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Shakuhachi & Koto |
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YOKO GATES (1944-1989) was born in Hamamatsu, Japan and began studying koto at the age of five. She graduated from the Tokyo University of Arts and received the Japan National Broadcasting Co. (NHK) Young Artists award for the performance of traditional music. In 1969, she married Allen Gates and moved to the United States, where she lived the rest of her life until her untimely death in 1989. She gave her debut recital in Carnegie Hall (NYC) in 1984 and performed again in 1986. Yoko Ito Gates performed widely throughout the U.S. and Canada and taught at the University of Washington, San Francisco State Uninversity, San Diego State University, Lewis & Clark College, The Center for World Music and the American Society for Eastern Arts. She founded the Japanese Music group Rei In Kai (Zero Sound) in Berkeley, CA to promote the study and performance of Japanese music. |
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Yoko Ito Gates was a great performer, and for those who knew her closely, a wonderful teacher. This 2-CD memorial collection of her recordings includes live performances from the 1970's and 1980's. Showing the range of her interests and abilities, it features Yoko playing koto, shamisen and singing. The earliest koto music on this CD is represented by Yatsuhashi Kengyo's Hachidan. Classical sankyoku pieces are accompanied by two of the greatest shakuhachi players of the post-WWII era. Araki Kodo V performs on Zangetsu and Living National Treasure Aoki Reibo on Konkai. Akikaze no kyoku is from the late classical period telling the story of an ancient Chinese emperor's fateful love for the beautiful Yang Kwei Fei. Kobai (composed ca. 1700) is a short song from the Taisho period. The remaining four pieces show Yoko's interest in contemporary music. One koto solo, one recent piece for koto and violin, another koto solo commissioned by Yoko from the modern composer Thomas Svoboda, and finally a haunting duet, Kazuko, with Pharoah Sanders on saxophone. Disk 1 Disk 2 Produced by Robin Hartshorne,
co-director of Rei in Kai. |
Double Album |
$30.00 |
K8a
[DA]
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Original compositions for shakuhachi, koto & violin by John Kaizain Neptune, Tadao Sawai & Keigo Fujii. 1. Tori no Youni (Like a Bird) - by Tadao Sawai Produced by John Kaizan Neptune.
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CDs |
$18.00 |
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TADAO SAWAI was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1937. His father was a shakuhachi performer and at around the age of 10 Sawai began to study the koto. In 1959 he was chosen by the Japanese national broadcasting company NHK as the best new performer, and from that time forward he began to be active as a performer and composer of contemporary music. In 1960. he graduated from the traditional music department of Tokyo National university of Fine Arts and Music. He has performed widely throughout Japan and the world and his compositions are among the most widely performed in the koto world. Sawai Tadao, master of the Japanese koto, founder of the Sawai Koto School, prolific composer, teacher, and visionary leader in the world of Japanese music, died on April 1st at the age of 59. |
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One of Japan's most celebrated koto performers honors the instrument's most renown composer. 1. Tegoto (First Movement - Tegotofu) |
CD |
$17.50 |
Sawai's Genius Revitalized
Modern Koto
By Elizabeth
Falconer
"Sawai's most recent recordings include a CD of his works entitled "Sanka" (Song of Praise) on the Kyoto Records label (KYCH-2010) with English and Japanese liner notes and, just out this spring, "Koto Music: Tadao Sawai Plays Michio Miyagi," a Playasound production that includes liner notes in English, French and Japanese (PS 65180). These are both gems, contemporary classical koto music at its finest, and we are lucky to have them available. "
KOGA MICHIYO received her teacher license from the Miyagi Koto School in
1970. She graduated from the NHK Japanese Ensemble Course in 1978 and performs
with her husband Masayuki Koga.
K3a. FLOWERS OF SILK C $10.50 /
CD $17.50
Classical koto pieces & duets with shakuhachi.
