Veteran rock band still wows the crowd

By Christine A. Brown, photos courtesy of Murasaki

If you’re a diehard culture vulture hungry for a concentrated dose of rock’n’roll, Japan’s musical sensation, Murasaki, may be your tonic of choice. Laced with machine-gun percussion, glamorized guitar solos and bold vocal calisthenics, Murasaki is a Diamond in the Roth when it comes to live performances.

            A leading light of a ruthlessly cutthroat industry, Murasaki birthed the first rock’n’roll movement in Japan. And when the idol band recently took to the stage at Coconut Moon’s 20th Anniversary Party in Onna Village, it still knew how to rock the house.

            Formed in 1971, Murasaki has performed for American troops and local audiences since the days of the Vietnam War. Music Life, a renowned music magazine in Japan, crowned Murasaki as the leading act of 1977 while band members earned Top-10 stardom in their individual categories. 

            Despite conservatives advocating a daft correlation between rock’n’roll and black sheep, the band miraculously sold more than 80,000 copies of their debut and second albums in an era when aspiring rockers dreamed for a meager fraction of the music-industry pie.

            Murasaki members include original band mates George Murasaki (founder/keyboardist), Eiichi “Chibi” Miyanaga (drummer), Kiyomasa Higa (guitarist), Yukio Shimoji (guitarist) and latest members Hiroto “JJ” Arasaki (vocalist), and Chris Teruya (bass guitarist). 

            As the night’s festivities cascaded on during Coconut Moon’s Aug. 1 event, the band introduced a series of booming original tracks. Lead vocalist Arasaki exhibited a gorgeously vulnerable rocker in the heart-wrenching ballad, “On the Edge,” until unleashing a sinister alter ego in the band’s promising anthem, “Into the Sun.”

            Another fan favorite, “Kaleidoscope of Love,” transcends imagery and takes songwriting to unimaginable heights.

            “Most adults have lost one of our most precious gifts – the child within us,” Arasaki sang in this breathtaking number. “Do you really want to know the secret behind eternal youth?” he laughed. “Find that lost child and be free!”

            The father of Okinawan rock, George Murasaki, also graced fans with his signature talents. His soulful ’60s Hammond organ reinforced the band’s energy, while a warm tide of piano and strings injected a melodious fluid into the band’s harder sounds.

   To top the night off, Miyanaga’s wicked drum solos and hair-tossing stage antics seduced fans to valiantly demonstrate the popularized jackal fist in a fanatical fury. On bass guitar, Teruya promoted a delightfully dark and dimensional quality that completed the band’s aural geometry. 

   “I grew up listening to (Murasaki’s) music ever since I was a teenager during the Reversion (of Okinawa),” said one local rock enthusiast. “It was a confusing time, but somehow their music gave me hope – it saved my life.”

            In stores now, Murasaki’s newly released album, “Purplessence,” embodies a theatrical component devoted to the conventional wisdom of the ’70s and ’80s rock’n’roll era.

            Magnificently raw, intriguing, and lyrically abrasive, the album accomplishes everything it set out to achieve, making it a memorable souvenir for fellow rockers of all nationalities. 

            In a year where many of metalcore’s more established acts are laying low, “Purplessence” should be given the recognition it deserves. It can be purchased in music stores or online from Amazon. The grand finale of Murasaki’s upcoming Japan tour is in Naha City on Oct. 15 at the Naha Civic Auditorium. 

            It’s one experience you don’t want to miss during your overseas tour in Okinawa. For more information, visit <www.murasaki-band.com>.