Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away these days, was one of the most original, brilliant, eclectic and experimental contemporary artists.
He is also responsible for one of the most fascinating musical syntheses between the Eastern and Western traditions. Two musical cultures that the Japanese composer he knew perfectly and explored with dexterity.
Algorithms and professionals
Sakamoto has unwittingly made an important contribution to a debate that has been characterizing the public conversation in recent months. I am referring to the value relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and the biological one in the field of creativity, in this case of music.
There are various areas in which AI has already surpassed, or almost, the biological one such as in chess, in TV quizzes and now also in university entrance tests.
There are areas in which you prefer to do working algorithms rather than expert people. One of these is the creating playlists, reading and movie viewing suggestions. In this sphere, algorithms work quite well especially to discover contents whose existence was not even known.
Spotify, for example, it creates its own playlists through algorithms. Netflix builds its viewing suggestions through programs that grind data gathered from subscribers' browsing experiences.
There has been some rethinking of this mode lately relationship between the platforms and the user. Spotify, for example, has added playlists curated by to algorithm playlists skilled and paid people. This is something that Apple, which is of another school of thought, has done and does regularly in its streaming services.
The story that we propose, that Ben Ratliff told a few years ago in the "New York Times", it demonstrates how far AI still has to go to hope only to be able to compete with the creative work of an artist like Ryuichi Sakamoto.
This story also demonstrates the intelligence and empathy of this reserved and ingenious artist.
When the music is annoying
Sakamoto, when living in New York's East Village, was a regular at the Kajitsu vegan Japanese restaurant on 39th Street at the corner of Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
One day he decided to talk to the chef: he couldn't stand it anymore the background music while he ate his meal. She was unbearably annoying.
The problem wasn't just the volume, he was annoyed by the fact that the music was broadcast without the slightest criterion. He then decided to propose to the restaurateur that he himself select, free of charge, a set of tunes to play during mealtimes. This would help him feel more at ease when eating there.
The chef accepted the proposal and the musician put together a playlist, the Kajitsu playlist precisely. There is not even a composition by him.
Music in a public space
Apart from the questionable taste of broadcasting music in public places, which happens in almost all dystopian tales, there is also another type of discourse especially if it is the music broadcast in a restaurant. For some people, having a meal is also an act of meditation, of concentration.
If we decide to eat out, we probably wouldn't be very happy if the food was cooked by the staff who take care of the cleaning or the one who works in the dining room, but we would like it to be prepared by the kitchen brigade.
The same could be said of the diffused music in the halls of the restaurant. We wouldn't want that music to be cobbled together to the point of being annoying like the one selected by an algorithm activated just for fun. We wish there was a reasoning behind the songs spread and forcibly listened to. Multiple environmental, cultural, logistic, gender and so on factors should be taken into account.
This is the reflection that Sakamoto must have made when he approached the restaurateur to propose him to create one own playlist to broadcast in the club.
Sakamoto's choices
The recently deceased composer is a role model both as a musician and as a listener. It was fwere early adopters of new technologies. In the late 70s he founded the electropop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra. He has also worked with Kraftwerk, the quintessential electronic music group. There is a lot of experimentalism and syncretism in his compositions.
In fact, he created and produced music to be performed in many environments and occasions: in ballrooms and concert halls, in films and video games, even in telephone ringtones. He has composed music for environmental and political initiatives and events.
In the documentary Tail by Stephen Nomura Schible we can get an idea of the incredible talent and versatility of the versatile Japanese musician, also awarded with an Oscar.
In fact, the fifty pieces that Sakamoto has selected for the Manhattan restaurant reflect his tastes and inclinations, but with moderation, discretion and tact. AND a mix of piano solos slow and wide that are difficult to label, melodies that can fit into a film soundtrack and there is also a pinch of improvisation.
In the Ben Ratliff interview, Sakamoto said that he and Ryu Takahashi, whom he asked for help, knocked down at least five drafts before arriving at the final version of a playlist that satisfied them.
A lot of work has been done on jazz, which is one of the major sources of inspiration for the compositions of the Japanese master. But even jazz has its problems when it comes to spreading it in a public environment.
The songs in the playlist
“The problem is that jazz as background music is too formulaic,” Sakamoto told Ratliff. In fact, the selection of Jazz was very accurate and very careful. It's in the playlist Mary Lou Williams, but not Duke Ellington. There is Bill Evans, but not its famous Waltz for Debby, there are also solos by Jason Moran and Thelonius Monk.
One of the strongest solo piano songs is the first movement of the placida Four Walls by John Cage played by Aki Takahashi. Another is My First Homage by Gavin Bryans. Other notable pieces are Graysmith's Theme by David Shire, taken from soundtrack of the film Zodiac, and Claudia, Wilhelm R and Me by Roberto Musci.
All of these pieces, mentioned by Ratliff, produce a particular effect on the listener: they catch the eye, while being understated, minimalist and subdued.
Furthermore, the idea of a playlist for the restaurant was not separated from that of changing it at the beginning of each new season.
Furthermore, the volume of the sound that Sakamoto wanted for these pieces is not discreet. The composer abhors loud music in public places and often measures ambient decibels with an application on his iPhone.
The playlist was so successful that all the establishments in the restaurant chain to which those on 39th Street belong decided to spreading Sakamoto's Kajitsu playlist.
We're really in another category than where algorithms play.
……
Sakamonto's Kajitsu playlist (on Spotify).
Sources: Ben Ratliff, Annoyed by Restaurant Playlists, a Master Musician Made His Own, The New York Times, July 23, 2018
The playlist you'll listen to at your next dinner party, Il Post, 29 July 2018