Ohashi Trio

Sunny Sunday rhythms

Ohashi Trio is a project of multi-instrumentalist and composer Ohashi Yoshinori. Together with his band of six, they came out looking like the Jazz/Folk/Victorian Hippie farmers they are. Their music is hard to pin down, but blends genres of Folk, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Bossanova, Funk and more. I was a bit surprised to see them playing the White Stage when I think they would fit right in with the more laid back vibe of the Field of Heaven area. Stage issues aside, they played an interesting, mellow, genre bending set, that kept most in attendance dancing and swaying along the whole fifty minutes through.

Ohashi switched instruments throughout, from guitar to mandolin, to percussion right back to piano where he is the most comfortable and assured. The set started off a bit mellow and worked its way up in intensity. They started with a more laid back jazzy sound and then moved to a few folk/funk numbers. This gave members some room to solo and extend their tunes.

They played relaxed, sunny Sunday afternoon music. Ohashi got on the mic a few times to thank the audience and praise the beautiful weather we were having. His voice, whether engaging in banter with the crowd or singing his tunes was a fairly laid back, monotone register. I found it worked for the most part, but wasn’t as engaging on more funky, emotional numbers.

The crowd was one of the more mixed and diverse I had witnessed all festival. There was a selection of old, young, men, women, those singing along and dancing up front and those dozing in camping chairs at the back. I prefer something a little heavier and chunkier in my jazz, funk and soul, so I was happy to hear the band pick up the pace to close out the set. It wasn’t a bad set overall, but left me wanting a bit more intensity. Maybe if they were playing the Field of Heaven my expectations would have been more in check. That said, Ohashi certainly has talent and this will no doubt not be his last visit to Fuji Rock.