Meet Sen Yoshimura | Saxophonist/Composer/Arranger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sen Yoshimura and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sen, what do you attribute your success to?
First of all, I am so happy about the environment that I’m in right now. Not only am I enjoying what I’m doing now, but I’m also constantly trying to improve on all aspects, which is a part of an important factor for success. I believe it is good to be positive and energetic, as well as finding good things within what you have decided to do. Also, although the way to success depends on the person, I would say that being an organized person has led me to success.

For example, I had a great experience with releasing my first single in last May as my original project. There were multiple things to do from the beginning to the end, so it was important to establish a well-defined process for each step. The first responsibility was, of course, composing and arranging. Although it depends on the tune, I tend to have a theme for the piece when I compose. Firstly, I imagine what I’m creating it for, then, I let the motives or ideas come out from my head. I also use my musical knowledge to fix the details, but when I have trouble with arranging, I always go back and think about the theme. Sometimes people suddenly come up with good ideas, but this is my general process.

After the initial process of composing, more steps followed such as rehearsing, comping, mixing, and so on. In those steps, I tried to manage my schedule, and tried to produce everything at the highest quality within a fixed time frame. Otherwise, the project might be disorganized. Even though there were difficulties as conflicts arise, I tried to be emotionally stable and not stress in a bad way. This is also an important factor to overcome the project comfortably.

As I mentioned above, I’m trying to do things at the highest quality as much as I can. This is my attitude to music because it defines why I am here in this world. It is important to do things from your heart as it can lead you to the successful outcome. sometimes people suddenly get a great opportunity by chance. But in order to get it, you always need to be ready. So, in this sense, being organized, and having an honest mind is crucial for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In the last series of VoyageLA, I talked about releasing my first single. From that experience, I noticed how beautiful it is to let my music out of my mind instead of keeping it inside, and I really appreciate everyone who allowed me to have a great start of my own project as I was able to realize my own potential for other future projects as well. In fact, In sequel to my first single, I have started another new project – working to create my second single. This time, I am looking for a new sound that is not only something new, but also something that is beautiful, warm, and alive. It has to be a sound that you can feel the flow of the “streaming of breath,” which is very important to me. In order to achieve this sound, I decided to invite a relatively unique instrument in my band even though I am still unsure of whether it was the right choice for the arrangement. I guess we will find out after the recording session, but I am very excited about this project.

In addition, I’m glad that I could invite amazing worldwide legendary musicians. I feel extremely honored and privileged to be able to play with them and I really appreciate this opportunity. The project has just started, but I am really looking forward to announcing the details soon.

As for management, one of the challenging things that I have to face is scheduling, especially when it comes to having great musicians in my band. Although we tend to get familiar with the music fairly quickly once we start rehearsing together, due to busy schedules and scheduling conflicts, it is quite difficult to find the same time to get together and rehearse. I have learned that it is important to be patient and to create a comfortable environment for everyone instead of being impatient and causing unnecessary stress or tension. Sometimes people may push people a lot unconsciously when faced with difficult situations, but I learned to keep the balance between assertiveness and empathy in order to have a good outcome as everyone is trying their best to help my project succeed.

As for the music itself, I always have a reason and a theme for each composition, as mentioned previously. One of the obstacles is to guess how people are going to react to my music and what emotions they can feel as they are listening. If I force myself to write or arrange music without considering these factors, the music itself will just be overly complicated. It is not easy for me to connect my feelings to music and the audience so I’m still on my way to find an answer to this. However, as of now, I do try my best to remember each moment in life because everything I know and express is related to something I have experienced. Therefore, every single memory is important to me. Making great music is very hard, but it is exciting.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m living in Boston now and I love it here so much. It is definitely one of the biggest cities in the world but at the same time, it’s a very clean and safe area in America. Also, Boston has a long history so there are a lot of spots to show people.

First of all, I would show them some important colleges and universities. Berklee College of Music, which I attend, could be the first one. Personally, I came to Boston to learn at Berklee College of Music and become a professional musician, so Berklee is always an amazing place for me to be at. But I think people who are not musicians can also enjoy seeing how the music scene is created and how the students are living. There are many more world famous institutes in Boston such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston University, and so on. So, Boston is also the best place to be as a student.

As I mentioned that Boston is also a historical city, it is famous for the Boston Tea Party. There is a ship at Seaport which I can even find in the history textbooks used in Japan, and there are many kinds of tea. It’s always good to have those healthy ones! You can feel the history of Boston not only by the Boston Tea Party, but also by the normal buildings on the streets. You can easily find a lot of old, traditional, and beautiful buildings here. So, it is always great to walk around to refresh or get inspiration.

The Boston Museum of Fine Art is also quite famous. You can see countless extraordinary artworks. It takes a whole day to see all the works as a lot of excellent works are gathered there, and you can see them very close up. I was also surprised when I discovered a Japanese art section which had a number of very famous artworks. Also, it is located 10 minutes by walk from Berklee so it is very convenient to visit.

Another place that I would recommend is the Boston Symphony Hall as it is the biggest Symphony hall in Boston. There is an orchestra called Boston Pops in which the most famous composer, John Williams, used to conduct there. They still have a lot of audience for each show every year. Finally, as you may already know, Boston Common is a huge park in the center of Boston, and a lot of people can relax there. In addition to that, seafood such as lobster, clam chowder is famous in Boston and you can find them everywhere, but you can also find a lot of restaurants from all over the world. Boston is a place which gathers and accepts various cultures from all over the world so it is a great place to visit for sure.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people who I appreciate, and have influenced me, so I can’t mention all the people. But to begin this conversation, I would say my family, especially my mother, has been one of my greatest supporters because she has spent a lot of time on me. As for my musical journey, my interest for saxophone started when I was 3 years old. Although I started playing the actual saxophone when I was 6 years old, she made a high quality mini-saxophone toy using house hold materials when I was 3 since I was too young to start. When I was little, she would listen to me practicing the saxophone and would help me check the details. This is just one example, but she has been offering me a lot of care in every way in order to make my music career successful. In addition, she has been taking care of my health, education, and many other things as long as possible. My whole family has spent most of the time with me, and as the youngest sibling, they may have accommodated me a lot. So, I really appreciate their kindness and their continuous support for me.

Another person that I would like to thank is my first saxophone teacher, Hiroshi Watanabe, who taught me a lot of important things as well. I took his lessons from when I was 6 years old until I was 18 years old. At that time, I was already into the new style of Jazz music, so he taught me classical techniques as well as other necessary information. He always found something that I should improve on and not good at. Thanks to that, I was able to expand my abilities.

In addition, I was fortunate enough to have met my instrument repair technician, Yuko Shibuya. She has repaired my saxophones since I started playing the saxophone, and is still repairing my instruments nowadays. Since it has been long time, she knows all my habits and how my fingerings work. Every time she repairs my instruments, she is so professional about her job and I always feel comfortable with telling her how I want my instruments to be like. Thanks to her great work, I can communicate with my instrument deeply and smoothly. I appreciate her efforts and she is the best repair woman I’ve ever met.

Of course there are many more important people that I have met in my earlier life who I haven’t mentioned above yet, but all of my mentors at Berklee College of Music had a huge influence on me as well. I met one of the greatest saxophone teacher/performer, Mike Tucker, when I was 10 years old in a special Jazz seminar, “Hokkaido Groove Camp,” directed by worldwide trumpeter/educator, Tiger Okoshi. When I took his lesson for the first time, that was a huge surprise for me and I realized how fun music is and its brilliant power. Then, it became one of my dreams to come to Berklee College of Music. After I enrolled, I met with my greatest mentors including Edmar Colón, Godwin Louis, Leo Blanco, Alain Mallet, Tiger Okoshi, and George Garzone. Thanks to their inspirational lessons, I am continuously improving.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sen.yoshimura1?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ==

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sen.yoshimura.98?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Ber89r4oXWZQ917S-czCA

Image Credits
Photos by Akira Tanisugi