Van Dyke Parks – The Frolic in Tokyo

This was April. Last show ever in Japan. My son Richard and i did 8? concerts in 2 weeks. Whadda bear!
I asked for, and got a review I shared with family, via the pre-eminent Japanese translator of American classical literature:
Motoyuki Shibata

Last night (April 3, 2025) I attended the second night of Van Dyke Parks’ encore performance at Billboard Live Tokyo. The last time I heard him live was in 1999 at the now-defunct Sweet Basil in Roppongi. It was a trio with piano, guitar, and bass, with Lee Sklar on bass. This time it was a trio of piano, mandolin (his son), and bass. He is currently 82 years old, which means he was just 56 years old back in 1999, while I was 38.While it’s not uncommon for classical conductors to be in their 80s, there are not many musicians in popular music who remain active at that age.Van Dyke Parks’ live performance was so sophisticated, rich, and humorous that it could almost be called a classic of popular music. What impressed me the most was how, in about an hour-long performance, he beautifully portrayed an American self-portrait while traveling through time and space, ranging from 19th-century American music before the Meiji Restoration, regional music from Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and California, to his original songs themed around the Hawaiian Kingdom during World War II, and songs co-written with Brian Wilson. Particularly memorable was how ‘Heroes and Villains’ sounded so naturally fitting within the mainstream of American popular music. He is likely one of the few popular music musicians who debuted in the late 1960s and achieved true musical maturity. I believe it was a wonderful performance that not only illustrated the history of American popular music but also shed light on the future of Japanese popular music.