Live at Le Guess Who? by Minyo Crusaders

“EPIC!” Cerys Matthews, BBC 6Music

“One of the most uplifting performances of the entire festival.” MUSIC MAP

Minyo Crusaders return with a live recording of their triumphant headline performance at Le Guess Who? Festival from their debut European tour in November 2019.

This show helped the group secure a six-week European tour in 2020 – unfortunatley cancelled due to the pandemic – and so with their next shows not until 2022, Mais Um present their infectious live show for fans old and new to enjoy from the comfort of their home.

Described as a “a concert unlike any other, where a commitment to having a good time went alongside a celebration of rustic traditions” by The Times, Minyo Crusaders’ dazzled audiences across Europe with their dynamic reworkings of historic Japanese folk songs (min’yō) with Latin, African, Caribbean and Asian rhythms. Across eight tracks, in front of a packed-out & energetic crowd at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht on Saturday night at Netherlands’ premier, boundary-crossing music & culture festival, Le Guess Who?, Minyo Crusaders revisit firm favourites from their critically acclaimed debut album Echoes Of Japan & their 2020 EP Minyo Cumbiero.

With occasional introductions by their charismatic guitarist and bandleader, Katsumi Tanaka, lead vocal duo and min’yō singers Meg & Freddy glide over sumptuous tropical grooves that join the dots between cumbia, Ethiopian jazz, Thai pop, Afro funk and reggae.

released July 9, 2021

Minyo Crusaders:
Freddie Tsukamoto (vocals)
Meg (vocals)
Katsumi Tanaka (guitar)
Shoji Ishiguro (bass)
Moe (keyboards)
Sono (timbales)
Mutsumi ‘Muupy’ Kobayashi (bongos)
Kazuki Hashimoto (trumpet)
Koichiro Osawa (sax)
Irochi (congas)

Recorded live at Le Guess Who? 2019 in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Audio recorded & mixed by Marc Broer and Martijn van Waveren. Thanks to Le Guess Who?, Barry Spooren, Bob van Heur and Johan Gijsen.

Live photo from Le Guess Who? by Jorah Sarah
Layout and design by Katsumi Tanaka, Minyo Crusaders