Who says accordion isn’t a rock-star instrument? Kobayashi “coba” Yasuhiro, a musical hero in Japan, incites frenzy in audiences of all ages. And he’s steadily increasing his “market share” around the world, thanks to contributions on major releases such as Björk’s critically acclaimed Homogenic CD and subsequent world tour. Accordion cool? In the hands of innovative players such as coba, you bet it is!

“When I first started playing accordion at age nine,” says coba, “at that time in Japan it was not a cool instrument, especially among the younger people. No cool performers to lead and inspire the younger generation existed. Once I realized the huge potential of the accordion, I was encouraged to take it to the next phase, the next generation. So, I decided to go over Italy when I was 19 years old.”

The talented accordionist completed his degree at the Luciano Fancelli Conservatorio of Venice in 1980, and proceeded to win many international accordion contests, including first prize at the CMA World Accordion Competition. He quickly established himself as an acclaimed recording artist, and went on to release over 20 albums and EPs. He also collaborated with popular Tokyo-based artists such as Kahimi Karie, Chocolat, and Pizzicato Five.

“Accordion has a mechanism similar to human singing,” coba relates. “For example, the bellows works as lungs, the reed as vocal cords, the valve as lips. So, the accordion ‘sings’ on behalf of my feel, emotion, and soul. Thanks to the bellows, I can express subtle nuance and movement of my feel and emotion. I can unite with this instrument.”

Back when he was teenager, coba had a chance encounter with Roland founder, Mr. Ikutaro Kakehashi, who watched the young musician blaze through a Rick Wakeman composition on accordion. Over 20 years later, coba met Mr. Kakehashi again . . . and Roland’s new V-Accordion. coba quickly embraced the new technology.

“It is quite important to respect the accordion’s history and tradition,” coba says, “but at the same time, we need to evolve. From this standpoint, I hope and believe that the V-Accordion will open the door. The V-Accordion incorporates the benefit of the bellows that I mentioned. The expressive capability of the bellows can be applied to many kinds of instrument sounds, new sounds. By using bellows, you can blow your passion into the sound. V-Accordion realizes this with many kinds of instrument sounds. The V-Accordion has huge potential to make something happen.

“The V-Accordion gives me a new voice,” coba concludes. “With the debut of this innovative instrument, the accordion world steps forward to the next new historical era. I hope and believe that many people will begin to develop an interest in the accordion, and will join the accordion world via the V-Accordion.”

Visit coba online at www.jvcmusic.co.jp/coba.