a look at her blog.  It looks like she has a nice blog.....

Also, we know that the other Yoko Kanno went to Waseda University because it says that in her profile.  I've seen profiles of our Yoko Kanno that say she went to this university.  These two Yoko Kannos have clearly been mixed up in the past.

[roxfan]

[mike_s_6]

Well the "other" Yoko Kanno has two Yamaha recordings in her official website, but not the one we are investigating :

ヤマハ福岡店
福岡市天神1-11-17 福岡ビル1Ｆ・092-721-7621
ヤマハミュージック東北 仙台店
仙台市青葉区一番町2-6-5・022-227-8512

[roxfan]

http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~kukan/page087.html
This one says she studied in Paris though... I wonder if that's true. It would surely explain French influences in Kannoese
Another source: http://emoapo.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-19.html

[Ed in the Desert]

At the picture comparison: Yeah, it's very hard to say, roxfan.  The Yamaha Yoko could be either one according to just those three pictures.  I would suggest taking a look at the other pictures we have of this other Yoko Kanno, in that "fan support page" http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://www.suzuya-k.co.jp/kannnoyouko.html&prev=/language_tools
Poor thing looks like she doesn't have many fans...  

At the Paris education: Again, we have to be cautious when taking secondary sources into account.

At Mike: Where did you find the other Yk's recordings page?  From what I can tell she only has two CDs out.....

[mike_s_6]

It's at the bottom of her cd list. Just scroll down, it's there.

http://www.kilie.com/yoko/cd.html

[Ed in the Desert]

It's at the bottom of her cd list. Just scroll down, it's there.

http://www.kilie.com/yoko/cd.html

Oh, right, duh.  Thanks! 

Wait, why do these look like a listing of places that sell her CDs, each with an address and telephone number?

[mike_s_6]

http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~kukan/page087.html
This one says she studied in Paris though... I wonder if that's true. It would surely explain French influences in Kannoese
Another source: http://emoapo.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-19.html

I think the person who went to France is Sugaya, and there has been a lot of confusion about this. It's good now that the Yoko Sugaya site has photos in it.

[mike_s_6]

1974 minus 11 is 1964, the year our Kanno is born. Hmmm?

As for the current Yoko Kanno photos, she doesn't look like she was born in 1963 either. Those Yoko Sugaya (I'll call her that for differentiation) photos look like it has the right angle and lighting  to make her look not-so-old.

I have posted in Wanna Be a Wind, and I've also sent gabu a note.

[Ed in the Desert]

Lol, Mai, those Yamaha "CD's" translate to

   
Yamaha Fukuoka store Fukuoka city Tenzin 1-11-17 the Fukuoka building 1F 092-721-7621 Yamaha music northeast Sendai store Sendai city greenery Ku most town 2-6-5.022-227-8512

Those are stores, stores where her two CDs are sold, I think.

[kannolover71]

I guess I cleared this one up in a small way.

[mike_s_6]

Lol, Mai, those Yamaha "CD's" translate to

   
Yamaha Fukuoka store Fukuoka city Tenzin 1-11-17 the Fukuoka building 1F 092-721-7621 Yamaha music northeast Sendai store Sendai city greenery Ku most town 2-6-5.022-227-8512

Those are stores, stores where her two CDs are sold, I think.

Oh. My bad

You think we should ask Grand Funk?

[Ed in the Desert]

1974 minus 11 is 1964, the year our Kanno is born. Hmmm?

Our Yoko Kanno turned 10 on March 18, 1974.  She was never 11 years old in 1974.

[Ed in the Desert]

You think we should ask Grand Funk?

You know how???!!  Geez, go for it!  What is anyone waiting for?  We need to use all of our resources to solve this mystery because if the Yamaha Yoko our Yoko, then it needs to be documented once and for all, and I need to try to get that record and put it in the museum.  I'm not about to foot a maximum of 22,000 Yen(that's as high as I'll go) for this record if it isn't really her.

[mike_s_6]

I should stop, even my math is wrong. D@mn I am so disoriented this week.

[Ed in the Desert]

I should stop, even my math is wrong. D@mn I am so disoriented this week.

No, no, what you did was good!  Really good!  It made me stop and do the proper calculations    I didn't realize what a huge piece of information this was.  I actually saw "11" and said, "Wow, the age is right!".  But it isn't.  And I don't think the printer or editor would make a mistake like that.  This is the Japanese we're talking about here.

Our Yoko Kanno was NOT 11 anytime in 1974.  She was 9 from Jaunary 1-March 17 1974, then 10 from March 18 through to the end of the year.  Please someone check my math.

I'm sorry if I'm getting excited and demanding, btw y'all.  This whole thing just kind of took me by surprise and I'm rushing to gather enough funds for a possible bid war over this 33 year old record.

[mike_s_6]

I've sent a note to Grand Funk. Japanese people are very particular about business, so I don't know if they would answer a query like this, with possibly wrong grammar Worth a shot though.

So I have a query to Wanna Be A Wind, Gabu and Grand Funk. Let's see if we get anything.

[Ed in the Desert]

Awesome!  Thank you so much, Mai!