Trio Tour 2011 In Europe

Total time: ~101 minutes. Comes with 2 booklets: - one with photographs, - another with interviews, reviews of the THREE studio album, tour dates, credits and more photos. [u]The introduction by [a5087] translates as follows:[/u] [i]The new album "[m=629920]" was released on 17 October 2012. The reason why its title refers to "3" is that this album was created by a trio of piano, cello and violin. I played the piano, Judy Kang, a Korean-Canadian violinist who is playing with me for the first time, played the violin and Jaques Morelenbaum, an old ally, played the cello. Judy Kang is a violinist who was recruited for the trio's European tour in the fall of 2011. Yes, last year I decided to recruit a violinist using an audition process via YouTube. All the applicants were asked to post their violin playing performance on YouTube, and after watching them, they auditioned for the first selection and out of the many applications, we narrowed it down to three candidates at the end and actually met them in a studio in New York to make the final selection. Judy Kang won the final selection when I played the piano and had her play along with me. She's only about 30 years old, and originally a classical violinist. But she doesn't like to play only classical music, and she dares to do various kinds of music with non-classical people. Before she applied for my audition, she participated in a tour of [a1103159]. She has the technique to play classical music and pop music, and her violin is a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradivarius]Stradivarius[/url], on loan by someone who anticipated Judy's talent. Because only a limited number of these World Heritage-like musical instruments exist in the world, such a system is in place. Of course, it's also played on the album, and it has a really deep and nice sound. I first met cellist Jaques Morelenbaum around 1991. When I participated in [url=https://www.discogs.com/master/244996-Marisa-Monte-Mais]a recording[/url] by a famous Brazilian singer called [a83763], I went to see his performance in New York and it was Jaques who played the cello at that concert. When he watches the performance, he's very disappointed (laughs), but after the live event, I flew to the dressing room and asked Caetano to "introduce me to that cellist!". He is about the same age and had listened to my movie music, so we got along immediately and he participated in my tour that year. Since then, we've been playing together almost every year. He was originally a cellist in the band of [a27991], the father of bossa nova. When I travelled to Brazil around 1995, I met his widow Anna at Jobim's house in Rio, she let me play Jobim's piano, and of course I played Jobim's songs, also [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/192325-Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric-Chopin]Chopin[/url]'s and [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/96123-Claude-Debussy]Debussy[/url]'s songs, as well as my own song, and the inspiration at that time later became the album "Casa/Morelenbaum²" (2001). When "[m=203494]" was released, it became popular here and over there, and for about three years, myself and Jaques and his wife [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/336427-Paula-Morelenbaum]Paula[/url] (who was part of the backing chorus in Jobim's band) toured a lot in Japan, the United States and Europe. It's a very good memory. Playing with Jobim and Caetano is proof that he is really one of the top performers in Brazil and, his fame having much increased, Jaques is now not only a performer, but also a composer, conductor, and a producer of various Brazilian singers. The three of us performed live as a piano trio on a tour of Europe in the fall of 2011, and immediately after the tour ended, we made a recording in the city of Porto, Portugal that one could say is the result of that tour. The fruit of that became the album called "THREE". When it came to selecting songs for the album, I had selected pieces from my past works that were suitable for performing live with the piano trio, we played them on the tour, and many of those songs we recorded in the studio in the city of Porto after the tour. But the album contains a few more selections. Another reason for the album "THREE" was the album "[m=135235]", originally released in 1996, and recorded using the same setup with a piano trio. It's been a long time since 1996, and I have meanwhile changed a lot myself. Even if they feature the same songs, the way they feel has changed a lot. The album reflects such changes as well as the parts that did not change.[/i] [u]The interview with [a5087] by [a3801634] translates as follows:[/u] [b]"[m=629920]" is your first piano trio album since 1996, isn't it?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]"[m=135235]" is an album that's had a very long life, and thankfully it is still listened to by many people. Many people from South America and Europe asked me to tour with a piano trio, so last year I did that for the first time in a while. For this, the cellist Jaques Morelenbaum remained the same. But we auditioned for a new violinist and Korean Canadian Judy Kang became a member. Normally, it's common to release an album first and then go on tour with that album, but this time I went on tour and tried to record the greasy results in the studio.[/i] [b]Does it feel like a sculpture that is being finished?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]I agree. Even if you play from the same score, it changes every day, and the score itself is reworked almost every day to create the best condition. I wonder why I didn't do that earlier (laughs). As you were asking just now, there is the sculpture and the sculpting, these aspects are both there. Instead of growing fresh new music, you can add various adventures. This album is special and reflects my recent "mood".[/i] [b]What is that mood?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]It's something I've been thinking about since the beginning of the 2000s, it means "sound" has become more important. It's not like the composer [a115467], but it is that "Zen" style of "listening to everything in one sound", an oriental feeling. That kind of feeling I've been getting, and it's very different from what I felt previously with "1996".[/i] [b]That's quite different from a so-called "emotional" mood. You wanted a depth in sound.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]I'm not trying to make it emotional. Music can only be expressed by music, having these delicate expressions and layers. Some appeared when the original was written, while others appear during a performance. When I compose, of course I don't want to express a certain "emotion", that's a far cry from me. It's difficult to say in words, but in the end, it depends on how you play for the way in which special emotions come out. Prior to around 2000 I hadn't thought about what a performance could bring out, but it seems I've gradually come to understand it over the last few years.[/i] [b]Surprisingly, it's a recent phenomenon.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]In classical music it's typical, where modern people appreciate and listen to pieces that are 100 or 200 years old. It's a strange story when you think about it. The important thing is that by playing, the music is "created" every time. Fine art such as works of art and sculptures cannot be recreated.[/i] [b]It is born again when it's being played. Reborn.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]Yes Yes. That's where it differs from other arts. A while ago, I supervised the "Music and Art Exhibition" at the [url=https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/]Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art[/url], I collaborated with [a3323723] on the opera "LIFE", and the experience of collaborating with [a178718] was equally great. Through the experience of working together a lot with artistic people in genres other than music, their difference with the contrary aspects of music has gradually become evident to me.[/i] [b]So, even when using the same piano trio style, the approaches to "1996" and "THREE" were completely different.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]Originally I started playing as a piano trio because I met Jaques Morelenbaum. But for the last 10 years, I've been working with [a3837] and Carsten and I've been to places where the feel of the music was quite different. Originally, I was into [a26955] and [a87460], since being a teenager I was interested in experimental music. I'd been away from that for a long time, but that flame was once again lit by Fennesz and Carsten.[/i] [b]In other words, "THREE" is an extension of this approach to music. But was this not awkward for Jaques?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]No, but he hadn't been involved with that kind of music, so of course he was confused. I'm sure at the first rehearsal he thought, "Sakamoto has changed!". Call it image training or image control, but one can only perform if an image has formed first. The image comes first. So it's difficult if you can't share the image. Jaques is a player I admire, there's nothing he cannot imagine. But he can't just study John Cage overnight. On the other hand, I'm doing something like "borrowing" from Brazilian music, and Jaques is of course happy with that, but on the contrary, I think that's something totally different. However, starting from somewhere, if you do it every day, one gets closer little by little. While I was doing it, I became able to understand it and to record it properly.[/i] [b]It was really thrilling. It's very different from the first piano trio.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]Those who expect something like "1996" in "THREE" may get confused at first.[/i] [b]With regard to Sakamoto music, I think there are many ways to listen to it, but one thing I can say is that Sakamoto's music does not mean a so-called expression of something through music.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]I'm not expressing anything in music, I'm putting something out there that can only be expressed with music. There are things only words (Kotoba) can do in language, and things only photographs can do in photography. If you can express it in words, you don't have to play music. In the end, I think the important thing is to "listen". "Listening" can deepen or degenerate with age. If you make an effort to "open your ears" every day, you will be able to hear more. The composer [a92243] is almost 90 years old now, but it seems he is still evolving and hearing more.[/i] [b]Open your ears to sound. That is Mr. Sakamoto's "now".[/b] Sakamoto: [i]When I turn 60, I don't know if 60 is young or old. I will come to an understanding of it when I'm 60 years old. Recently, I've finally come to understand the difference between [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/239236-Gustav-Mahler]Mahler[/url]'s symphonies (laughs). Until five years ago, I didn't like them at all and didn't listen to them. I'm trying [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/479037-Anton-Bruckner]Bruckner[/url] right now, but I don't know yet (laughs). Actually, until about 10 years ago, I didn't care about any differences between performances.[/i] [b]Huh? So this is also something recent! (Laughs)[/b] Sakamoto: [i]I'm a composer, so if I'm only writing a piece, it doesn't matter how it's played. The supremacy of the composer (laughs). Composing is to make beautiful dots on the coordinates, and when that is done, the music is complete, so I thought how it would be played was "secondary". But now that's not the case at all, like I was saying earlier, "it is played when being played". It has changed by 180 degrees. I've now come to enjoy "differences in performance" (laughs). It's interesting.[/i] [b]Has it become more "forgiving"? Or has the "joy" of music increased? On the other hand, it seems the "severity" has also increased (laughs).[/b] Sakamoto: [i]How is that? Surely, the "fun" of the music has increased. I was formed in the culture of the 20th century. This year is the 100th anniversary of John Cage's birth, and I often listened to his work and played it. I first heard Cage in the 1960s. However, when I listen to it now, it sounds completely different. I was listening to it thinking it would be this "avant-garde chaos", but actually it's so quiet and ghostly.[/i] [b]As with [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/465983-Arnold-Schoenberg]Schoenberg[/url], what was avant-garde music at the time can now be "listened" to. Did our ears change?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]The sound itself hasn't changed, so maybe we are changing. Societies have changed and our ears have changed. [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/96123-Claude-Debussy]Debussy[/url] and [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/95539-Erik-Satie]Satie[/url] were terrible rebels, but now they are in TV commercials and played in coffee shops in the far east. It's amazing when you think about it.[/i] [b]Earlier you mentioned opening your ears, but is society opening up too?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]No, it will get closed off. Not all good music is flowing into society. I've been telling my kids since they were little, "If you listen to bad music, your ears will turn bad" (laughs).[/i] [b]How do we prevent the rot setting in?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]For me there's no choice but to listen to good music. With a good sound. However, the sound environment is getting worse and worse. When the Internet appeared, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc]CD[/url]s disappeared and it became the age of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3]MP3[/url]s. It's been said for the last 15 years now, but all things considered, currently CDs offer the best quality. This is not meant ironically. With the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer]PC[/url] the sound doesn't improve at all.[/i] [b]If the ability to listen to sound is weakening, does this mean that the power of human beings will also weaken?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]I agree. It's true that [a3840] and [a400992], who are of high quality both musically and in terms of sound, are popular with young people, so maybe it hasn't been thrown away yet.[/i] [b]By the way Mr. Sakamoto, you've been doing a lot with Mr. [a154862] recently, are you aware of "experimental" music?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]No, this is improvisation rather than experimentation. Whether it's improvised or using a music score, "tension" is important.[/i] [b]Did you hate improvisation earlier?[/b] Sakamoto: [i]That's a different topic, generally speaking improvisation usually means jazz improvisation, but most of it is "practicing improvisation". Copy the people and their improvisations onto a score and practice it for months. I've always thought that was strange. When I was in my twenties, I used to improvise with jazz players, but I hated it and moved away. When I met Otomo, I was happy to learn this person feels similar. When I play with him or with Fennesz, it feels like playing [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi]Shogi[/url] with my favourite friends. On the porch (laughs).[/i] [b]Is it something like "Oh, you arrived that way?" (Laughs).[/b] Sakamoto: [i]Yes Yes.[/i] [b]On days like that you're gaining your freedom.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]No, I haven't arrived at the "frontier" yet. The important thing is that if you're not conscious every day, a human being will quickly become closed off. So I always need to find time and opportunities to "open up". Also, as with any performer, you lose your brilliance unless you are exposed to the public on a daily basis. Your skill also degrades.[/i] [b]So in the end, "performing" becomes very important.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]This year, [a99731] planned a different improvisational session twice a day for a week in NY, but it was too hard to continue with all these interesting things (laughs). After about the 3rd day, my head had already emptied. It was like being a monk. If you do it for 5 hours, you will run out. I started out playing the piano, then I tried throwing about 50 split chopsticks at it, and finally ended up hitting it with a mallet. It took less than an hour to start hitting it with a mallet.[/i] [b]It was musique concrète.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]Recently, I've been walking in various places and picking up things (laughs), so my gear is different. Split chopsticks, mallets, iron pipes, etc. are substituting for drums. The mallet that fell in John Zorn's hut made the best sound. Around this time, when I participated in Carsten's concert at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, I was asked, "Is there anything here that makes a sound?". I picked up a good iron pipe (laughs). Improvising on the piano remains interesting. When you hit a synth, it doesn't sound good (laughs). The great thing about an instrument is that it has lots of parts that you can hit and rub. A piano is huge, so I'm discovering parts that I hadn't hit once in 60 years. It has a clasp, and when I hit it, it made a nice sound (laughs). Every time I do that, I discover that "no one has done this yet". This time, I was hitting it with an iron pipe that I had picked up. I wonder who its customer was. The number of tools has increased, so what should I have done?[/i] [b]You may not be able to bring it on an airplane.[/b] Sakamoto: [i]It might be a good idea to adorn the pipe with a polka dot pattern and turn it into an art piece (laughs).[/i] [u]The review by [a3247998] of the album recorded after this 2011 tour translates as follows:[/u] [b]17 October 2012: Ryuichi Sakamoto's "THREE" - Like Brahms[/b] [i]Among the various recordings of Ryuichi Sakamoto, "[m=203494]" (2001), which was recorded at Jobim's house (casa) with Jaques & [a336427], who co-starred with [a27991], is a charming work that made him relax his shoulders and entrust himself to the sensual breeze of Rio. Going back further in time, his piano trio, which featured Jaques Morelenbaum's cello plus [a136888]'s violin, attracted audiences all over the world with a wide repertoire not limited to Latin music, and recorded "[m=135235]" (in 1996) and I was intoxicated by their beautiful performances, especially at the live events. Ryuichi Sakamoto announced "[m=629920]" featuring a new trio in which the violinist was replaced with Judy Kang. At first glance, the music seems to be an extension of the old trio. For example, the masterpiece "Bibo no Aozora" so full of romanticism and "Tango" with its emotional layers. However, the character of the performances is quite different. The slow tempo is strictly maintained by eliminating the easy "glues", the strings refrain from vibrato, the piano's damper pedal is not being used, this way without any additional effects the three weave their music as if flying in the sky without any support (i.e. compared to singing a melody while surfing on an extended sea of harmony like some sort of "seaweed", this sounds sober and is actually similar to the difficult task of balancing on an acrobat's trapeze). For example, in the latter half of "Bibo no Aozora", alternatively the atonal string sounds weave an exact arabesque pattern around the piano line, or they support and refine it by repeating a pattern or, in the latter half of "Tango", when the piano produces only single notes, it is supported by the almost secretive pizzicato strings, so each note connects to and ornaments the others as in a fine pearl, all this consists of music that would normally dissipate in the air, but with a minute of uncompromising performance, a delicate but definite form is created as if knitting a thin silver wire in the air. (In one example, the extreme sophistication in the middle part of "Happy End" will initially surprise the listener. Or, in another example of "The Last Emperor", the clean string sound that expresses portamento like the erhu did in the original film score, and a piano arpeggio that is perfectly shaped to the last note like a piece of jewelery rather than being blown away... Yes, this is an album full of such quiet wonders). The romantic euphoria to the point of being intoxicated is no longer there, but there is a degree of perfection that is close enough to being classical. Is Sakamoto wearing both Jobim's mask and [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/304975-Johannes-Brahms]Brahms[/url]'s mask? Suffice to say, this music cannot be recommended to those who want to cool their dimly lit bodies in the summer night breeze and indulge themselves in a kind of soothing euphoria (generally speaking, "1996" is easier to understand by way of an introduction). Instead, it awakens the listeners with a breath of cold air and quietly overwhelms them using the beauty of pure music. I'm not saying this disc, which features a collection of familiar masterpieces such as "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence", contains unnecessarily esoteric music. But it does concentrate the listener's consciousness in a natural way and can lead to a quiet but infinitely deep ecstasy. It should be especially emphasized that, because it features this kind of music, the amazingly precise recording that captures the outline of each sound as clearly as possible contributes greatly to it. However, I can't wait to hear these versions live on the Japan-Korea tour scheduled for the end of this year with the new member. Whether you can relax your shoulders and enjoy it is not going to be certain all the time, but it will definitely be a very thrilling musical experience.[/i] [a3247998] Dean of the Graduate School of Kyoto University of the Arts. Born in Hyogo in 1957. Since publishing "Structure and Power" in 1983, he has written critiques in various fields such as economics, the history of philosophy and thought, art, music, movies, and literature. Other books include "A Theory Of Escape", "Music of Hermes", "Angels Pass" in the "Cinema At The End Of The Century" dialogues collection, "Beyond 'The End Of History'", "A Critique Of 20th Century Culture" in "[url=https://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/about/publication/inter-communication/]InterCommunication[/url] magazine", edited the "Critical Space" journal, etc. [u]The review by [a1958442] of the album recorded after this 2011 tour translates as follows:[/u] [b]The crisp texture of the current sound[/b] [i]In the trio featured on "[m=629920]", each person plays his or her own sounds in freedom while also maintaining a sense of tension, so that the music is spun together by concentrating on their private sounds but also paying attention to the other two. Not concentrating too much on following the score, quite the contrary, and not relaxing but playing in a relaxed manner. The wonderful balance in that invisible thread spun between each person is evident throughout this album. In some places, the violin and cello are intentionally positioned around the piano, as if forming an obligato. In others, there is a high-pitched tone that is well-suited to the exact pitch of the violin, and there is plenty of breadth to cover to complete range of the cello using a full bow. Only works by Ryuichi Sakamoto are performed, familiar ones but played on different musical instruments. There is one that used an orchestra, the ones with an electronic sound based on synthesizers, and there are also pieces we could almost say were given their form by a band. Transferring these different sounds to three instruments and interacting with them as just music gives both performers and listeners a new experience. Typically, if you know it, you'd construct an image of the sound of the original, but surprisingly, with this trio, the texture of the sound in this newly crisp form arrives in your ears first. It's not piercing or pushing, but we can safely say your eardrum is vibrating before you become aware of it. It's as if the attack of the piano keys is not really an attack, the rise of the strings sound is gently mixed with the decaying sound of the piano, and the sound itself, as in an echo or in a resonance, sustains a memory of that sound. The music proceeds without any mistake from one moment to the next, and your ears move ever closer to each sound as if in slow motion. So, ahum, even though I think I know these songs, the mind and body listening to the music on "THREE" occasionally experience a sound that's unknown. Maybe it's because the featured songs are not only the standard pieces that everyone knows, but also recent ones, especially "Still Life" and "Nostalgia" taken from "[m=163375]". As is well known, a trio having the same constitution released the album "[m=135235]" more than 10 years ago. However, there not many duplicates in the songs included here. And even if the same song was selected, the performance is quite different. During this time, in these 10 years, Ryuichi Sakamoto has changed by way of performing with Morelenbaum, no, apart from the performances also the sensing of space and time, the concentration and emphasis on each sound, and the deepening sense of the sounds produced by others is probably what made it work. Think about it a little more. Suddenly a feeling crosses your mind. An idea is in the head (of the composer) which is embodied as music. A translation is at work there. Transforming the finished music into a piece for another instrument is also a form of translation called arrangement. There are many possible ideas that can form. And they will. An arrangement is not necessarily one idea born out of another, it can be also be like a brother or sister of the original idea in a different form. "THREE" features more than just arrangements for trio, instead it features other possibilities the original had in the form of brothers and sisters. Because they are brothers and sisters, there's a difference in timing when they appear in the world. Indeed, in his later years [a26955] created a work called "[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Pieces]Number Pieces[/url]". 100 years after Cage's birth, why don't you make the effort to read its homage that is hidden on "THREE", released 20 years after his death? A homage to the texture of sound, where the sound grows and lasts within a given time frame.[/i] [a1958442] A music and literary arts critic, and professor at [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waseda_University]Waseda University[/url]. His books include "Reintroduction To Orchestra" (a [url=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%B3%E5%87%A1%E7%A4%BE%E6%96%B0%E6%9B%B8]Heibonsha New Book[/url]), "Minimal Music - Its Development And Thoughts", "Toru Takemitsu - Sounds, Words, Images", "Enchanted Body - Traveling Musician Colin McPhee And His Times" ([url=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9D%92%E5%9C%9F%E7%A4%BE]Seidosha[/url]), etc. He supervised the translation of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Chion]Michel Chion[/url]'s "Le Son Au Cinéma" ([url=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%BF%E3%81%99%E3%81%9A%E6%9B%B8%E6%88%BF]Misuzu Shobo[/url]). He is also involved in collecting the music selections for and the writing of the complete "schola" series supervised by Ryuichi Sakamoto. [u]The review by [a509125] of the album recorded after this 2011 tour translates as follows:[/u] [b]From "1996" to "THREE"[/b] [i]The tour by the new trio, which lasted almost a month, started on 29 October 2011 in Paris and ended on 21 November in Lisbon. Immediately afterwards, two items of good news arrived through Ustream. First there was the studio recording by Ryuichi Sakamoto (on piano) plus the touring members Judy Kang (on violin) who won the audition and Jaques Morelenbaum (on cello). The other news was the "Ryuichi Sakamoto Trio Tour 2012 Japan & Korea". "[m=135235]", the prototype for "[m=629920]", was his first album featuring a trio comprised of piano, violin and cello. In 1996 Japan was at the height of the karaoke boom, and pop music structured as chamber music was quite different. However, this proposition was accepted by more fans than expected. "I have a feeling that people desire this impulse of pure music", was the response by Sakamoto himself. Until then, his works had made full use of technology, now they were reborn as new works by an acoustic trio and with minimal organization. The trio recording features a performance by literally three people. Yet, we can hear more "sound". Why is that? To clarify this, let's go back a little in recording history. I have a documentary film about [a82730] called "The Making of Sgt. Pepper". In it, the members are saying: "We thought we could express things on vinyl better than anywhere else. We're going to let the record travel". So The Beatles stopped touring and instead focused on making records. Recording equipment from the early 1960s to the early 1970s was evolving rapidly. By the end of the 20th century, digital recording with 48 tracks had become mainstream. The universe of pop music, which has progressed alongside the development of equipment, seems to have split into the separate worlds of "live music" versus "music on vinyl". A studio was selected for both "Three" and "1996", and the recordings were done by accumulating material from detailed sessions by the three individuals and by using excellent arrangements. On the other hand, vintage microphones such as the AKG C24 and AKG C12 were set up in the studio, and microphones to pick up the ambience were placed around the piano and in the corners of the studio. To me they seem like a fourth instrument. It was important to capture the "sound" they had developed. In this way, the "music on vinyl" reconnected with the "live music". Nothing was overdubbed more than necessary. "THREE" has a slower tempo than "1996", and is full of signs that you are listening on your own to a live performance. On this album, "Still Life in A", a trio version of "Still Life" recorded for "[m=163375]", is played at different tempi by the 3 persons, and I was impressed with "Nostalgia", which is reminiscent of contemporary music, free jazz, and acoustic music. It's not nostalgic, rather a sign of a succesful new birth. Over time his rough ingenuity seems to have sharpened into a soft, quiet, restrained and delicate crystal. Ryuichi Sakamoto describes the appeal of trio music as follows: "The sounds produced by a piano quickly get weaker. On the other hand, the one sound of a string instrument can find continuous expression. Not only its strength but also its tone and vibration are different from the piano. By adding two of them, the overall timbre is richer than when playing the piano alone. Also grooves appear that are unique to three people".[/i] [a509125] After working as a director of Yui Music Publishing and advertisement music company ON, he has worked on records and advertisements for [a1062022], [a1319290], [a656253], [a556509], [a165582] and others. He has been with the indie label presided over by [a19132], producing [a315922], and was a founding member of "[l3468]". He is a lecturer at Tokyo College of Music, and has written books such as "Theory Of The Future Survival Of Music" (co-authored with [url=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B4%A5%E7%94%B0%E5%A4%A7%E4%BB%8B]Daisuke Tsuda[/url] / publisher [url=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%A4%AE%E5%85%AC%E8%AB%96%E6%96%B0%E7%A4%BE]Chuokoron Shinsha[/url]). [u]The explanatory notes on each song on the album "[m=629920]" by [a5087] translate as follows:[/u] [b]"Happy End"[/b] [i]This song was released in 1981, as the B-side of my solo single "[m=1213555]", and another version was recorded for [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/22061-Yellow-Magic-Orchestra]YMO[/url]'s album "[m=45062]" that same year. It's such an old song, but for some reason I've been playing it a lot on my solo piano tours over the last few years. On those tours I used to play it as a duet between my piano and the MIDI piano, but I re-arranged it for the trio. However, during the tour, I tried to make this song come more alive as a piano trio version, so I re-arranged it again from the middle to the end of the tour and changed its shape significantly. As a consequence, the original version is of course very different from the one played on the piano in the last few years.[/i] [b]"The Last Emperor"[/b] [i]Of course, for the original 1987 piece I organized an orchestra, but since then it has been played in various forms, such as piano solo and as a piano trio on "[m=135235]". This time, I recorded it with the piano trio again. In my case, whether it's in a solo version or for a trio, I change the songs I play little by little every day, but in the case of "Last Emperor" requests for a performance are received at every event, so it's a must-have song on stage. Even so, there are days when I don't do it, but if I don't do it, it feels unfair to the people in that city and I'm a little disappointed. Now via the Internet you can immediately tell what kind of song you played in which city. So I think I play it during most performances.[/i] [b]"Bibo No Aozora - Instrumental"[/b] [i]I think the atmosphere is quite different from the original that was recorded for the solo album "[m=52526]" in 1995. This song was first re-arranged substantially for the piano trio when recording "1996" following the original. By contrasting the piano, which is a keyboard instrument, with the violin and cello, which are string instruments, they behave like minimal music, and I use the piano to play the melody and harmony. Then, at the end, the roles of the piano and the string instruments are reversed, so by this time the two strings play the melody. This version for the piano trio was used in the film "[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_(film)]Babel[/url]" (2006) directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu of Mexico. He used it for the final, very long scene, it was a very good match. Although it is relatively quiet, it is a song that has a great response when played in Latin countries such as Italy. There seems to be something in it that catches the hearts of Latin people. I don't know why this is so, but even when I'm playing it, when the string instruments play these simple notes that come so close to me, and I sing the melody and harmony on the piano, it's a very pleasant song.[/i] [b]"High Heels"[/b] [i]This music was written for the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Heels_(1991_film)]1991 film of the same name[/url] (Japanese title "ハイヒール") by Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar, who I did not know. When I was asked to do the music for his "High Heels", I went to Madrid where the director guided me around the city and I met with the actors in the movie, I had a great time and Spain-Madrid was a very decadent and entertaining city. As well as being a Catholic country, it is also strongly influenced by North African, Roman (Gypsy) and Islamic culture. For this song, my intention as well was to come up with something uniquely Spanish. The director, who came to see us play this song when we were in Madrid on the tour two years ago, said he liked it with the expression "This song gets deeper every time it is played". At that time, a bright red image was projected on the screen on stage, and he said, "That red is Spanish red!". In Spanish culture, red is a special colour, it's the colour of blood, and a sign of passion. There is a unique red colour that the Spaniards sense, and I think the director made the best compliment by saying that.[/i] [b]"Seven Samurai - End Theme"[/b] [i]Originally created for the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai_20XX]game of the same name[/url] (2004). The game is based on the famous movie "[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai]Seven Samurai[/url]" directed by Akira Kurosawa, and this song is the end theme. As for the tune, it's more like an Oriental or Asian one. The original version for the game has the slightly strange combination of the Hichiriki and Shakuhachi as used in [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagaku]Japanese Gagaku[/url], the Chinese Erhu string instrument, and the main piano. This eclectic Japanese-Western form it took was also fresh and interesting for me. Here, I arranged it for the combination of the purely Western piano, cello and violin instruments, I asked violinist Judy Kang to play like a Chinese erhu, and I played the phrase of the Hichiriki. The version in this arrangement has also become a favorite. It acquired a good reputation on the tour and it's one of the songs that I think is representative of the fact that the arrangements for the trio were successful. Also, after a long history, music has been exhausted in some sense, so in modern times it is difficult to create a novel song that you have never heard before, but in the chords of the first few bars of this song I think I was able to create a novel combination of sounds, to my surprise, "Why didn't I ever think of this combination?". I was really happy when this track was done, and it's become my favorite song.[/i] [b]"A Flower Is Not A Flower"[/b] [i]The song is named after a passage in a famous Chinese poem, "Flowers are not flowers" which, in my interpretation, with "flowers" standing for "women", means "beautiful women are not just beautiful". The song was originally written in 1997 by a Taiwanese erhu player, [a6054857]. The erhu is a string instrument similar to a violin, so any sound can be maintained for a long time. The sound does not decay from the moment you play it like with a piano. I think that there is a flavour and depth to string instruments, so I intended to create a song that suits the characteristics of such instruments. Therefore, it is actually more suitable to being played on string instruments than on a piano solo. As for the tune, it has nothing to do with Taiwan in terms of harmony, rather it has a jazzy harmonic development that is closer to Brazilian [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bossa_nova]Bossa Nova[/url]. Not that I meant to do so in particular, maybe I just liked that kind of development when I wrote the song. After recording "[m=135235]", we went on a tour across Europe and we played this song as an encore when we gave a concert in Porto, Portugal (the recording location of this album!), and a middle-aged man in the audience started crying. It may be related to the element of bossa nova and, depending on how you listen to it, it may be a song that sounds very sad or sentimental, but it may also be a song that touches the heartstrings of Latin people.[/i] [b]"Still Life In A"[/b] [i]Originally there was a song called "Still Life" included on my solo album "[m=163375]" (2009). Still life in paintings means just that, and I've always thought this word to be very meaningful. "Still = stationary", "Life = raw". I feel that "still life" has a deep meaning that is different from "stationary life". I made "Still Life" with that in mind, and for "Out Of Noise", I recorded it with the British early music group called [a267135] (they play a string instrument called [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viol]Viola da Gamba[/url] that was often used during the Renaissance and Baroque eras before the violin appeared). This time I decided to play this song with the piano trio, and of course I couldn't use a Viola da Gamba. The feeling of the song would change, so I rewrote "Still Life" a little and changed the key from E to A to create this title. The basic song structure has not changed, I think the interesting thing about this song is that all the performers play at different tempi. Normally, when playing, if you don't play at the same tempo, things will fall apart, but this song has a concept that dares to break us apart. For example, even a very simple melody called "Domiso" can sound quite complicated when three people play Do Mi So at different tempi. When DoMiso is played by a number of performers whose starting positions and tempi are different, it creates a complex mass of sound. Someday, I would like to try this with a full orchestra with about 80 people. I wonder what would happen.[/i] [b]"Nostalgia"[/b] [i]A later work by my favorite film director, the Russian Tarkovsky, was the film "[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalghia]Nostalghia[/url]" (1983). It's a very interesting movie. Not only the content but also the sound is complicated and interesting in this movie, which I think in a sense is a very musical movie, as it uses many recordings of the sound of water. This song sketches my vague impression of it, wondering if Tarkovsky's nostalgic world is like this. The original is included on "[m=163375]". The mist and fog in the damp wetlands in the morning that often appear in Tarkovsky movies. A world which the sharp sunlight does not reach. Beyond the mist and fog, people's lives and creatures can be vaguely discerned, a mysterious sight that does not seem to be reality but a dream. This song brings together sounds that approximate such a scene. Of course, music can be received differently by listeners, so this song, which for me depicts a deep foggy scene may, depending on the listener, depict another world. It is played very slowly, so it's actually a very difficult song to play. Especially for the violinist, who must slowly extend one sound for a long time, so mental concentration is much required. I think it was hard, but Judy did a good job.[/i] [b]"Tango - Instrumental"[/b] [i]Of course, "Tango" is an Argentinean "tango", but musically this "tango" isn't really very tango-like (laughs). I have many songs with a variety of titles and contents, the elements in this song are more strongly Brazilian than they are Argentinean. The original was written for my solo album "[m=52526]" (1995). At that time, [a556509] wrote the lyrics, and it became a song with vocals that I sang myself. After that, various people covered it, and Ms. Ohnuki, having provided the lyrics for the original, also covered and sang it on her own album, but I remember not only Japanese but also Italian and Argentinean people covering it. It's not itself an Argentinean tango, but it is a song that has elements connecting it with the Latin blood. It's always fun to play.[/i] [b]"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"[/b] [i]It's a song I've played over and over again for a long time ever since it was released in 1983. I didn't want to play it the same way over and over again, so I've changed and devised a way to play it each time along the way, and that's why it's almost settled down to this shape. I tried various things to see if there was a fresher arrangement, but it settled down into this one shape. I've made a club-like danceable version of this song as well, but in the end, the shape as I'm playing it now fits nicely. After nearly 30 years of trial and error, I wonder if there is any better shape. There are many remixes and covers by other artists such as R&B people. Originally, it was a song that was created after a request to have an oriental feel, so it's interesting that this Asian-style song is used for R&B. "Bibo no Aozora" and "Seven Samurai" are also covered by R&B artists, so I wonder if I'm writing chord progressions that are easy to use in R&B. This year, I received an award from [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_of_Composers,_Authors_and_Publishers]ASCAP[/url], the American copyright organization, for contributing to R&B. I had no idea that I had contributed (laughs).[/i] [b]"Harakiri (Death Of A Samurai) Endroll - From A Takashi Miike Film 'Ichimei'"[/b] [i]This is the theme song of the 3D historical drama movie "[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hara-Kiri:_Death_of_a_Samurai]Ichimei[/url]" directed by Takashi Miike, released in 2011. It's a movie I love very much, and I really like this theme song. Since the movie is very heavy in terms of content, the soundtrack as a whole features many heavy songs, but this theme song has a clear and strong melody, it is not just heavy. Here, I made a new arrangement for the piano trio. It's the most recent song on "THREE", which in the early stages requires a tragic and powerful expression, the cello and violin especially must do their best. Judy is doing her best here too and plays crunchily. Also, the mood of this song changes in the middle, furthermore it is a three-stage song which changes once again at the end. It's a very difficult song, with different moods and expressions, but the two string players gave it their best.[/i] [b]"Tamago 2004"[/b] [i]"Tamago" was originally written in 1979 for a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parco_(retailer)]Parco[/url] commercial featuring the actress [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faye_Dunaway]Faye Dunaway[/url]. It was a song I liked, and when I made my album of self-covers "[r=774525]" in 2004, I changed the arrangement a little and turned it into "TAMAGO 2004". At the time I composed it for the commercial, I wasn't aware of that aspect at all, but when I played it piano solo, it felt like a piece by a romantic composer like [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/578727-Robert-Schumann]Schumann[/url]. Or, it's like a little classical song written by my beloved [a27991] while at the same time also being a piece of pop music, so I realized it is a very complex and interesting song. Recently, I've often played it at my solo piano concerts. I've played it with Jaques many times, and [a384431]'s also played it, so it's a song that goes well with the cello. The slower you play it, the more delicious it becomes, or the deeper it becomes. Also, although it was something I couldn't do when I was younger, as I get older I've become able to play slower. It's possible for you to have that mental state rather than just the technique to play slowly. For a song that tastes good when slower like this, it's very good.[/i] [b]"Parolibre"[/b] [i]This is a song I wrote for a solo album called "[url=https://www.discogs.com/master/52436-Ryuichi-Sakamoto-%E6%9C%AA%E6%9D%A5%E6%B4%BE%E9%87%8E%E9%83%8E]Futurista[/url]" in 1986. At the time, I did it with the intention of writing something like a classical song with a feeling of a joke. As I played it many times, it really has become like a classical piece. In addition, now that the practice of playing it as an encore at the end of concerts not only in Japan but all over the world has become established, and everyone's feelings calm down with this song, it sounds like a song that only fits the atmosphere of "goodbye". So I can only play it at the end of the concert. Next time, as an experiment let's play it in the middle of the concert (laughs). I might feel like I have to finish the concert. The composition of the song is broadly divided into three parts, A>B>A, but the B part has an Italian opera-like atmosphere rather than that of a song. It's a rarity in my oeuvre. In Italian operas, really big male and female singers often sing loudly and cheerfully, and this melody that is suitable for such cheerful singing emerges in the B part. Back then, it felt like a joke, but maybe I really did become [url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/369053-Giacomo-Puccini]Puccini[/url] when I wrote it.[/i] (Editor / [a1559265])