A jazzy soul

Jose Paul Corona

Keiko Matsui considers music to be a sacred gift.

“Music is a gift God gives to (bring) people together,” said the

internationally known musician and Huntington Harbour resident.

Matsui has been playing piano since she was 5 years old, and while

others may have tired of it by now, she still enjoys it thoroughly.

“For me a concert is like a ceremony,” Matsui said.

During that ceremony, Matsui and her audience get to occupy the same

space, she said.

Her performance at the Huntington Beach Library and Cultural Center

Saturday allowed her to perform in the city that she considers to be her

second home to Japan.

It also gave her the opportunity to perform in an intimate setting and

give back to the community she counts herself part of.

The proceeds from her performance along with the other performances

organized by BB Jazz will benefit the Pyramid Autism Center and the Cure

Autism Now Foundation.

BB Jazz is a Huntington Beach-based nonprofit organization that raises

funds for children with autism while bringing smooth jazz to Huntington

Beach.

So far, BB Jazz has raised and donated $20,000 from the first two

concerts of its four-concert series.

BB Jazz co-founder Betty Bennish estimates that the last two concerts

in the series have raised between $20,000 and $25,000.

Matsui performed twice on Saturday and both concerts were sold out,

Bennish said.

Matsui was recommended as a possible performer for the concert series

by BB Jazz sponsor Good Neighbor Pharmacies. Matsui is extremely active

with various charitable organizations. In the past she has donated a

portion of her ticket proceeds to the National Marrow Donor Program and

The Marrow Foundation.

“Keiko is very charity oriented,” Bennish said.

With her busy schedule, it’s a wonder that Matsui has any chance to

perform in Huntington Beach at all. She flew into town the night before

after performing in Anchorage, Alaska at the Top of the World Music

Festival. After her Huntington Beach performance Saturday, it was back in

the air on Sunday to Japan where she’ll be performing throughout the rest

of June.

Matsui splits her time between her native Japan and Huntington

Harbour, where she’s lived for the past 10 years. She travels back and

forth between the two homes up to 14 times a year.

She and her husband Kazu decided to move to Huntington Harbour from

Marina Del Ray where they had been living for a few years. The decision

to move to Huntington Harbour was spurred by Kazu’s love of sailing.

The two fell in love with Catalina after taking a trip there some

years ago. When Kazu learned that Huntington Harbour was the closest

Harbor to Catalina the couple decided to move there. He found a good home

for their 38-foot sailboat, Matsui said.

Matsui and her husband have two daughters, ages 6 and 14. The children spend most of the year in Japan under the care of Keiko’s mother. When

they don’t have to attend school they spend time in Huntington Beach.

Just like their mother, both girls began playing the piano at the age

of 5. While her older daughter has gained of love of the arts, most

recently being interested in dancing, the 6-year-old still must be

prompted to play, she said.

As a child Matsui never had to be told to play, she fell in love with

it after her first lesson. But, like many other entertainers before her,

Matsui never had musical aspirations. She never thought she’d be a

professional musician. Despite her dreams of being a veterinarian when

she was younger, Matsui began composing while in junior high school.

She graduated from Japan Woman’s University with a degree in

children’s culture and at 17 moved on to the Yamaha Music Foundation in

Tokyo. She formed, Cosmos, a group with which she recorded four new age

albums. Her first solo effort, “A Drop of Water,” was released in 1987 in

Japan. It arrived in the states two years later.

Since then Matsui has released more then a dozen albums, her most

recent effort, was released in Japan Saturday, the day of her performance

here. It will be available in the states this fall she said.

Her music has been described as jazz and jazz-fusion. It’s also been

called new-age. But Matsui doesn’t categorize her music. It’s her own,

it’s original and there is nothing more she enjoys than performing for

her fans.

Music has no borders, everyone can relate to it and understand it, and

it has a mystic quality, Matsui said.

“When I’m playing it’s like communicating with the universe,” Matsui

said, “I really feel like I’m in an infinite space.”

* JOSE PAUL CORONA covers City Hall and education. He can be reached

at (714) 965-7173 or by e-mail at o7 jose.cororna@latimes.com.f7