Shinichi Kinoshita
The leading tsugaru shamisen player among the younger generation, started learning shamisen at the age of 10 from his father who also was an artist.
While tsugaru shamisen is a traditional instrument, Shinichi combined shamisen with rock and jazz and made a completely original music. In 1993, he started "Kinoshita Shinichi Group" composed of tsugaru shamisen, percussion, keyboard, electric guitar, and wadaiko (Japanese drum) and made "Tsugaru Shamisen Rock"
In November 2001, Shinichi released two successful tsugaru shamisen albums, "Den" and "Kai" from avex io. "Den" features traditional repertoire while "Kai" features what Shinichi calls "tsugaru fusion". In June 2002, released "SOGU", an album made with a collaboration with Hungarian violinist Roby Lakatos and following year, he released another album, "Show" which features traditional tsugaru shamisen.
