The Rugby World Cup in Japan is a cultural as well as a sporting experience; on Pick and Mix we have a listen to some music with a Japanese background.
Violinist Kishi Bashi Photo: Max Ritter
Violin virtuoso Kaoru Ishibashi is a Californian born Japanese who performs under the name Kishi Bashi. He created music for his new album Omoiyari while doing field research at the sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. He likens the fears about immigrants that surfaced after the attack on Pearl Harbor, to attitudes that have resurfaced in the USA today.
The tune 'Haru no umi' was originally written for koto and shakuhachi but later arranged for violin and made famous internationally by Isaac Stern. It’s based on a Japanese folk dance, with harmonies similar to the French composers of the early 20th century. We’ll hear it played on violin and harp, by Gidon Kremer who makes it sound genuinely Japanese.
Vernon Duke is not a famous name but his songs are: the Russian immigrant to the US wrote 'April in Paris', 'Taking a Chance on Love' and 'Autumn in New York' during a career as a Broadway composer during the Depression. Many of his songs have been forgotten but for her album Dawn Upshaw Sings Vernon Duke the classical soprano has recovered some gems that hadn’t been heard in decades.
Gisborne has a new festival: Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival which will be held over three weekends in October. The director is musician Tama Waipara who has programmed many music events including Henare, which tells the story of Ngati Porou composer Henare Waitoa, who wrote the popular song 'Tomo Mai e Tama Ma' which became known as 'Hoki Mai e Tama Ma'
Moravian folk singer Jitka Šuranská brings the music of her homeland to life with the help of the magnificent PaCoRa Trio from Slovakia. The cymbalom of Marcel Comendant has helped the group become a popular jazz trio in Slovakia.
Israeli composer and keyboard player Idan Raichel teams up with his old friend Vieux Farka Touré the Malian guitarist and singer on his album Quarter to Six. Raichel and Farka Touré’s first recording the Tel Aviv Session evolved out of a desire by the Jewish and Muslim musicians to see what would happen if they came together for an impromptu jam session with the music coming from their hearts.
Soumik Datta is a British sarod player who has reinvented George Harrison’s 'Within you without you' from the Beatles St Pepper album - and, against the odds, it works!
Music details:
DRING arr Moody: Italian Dance - Tommy Reilly (harmonica), Kaare Ørnung (piano) (Chandos CHAN 20143)
Kishi Bashi: Penny Rabbit and Summer Bear - Kishi Bashi (Joyful Noise JNR301)
Kishi Bashi: Theme from Jerome - Kishi Bashi (Joyful Noise JNR301)
MIYAGI: Haru no umi - Gidon Kremer (vln), Naoko Yoshino (harp). (Philips 456 016)
DUKE: Remember or Forget - Dawn Upshaw (Nonesuch 7559 79531)
DUKE: I like the Likes of You - Dawn Upshaw (Nonesuch 7559 79531)
WAITOA: Hoki Mai E Tama Ma - Te Kohanga (MRA 979717)
MELBOURNE: Purea Nei - Anna Coddington (Blackmedia 885716)
TRAD: Zeleny Vinecek - Jitka Šuranská and PaCoRa Trio (Indies Hippy Trails)
TRAD: Lanzhotske Pole - Jitka Šuranská and PaCoRa Trio (Indies Hippy Trails)
TOURE: Mon amour - Vieux Farka Touré, Idan Raichel (Cumbancha CMBCD 26)
RAICHEL/TOURE: Allassal Terey - Vieux Farka Touré, Idan Raichel (Cumbancha 601329)
HARRISON arr Johannes Marmen: Within you without you - Soumik Datta, Sukhvinder Singh Pinky, O/Modernt Chamber Orch, Hugh Ticciati (Signum SIGCD 532)
