Background of the Recording and Production of “Sukiyaki Étouffée”

• “Sukiyaki Étouffée” appears on Koichi Makigami’s cover album Koroshi no Blues (1992). It is a cover of Kyu Sakamoto’s “Ue o Muite Arukō” (“Sukiyaki”). The credits list the original lyricist Rokusuke Ei and composer Hachidai Nakamura, with additional lyrics and arrangement by Guy Klucevsek. Liner-note sources indicate it was recorded in New York (with the performance sung in English). Makigami had a strong desire at the time to make a solo album themed around postwar Japanese popular songs (kayōkyoku), a direction that took shape after his 1990 single “Heisei Jaran-bushi.” With John Zorn involved on the New York side, the sessions gathered top downtown players.

• In interviews, Makigami says he handled everything from budget talks with Toshiba EMI to travel logistics himself—“I arranged the trip and everything on my own.” The repertoire was decided in consultation with Zorn; the New York schedule was “thrilling,” and he even called additional musicians on short notice. The lineup across the sessions was lavish (e.g., Robert Quine, Guy Klucevsek, John Patton, Marc Ribot, Nana Vasconcelos, among others). “Sukiyaki Étouffée” belongs to this period of recording.

• Direct first-person remarks specifically about this track from Makigami, Klucevsek, or Mark Feldman could not be located. However, credible critics note that in “Sukiyaki Étouffée” the words are driven toward onomatopoeic sound—for example the cascade “sashimi / sauté / yakitori / jambalaya”—so that meaning is pared away in favor of sonic mass and rhythm. In other words, rather than retaining the original Japanese lyric’s lyricism, the cover pursues Makigami’s playful, sound-first, experimental approach.

About Koichi Makigami

• Koichi Makigami (b. 1956) is the leader/vocalist of Hikashu, also a poet, composer, and producer. He deploys extended vocal techniques—overtone singing, jaw harp, throat singing—and works across kayōkyoku, experimental music, and improvisation. In the early 1990s, after releases like “Heisei Jaran-bushi,” he turned to reinterpreting postwar/pop-era songs, culminating in Koroshi no Blues (1992). With Zorn’s help (himself a collector of Japanese popular songs), the album boldly re-frames Shōwa-era songcraft via the New York downtown aesthetic. Throughout, Makigami foregrounds the sound-function of Japanese—its onomatopoeic, phonetic impact—a pursuit he has frequently described in that era.

About Guy Klucevsek

• Guy Klucevsek (1947–2025) was a New York–based accordionist/composer active in new music, jazz, and free improvisation. He collaborated with artists such as Laurie Anderson, Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, and John Zorn, and co-founded international accordion ventures. On Makigami’s album he is credited with arrangement and additional lyrics, providing the English lyric concept and the accordion-centered arrangement. His participation reflects his deep ties to the downtown scene; through him, a traditional kayōkyoku melody is recast through an avant-accordion lens.

About Mark Feldman

• Mark Feldman (b. 1955) is a Chicago-born jazz violinist. After extensive studio work in Chicago and Nashville, he moved to New York in 1986 and recorded with John Zorn, John Abercrombie, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Billy Hart, Muhal Richard Abrams, and many others—appearing on 100+ recordings, including releases on Tzadik and ECM. On Makigami’s sessions he performs as violin soloist; his presence exemplifies the connective tissue between Makigami/Zorn and New York’s improvising community of the time.

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Notes on the Lyric Approach (Context)

• “Sukiyaki Étouffée” replaces the original Japanese text with English lyrics featuring culinary wordplay that interweaves Japanese foods (“sukiyaki,” “sashimi,” “yakitori”) and Louisiana/Creole dishes (“étouffée,” “gumbo,” “jambalaya,” “boudin”), pushing toward rhythmic sound-poetry over semantic narrative. The effect is humorous, surreal, and emphatically phonetic/metrical, aligning with Makigami’s