Jazz

Yosuke Yamashita – Burning Piano (2008)

Hot jazz.

Yosuke Yamashita, Burning Piano 2008

Yosuke Yamashita is a Japanese jazz pianist and in 2008, he performed on a burning piano as a tribute to the time he did it in the 70s:

In 1973, famed graphic designer Kiyoshi Awazu asked Yamashita to appear in his short film burning piano, playing the titular instrument. Watching it again 35 years later, Yamashita wrote, “Seeing myself engaged in that extraordinary performance, I felt this wave of emotion that was like, ‘What was that?’

via Open Culture

In the 2008 version, we see Yamashita dressed like a spaceman (or perhaps a biohazards expert?) and spending just 10 minutes on the burning piano before he could no longer produce a sound.

Piano burning as a piece of performance art has been done for decades, although no one can be sure how it originated. I’m pretty sure Alicia Keys has burnt a few pianos in her time with all that FIRE she’s made in her career, amirite?!

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