Note: Guest, Francis Heaney, rejoins us to share the second part of his mix series covering Japan’s incomparable Akira Inoue. This time around the focus is on his brilliant collaborative work with others like Aska Kaneko, David Rhodes, and many more. I’ll let Francis take it from here…
I thought I’d tell you a bit about some of the other musicians that Inoue collaborates with here and on the previous mix, many of whom crop up repeatedly. The violinist Aska Kaneko appears on a number of these songs; Aska Strings is her string ensemble, to which Inoue contributed a composition. She’s also a member of the Issimbow band and the Voice Project, which also featured singer Sumiko Yamagata and koto player Masako Kawamura.
Sumiko Yamagata’s 歌が降りてくる 2010 album was produced and partly written by Inoue with writing and arranging contributions from Kaneko among others, including Takuo Yamamoto, who also played on Issimbow and is the primary member of Halocline, the wind ensemble that appears on “Tikkap.” Koto player Masako Kawamura’s solo album features four compositions by Inoue as well as two by David Rhodes, a guitarist best known for his work in Peter Gabriel’s band.
David Rhodes and Akira Inoue collaborated on two albums, Head, Hands, and Feet and Snowflake (the latter of which contains their music interpolated into two readings of a Paul Gallico story, in English by Peter Gabriel and in Japanese by Akiko Yano), and Rhodes also appears frequently on other albums, including those by Nozomi Odagi. Odagi was a model who released two albums and one EP, all of which were produced and primarily written by Inoue; I don’t know how they came to work together, but the output reminds me of some of the albums by Prince’s proteges, which sound like Prince albums with a guest singer.
The Yoshida Brothers are a shamisen duo who are known for their flamboyant instrumental skills; Inoue has periodically played keyboards, composed, and arranged for them. Yoriko Ganeko is a noted Okinawan folk singer, whose album mostly consists of traditional songs as well as songs written by her father (also a famed Okinawan singer) in arrangements by Inoue, but he also contributes an original song, two versions of which frame the album. As it happens, Ganeko has also released two albums with Chuei Yoshikawa, the jazz guitarist represented here by his duo album with Inoue, Rainbow.
Then there’s 井山大今, a fusion band with Inoue on keyboards, Kenji Takamizu on bass, Hideo Yamaki on drums, and Tsuyoshi Kon on guitar (you may remember some of these musicians from previous posts here: Hideo Yamaki recorded Shadow Run and Tsuyoshi Kon appears on Akira Inoue’s acoustic jazz album, Dolphin). I don’t know too much about Kyoko Yoshida, but I believe she mostly works in a traditional classical vein; Inoue wrote three arrangements for Kyoko Yoshida Plays the Beatles. Yukari Ito is a pop singer with a lot of albums, and while Inoue only contributes to one that I know of, she’s also worked with other notable songwriters, including Tsugutoshi Goto. As for P.T. Job, it appears to be a one-off band featuring Sumiko Yamagata and Tomoko Soryo as a singing duo, but maybe one of you readers knows more?? In any case, not knowing the background of the band should not impede your enjoyment of one of the catchiest songs I have heard in a while.
Akira Inoue II Mix
- 井山大今, “Keys and Gold” from 井山大今
- Akira Inoue, “Spacesnics #2” from Lensman (Soundtrack)
- Yoshida Brothers, “Rising” — single
- Akira Inoue Consort, “Refractive Index” from Issimbow
- Akira Inoue, “ワスラフのいちご狩り (Cueillette Des Fraises De Vaslav)” from Karsavina
- Nozomi Odagi, “Water Lilies” from Nymphéas
- Akira Inoue, “Centrifugal Focus” from Criteria
- P.T. Job, “西武 ’84「うれしいね、サッちゃん」(Seibu ’84 – I’m Happy, Satchan)” from Akira Inoue: CM Works
- Akira Inoue, “That You Are Here” from Seven Paraphrases on the Theme of ‘The Fall of Freddie the Leaf’
- Masako Kawamura, “Baratata-Batake” from Between the Lines
- Akira Inoue & David Rhodes, “Sense” from Head, Hands, and Feet
- Chuei Yoshikawa & Akira Inoue, “午後の紅茶 (Afternoon Tea)” from にじ (Rainbow)
- Yukari Ito, “After Dark” from Misty Hour
- Yoriko Ganeko, “Epilogue 西方の光” from Flowers of Love (恋の花)
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