“Minyo is back in Europe”, is the slogan. Three years after their debut European tour, the 10-piece big band Minyo Crusaders have returned to Europe for another tour in the middle of the summer. Perfect timing for a couple of festival shows.
A few days back Minyo Crusaders started their second European tour in Germany and France and will continue the tour with shows in Belgium, United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. In total, the European tour consists of 20 shows in 11 countries.
After releasing Echoes of Japan, the debut album of Minyo Crusaders, it got followed up by a mini-album in 2020, Minyo Cumbiero, where Minyo Crusaders joined forces with Colombian cumbia radicals Frente Cumbiero on Minyo Cumbiero to focus on combining Japanese folk songs with Colombian styles.
The first time the group was in Europe for a tour, we had the chance to interview Katsumi Tanaka, guitarist and co-founder of Minyo Crusaders, to talk about the start of the group, combining min’yo and Latin, African, Caribbean and Asian rhythms, and the challenges of the group.