I'm not real big on making anniversary posts, and I shy away from posting Nintendo content to the #Arcadian Rhythm VGM Radio tag for reasons that I should elaborate on in the introductory post I've been putting off writing. That being said:
20 years ago last week, manga artist and frequent Nintendo/Pokémon collaborator "Ashura" Benimaru Itoh along with the Scitron record label brought together the Tokyo Cuban Boys Jr. and guitarist Yoshihiro Arita to perform live arrangements of themes from the Mario, Yoshi and Zelda franchises. Koji Kondo, Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Kenta Nagata and Kazumi Totaka also show up, with Itoh leading casual interviews with them between sets. Kondo and Totaka perform on a couple tracks, too. And even Miyamoto gets in on the act, sharing his love for country music and bluegrass in a brief acoustic guitar duet with Itoh.
Two months later, a DVD recording of the (almost) complete performance would be included with volume 101 of Nintendo DREAM magazine. A month after that in December of 2003, a CD recording sans emcee segments would be released by Scitron. The musical performances from the DVD are on youtube in vintage 2008 quality. The CD tracks are also on youtube, but you can find them in MP3/FLAC on the Internet Archive. Scans from the CD and the magazine spread are on vgmdb (registration required). As this page from the magazine explains, there was a performance with Itoh, Miyamoto and Arita that was unfortunately left off both recordings.
I could gush about the whole thing, but I'll try to limit myself to some choice videos and pics after the break.
Itoh kicks things off as emcee with a solo acoustic guitar performance of the overworld and underground themes from Super Mario Bros. before introducing himself and handing things over to the The Big Band of Rogues (Tokyo Cuban Boys Jr.), where they lead off with an arrangement of the main theme from Super Mario 64 (audio embedded above). It's an arrangement so good, you'll hear it again 7 years later with relatively few changes in Super Mario Galaxy 2's Throwback Galaxy. Itoh then introduces Koji Kondo on stage where he sits in at keyboard alongside the band for a medley of Super Mario themes. Afterwards, Shigeru Miyamoto comes on stage with a colorful Western getup and a guitar for a brief talk section between Itoh, Kondo and himself.
In between more music sets, including a performance of the scat track from the Super Mario Sunshine bonus stages (curiously absent from just the DVD) and the ending to Super Mario Bros. 3, Itoh brings Takashi Tezuka, Kenta Nagata and Kazumi Totaka to the stage.
While the Rogues take a break, things shift over to Yoshihiro Arita and a smaller band for a few themes from the Yoshi's Island and Zelda series. This includes a duet between Totaka on xylophone and Arita on acoustic guitar performing "Yoshi on the Beach" from Yoshi's Story.
Then in the emcee segment, after discussing Miyamoto's appreciation for country music and bluegrass, he and Itoh perform a brief duet of their own (around 1:00 below).
After some brief talk about the celtic influences on the latest Zelda game's soundtrack, Arita and his band perform the title screen and Dragon Roost Island themes from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker with violin, string bass, guitar and two mandolins.
Following a lyrical rendition of Epona's Song and the theme from Sunshine's Delfino Plaza, The Big Band of Rogues return with a streak of Zelda themes from the N64 games, including the Goron City and Shop themes from Ocarina of time, the Indigo-gos track from Majora's Mask, and finally a series medley that ends with a rousing rendition of Ocarina's Hyrule Field theme (audio embedded above). Then, after the Super Mario Sunshine End Credits finale, we get an encore of the Slide theme from Mario 64.