SAYOKO

Biography

Despite her youth, Sayoko (Takahashi) is something of a veteran of the Japanese music scene. Unusual in a land where pop singers come and go with alarming speed, her career has developed at a steady pace. Her longevity can be attributed to her prodigious talent for incorporating various influences and musics within a Japanese framework, and for being less a follower of trends, than a trendsetter. She has a passion and thirst for music, from punk in her early days to reggae in recent years. The consistent factor in her music has been a non-copyist approach, but one directly from her heart. Her music and voice reflects her own effervescent character; at turns inspiring and reflective, surprising and familiar, yet always intriguing.

At the age of 15, while still a junior-high school student, Sayoko joined the all female group Zelda as lead singer. The group took their cue from the punk movement, the "Tokyo Rockers Scene" and groups such as the Slits. After 16 years, Zelda became Japan's longest ever running all female band. But after 10 albums, 7 singles, 3 videos, tireless touring and altogether fun-packed years, the group's progression hit a stumbling block -chidren- and Zelda was put on maternity leave.

Sayoko therefore, decided to go it alone, and embark on a solo career. The spark for her subsequent musical direction, had been ignited in 1988, when she visited Jamaica with some friends. In the dance halls of Kingston, she fell in love with the heavy bass of hard core reggae. She went back to Jamaica every year, recording, meeting musicians, producers, and even learning the local Jamaican patois.

For her first solo album "Mi Luv Yu", (1995) recorded in Jamaica in the summer of 94, she managed to engage the talents of powerhouse bass and drum team Sly & Robbie, producers Fatta & Bulby and Danny Brownie. She added Japanese ingredients to the recipe, that produced a fascinating result. Various Japanese musicians helped the process along as songwriters and producers including the Boom's Kazufumi Miyazawa, plus OTO, and Hirofumi Asamoto. The fruits of these sessions were further released as a single in Jamaica, covers of the classic Japanese song "Sukiyaki" and Bob Marley's "Waiting in Vain".

For the album "PeeP" released in January 1998, Sayoko went to London to work with a dazzling array of musicians from the UK reggae scene, as well as Jamaica again. Producers included Aswad and Dennis Bovell, who gave the songs a fresh and inspired treatment. One such song "Mix Up" written by the Boom's Kazufumi Miyazawa, was released as a single, coupled with "Sisteren" a collaboration with Sayoko's friends Louchie Lou and Michie One. Other producers in London included Simon Gogerly, and in Kingston, Danny Brownie, Fatty & Bulby, and once again Sly & Robbie.

Her music and outlook is continuously growing and expanding, entering new horizons and directions. After several years at the top of her profession in Japan, within her global perspective, lies an international career.