Stu Larsen and Natsuki Kurai have been making music together for some time now. The two met in the middle of Tokyo a good eight years ago and have been inseparable ever since - even if the musical vagabond Larsen, who is constantly on the road with his plucked acoustic guitar, and the Japanese harmonica player often go different ways.
Transcending the language barrier - the Australian doesn't know Japanese, Kurai doesn't know English - they instantly bonded. Perhaps it was this, the communication through the shared medium of music, this deep connection without words, that made their friendship so special.
Larsen was already reasonably well known by this point, not least for touring with his friend Passenger, while Kurai was still pretty much an insider's tip. The Aussie used his popularity to introduce the young man from Yokohama. Yet he plays more than 25 gigs a month in his homeland, performing solo or accompanying a wide range of Japanese musicians as they perform.
Equally wide is the range of Natsuki Kurai's playing, who has mastered the blues harp as well as jazz tunes, folk music or the diatonic harmonica. But Larsen benefits most from the unusual connection, as he says himself: "Wherever I go, I rave to people about Natsuki, what a lovely personality he is and what a great musician. But it's only when they see him live that they understand what he's really capable of. It's like my favorite pastime to play shows with him and watch an entire audience fall in love with him every night."
Now the two have released their new and second EP, simply and aptly titled "Stu Larsen & Natsuki Kurai II". They are now embarking on a huge world tour together for the rest of the year, starting in Japan and spanning all continents, which will also take them to Germany in October. (https://www.fkpscorpio.com/de/bands-archiv/stu-larsen-natsuki-kurai/)
Text source and more information about this event: https://www.brotfabrik.de/index.php?id=25&month=10&year=2018
