Kawol SamarQandi solo improv at Yokohama AIREGIN episode 58 - The World Beyond Minimalism

Kawol SamarQandi / acoustic guitar, voice

The 58th Solo Improv, which will be my third solo live performance and live streaming (using Japanese streaming services) of 2026.
In a corner of the world, where more and more selfishness, violence, and division are so fierce that we want to cover our eyes, I am increasingly on a journey to find the whereabouts of "poor music," which is also a prayer. It is also a path of deepening listening.
Free improvisation in a well-established jazz club, using only a faltering guitar and a trembling voice, with new sounds and thoughts.
This time, I intend to focus entirely on music shaped by the resonance of silence, accompanied by a minimal number of notes, and on music depicted by several undulating sustained tones.　


biography:
Kawol SamarQandi
he was born in the port town on October 7.
as a child, the first music he listened to was the noise of shortwave radio and hymns.
he began writing poetry at the age of 6.
he began to playing guitar and singing at the age of 12.
he began composing at the age of 14.
he joined the fringe of the Tokyo new wave music scene at the age of 17. then he has performed as a odd singer-songwriter in a variety of venues.
mid-20s, he wandered about North Africa (Tunisia) and the Mediterranean region and studied Arabic traditional music under Mr. Ali Sriti.
After performing theater solo concert, festivals, TV appearances, etc. there, returned to Japan, he did a lot of commercial work (e.g. “City pop”) as a guitarist, arranger, composer, lyric writer and vocalist in recording studios, on the airwaves, and on tour.
in 1997, he launched his private label PLAKA for EARDRUM.
As the 21st century began, gradually distancing himself from the commercial music “business”, he began his lifework of creating non-nationality “poor” music by improvising with only his faltering guitar and trembling voice.
and he collaborates with musicians across borders (sometimes face to face, sometimes on the Internet) to make works and to perform in various places.
in 2007, he formed REFUGEES with Mary Meacha Goldfish.
in August 2021, Ramble Records released vinyl record album “silence, notes and structures 1”.
in April 2024, he was invited by the Sharjah Art Foundation to perform solo and REFUGEES concerts and workshops in UAE.
same month, Ramble Records released CD album “Noli me tangere”.
in October 2025, he and Meacha were visit to perform in Athens, Greece.
in December 2025, he will release a brand new vinyl record album called “energeia” recorded in a historical place in Sharjah, UAE.
in July 2026, he and Meacha are scheduled to perform in Wellington, New Zealand.

the will to keep listening attentively to the world through the austerely and beautiful silences, notes and structures of improvisation.