9/12/2014 U.S. keyboardist brings musical genius -- and fascinating history -- to Tokyo stage - 毎日新聞

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Philip Woo is seen performing at theBlues Alley Japan club in Tokyo's MeguroWard in November, 2013. (Mainichi)

拡⼤写真

Philip Woo is seen together with his bandCold, Bold & Together in Seattle, WA in1975. (Cold, Bold & Together promotionphoto, courtesy of Philip Woo)

[PR] ４０代会社員妻１⼈⼦２⼈。最近、ローンで買った家をコレで売りました

U.S. keyboardist brings musical genius -- and fascinatinghistory -- to Tokyo stageAudience members attending a live showfeaturing Tokyo-based pianist and keyboardistPhilip Woo might hear stories about the times hedrank wine with musical greats such as GeorgeDuke and Jeffrey Osborne, or rubbed elbowsbackstage on Broadway with the likes of AndyWarhol and Diana Ross, or played withlegendary artists such as Whitney Houston,Roberta Flack and Cyndi Lauper.

Make no mistake, however: despite Woo's abilityto casually name-drop a seemingly never-endinglist of celebrities, it is his exceptional musictalent in genres from soul and R&B to jazz-funkto 1960s rock that allows him to consistentlypack live music venues full of loyal fans.

Woo's achievements are made all the more impressive by the fact that he is almostentirely self-taught -- having taken piano lessons only from age five to six. "I learnedto play rock and roll songs by ear at age seven, and later basically taught myself howto play by listening to my favorite musicians over and over and over again, like DonnyHathaway, Stevie Wonder, and Roy Ayers -- and then copying what I heard until I hadmastered it," Woo told the Mainichi in his humble, low-key style.

Woo grew up in Seattle, Washington, in an area populated mostly by AfricanAmericans who had been part of the large-scale northward migration from the U.S.south that began during the 1930s. "There were few whites or other Asians in myarea compared with other neighborhoods," he said. "It was de facto segregation."

In 1968, on Woo's 12th birthday, his older sister took him to see a rock concert atSeattle's famous Eagles Auditorium Building -- and he was instantly hooked on thelocal music scene. "My little hippie friends and I would go out and see all the greatacts, like Muddy Waters, BB King, Chicago, and Sly and the Family Stone," Woorecalled.

"My grandmother had the only Chineserestaurant on Seattle's skid row, which stayedopen until 4 a.m., so we would go there late atnight after the shows, and she would feed us bigbowls of shrimp fried rice and coke -- and thenslip me some money and tell me not to tellgrandpa," he added, laughing.

1960s Seattle was full of garage bands, Wooexplained, and one could walk down the streetat practically any time and hear themrehearsing. "Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones wereboth from my neighborhood, and went to my

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9/12/2014 U.S. keyboardist brings musical genius -- and fascinating history -- to Tokyo stage - 毎日新聞

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拡⼤写真 high school," he said.

Woo himself began playing in bands at age 12.By age 15 he had bought a Hammond organ, and started performing in local clubs.His first hit came at age 18 with his band Cold, Bold and Together, for which Kenny Gplayed saxophone. "There was a thriving live music scene around that time, and clubswould be packed five nights a week with people coming to listen to bands like oursand dance."

This boom began declining around the mid-1970s, however, and there were not manyopportunities for musicians in Seattle to sign on to major record labels. "The closestmajor U.S. city is San Francisco, which is 800 miles away -- and none of thecompanies wanted to send their scouts out that far," Woo said.

It was in 1976, when Woo was 19, that he got his first major break. "I went to a liveshow of (funk, soul and jazz great) Roy Ayers, and he asked whether anyone in theaudience wanted to come up and play with him onstage, so I raised my hand," Woorecalled. "He asked whether I knew his music, and I replied, 'I know all your music.'"

Ayers had in fact just lost his keyboardist, and he was so impressed by Woo'sperformance that he asked him to play with the band for the rest of its scheduled two-week set of gigs in Seattle. After that finished, Ayers then invited Woo to move toNew York City and join his band.

"It was the best thing that could have happened to me," Woo recalled.

Woo ended up recording seven albums with Ayers, and began working with manygreat studio musicians. He also played for other famous artists such as GroverWashington, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle, and hung out in places like Studio 54 --where he says he once glimpsed George Burns out on a date with Brooke Shields.

"During that era in New York, people would sometimes dance naked in clubs and havesex on the tables," he said. "It was truly anything goes."

In 1980, Woo joined the San Francisco-based soul group Maze, and began commutingback and forth between both coasts. He also began touring with some of the biggestnames in black music, including Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, andthe Isley Brothers.

"It was an amazing time period," he recalled.

Woo explained that after digital music downloading began to increase during the late1990s, however, record companies started to suffer significant profit losses -- andincome began to be drained from many musicians' business models.

"Shrinking budgets for music, combined with the reality of growing older, meant thatit became difficult for many musicians to exist on the same level as we once did," hesaid.

In 1998, Woo was invited by the Toshiba EMI music company to produce and write inJapan. He took the opportunity, and has been based in Tokyo ever since -- performingwith numerous Japanese artists including Toshinobu Kubota, Hirai Ken and AI, andoccasionally also playing with U.S. artists in Japan, including the R&B group Tower ofPower.

While performing live shows with his band of other talented locally-based musicians,Woo has also engaged in additional musical collaborations -- co-writing a song for3.11 disaster relief titled "Light Up Japan," for example -- and performing at privateevents and music festivals.

"Many people don't pay attention to the band members who back famous artists, butnowadays when I go perform at house music festivals, young DJs will sometimescome up to me and say, 'Hey! You played on Roy Ayers' 'Everybody Loves theSunshine' -- or whatever album it happens to be -- didn't you?'," Woo said. "These arereal music lovers who covet old vinyl records as cult classics, and they look up to us

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9/12/2014 U.S. keyboardist brings musical genius -- and fascinating history -- to Tokyo stage - 毎日新聞

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定年後 趣味 国⺠年⾦基⾦ ＤＴＰデザイナー ⾃費出版 費⽤ 防犯カメラ 格安航空券 独⽴合宿 運転免許 カントリーライフ 運動不⾜ 英会話 再就職 フリーエンジニア パーソナルトレーニングエコ⽣活

backing musicians like we are some kind of gods.'"

Besides telling fascinating stories from his adventure-filled career during his shows,Woo is mostly passionate about bringing quality music to his fans -- particularly musicthat is rarely heard on a live stage.

"My performances are like ongoing history lessons covering musical genres such assoul and R&B," he said.

"It's not about the fame, though," he added. "It's about the band, and thetogetherness."

Philip Woo and his band will play a special Valentines Day show, "Love Is In The Air,"at Blues Alley Japan in Tokyo's Meguro Ward on Mon. February 10, 2014. (ByKimberly Hughes, Staff Writer)

February 06, 2014(Mainichi Japan)

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