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17.
12. 2008 |
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Try
Me
Shimizu sculpts sounds for Suzi
Listen and fall entranced
by Shimizu’s super seductive treatment of Suzi
Kim’s
sensuous, whispering vocals on "Only Me," one of the
tracks on the new maxi-single Try Me. Composed, produced
and all instruments by Shimizu.
Release: 5 December
Office Seto SEID-0003
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The
Hit Parade
New pop cut on Mari Natsuki’s
classic compilation
It's So Great – The
Hit Parade TM," released as a maxi single in October, features
on a new album of classic Japanese pop sung by Mari
Natsuki.
Release: 17 December
Pony Canyon PCCA-02781
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21.
11. 2008 |
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Sound & Recording
Magazine
Report and feature on Orochi film concert
Shimizu discusses how he composed
the live orchestral score for the one-off screening of this historic,
silent, sword-fight film. Yoshiyuki Kanamori, the sound designer/engineer
crucial to realizing Shimizu's audio-spatial concept, describes the
equipment he used for the performance.
On sale 15 November (in Japanese)
Rittor Music
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Sukusuku
no Uta
Compilation
DVD featuring "Donnajaga Konnajaga"
"Sukusuku no Uta" is
the song segment of the children's TV show Genki
Sukusuku! on the satellite Benesse Channel.
This DVD contains six episodes, one of which features
Shimizu’s
tune "Donnajaga Konnajaga," sung by Kigurumi.
Comes with 16-track bonus compilation CD.
Release: 21 November
2008
Geneon Entertainment VGDV-0003
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29.
10. 2008 |
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It's
So Great
Brand new composition and arrangement for Mari Natsuki
Shimizu's new arrangement of
the theme song from the popular 1960s music program The
Hit Parade is sung by the actress, singer Mari Natsuki, and
now available on CD together with Shimizu's newly composed medley
of "It's So Great" delivering sounds that are fresh yet also nostalgic.
Now also playing as the theme song for cosmetics giant Shiseido's
"Integrate" TV commercial.
Release: 15 October
2008
Pony Canyon PCCA-702277
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25.
9. 2008 |
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Yasuaki
Shimizu & Saxophonettes
10-11 October concerts at Gnesin
Accademy of Music, Moscow
Together with the Saint Petersburg
and Moscow Conservatories, the Gnesin Academy of Music, founded
in 1895, is one of Russia’s three major music schools and
over the years has turned out a great many world-famous musicians.
It is at this hallowed venue that Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes
will present two nights of music, in a program featuring selections
from their Pentatonica album.
Friday
and Saturday 10 and 11 October 7pm
Gnesin
Academy of Music
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Orochi
Silent film score and performance
by Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes
and Royal Artless Orchestra, 21 October at Meiji Shrine,
Tokyo
The
Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta) showcases the pride of Japan's gaming, anime,
music, broadcasting and film industries.
As a CoFesta exclusive planned in cooperation with the 21st
Tokyo International Film Festival, the restored version of Orochi -
a chambara (sword-fighting)
historical drama described as a masterpiece of silent film (1925,
directed by Buntaro Futagawa and starring Tsumasaburo Bando) -
will be screened in the venerable Jingu Kaikan at Meiji Shrine.
Shimizu has composed a score especially for this one-night-only
film concert with live performance by Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes
and the Royal Artless Orchestra of some 30 musicians. It is guaranteed
to be a powerful experience.
The sound designer and engineer is Yoshiyuki Kanamori, a crucial
component of Shimizu's audio-spatial concept.
The performance will be opened by special guest Yuki Ota, silver
medalist in fencing at the Beijing Olympics, who will give a
demonstration of "European-style" chambara
Tuesday 21 October 7pm
Jingu Kaikan, Meiji Shrine, Harajuku
Film: Orochi (73 mins. with English subtitles)
Performance: Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes + Royal Artless Orchestra
Live narration: Raiko Sakamoto
www.cofesta.jp/2008/english/orochi.html
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8.
9. 2008 |
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Ferris
Wheel at 3:32 PM (Gogo Sanji Sanpun Jugobyo no Kanransha)
Limited screening of the short
film by Hiroyuki Nakano
Living in an age in which personal
relationships seem to lack any real substance, Shimizu's music
complements superbly the conversation that passes between two people
who meet by chance and the space that surrounds them... The film
is one of five separate tales ranging from comedies by Yasuhisa
Serizawa and Atsushi Kaneshige to sober black and white films also
by Nakano that tell the stories of men who lead unorthodox lives,
billed for this screening as Otokotachi no Uta.
A bonus screening of Seven Samurai (directed by Hiroyuki
Nakano, music by Yasuaki Shimizu and the Rolling Stones; details
8. 7. 2008)
opens the show, this time in a special black and white version.
Otokotachi no Uta program
of short films
Saturday, 6 September - Friday, 3 October
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
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22.
7. 2008 |
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VSOD
(Very Special Ordinary Days)
Arrangement on Gontiti's new album
Acoustic guitar duo Gontiti will
celebrate their 30th anniversary with the release of the new album VOSD,
featuring Shimizu’s
arrangement for the track "Ittekimasu." How does it sound?
Think (if you can) of big band meets jazz and country, and the
inimitable ensemble of Hideo Yamaki on drums, Saxophonettes member
Hiroshi Suzuki on baritone sax, and Shimizu on tenor.
Release date: 6 August 2008
Epic/Sony ESCL-2552
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14.
7. 2008 |
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Milky Way Concert 2008
Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes
perform at 2300m—on Mt. Fuji!
The Fujiyoshida-guchi hiking
track ranks among Japan's top 100 historic trails, and this year
will be the focus of an eco-tour studying its history and future
while conducting a cleanup. Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes
are supporting the cause by performing in the Milky
Way Concert
staged at the Seikanso hut, which marks the finish line. The sound
will be engineered by Yoshiyuki
Kanamori of Oasis, who collaborated
with Shimizu on his Dream
Garden Factory installation at Pacific
Flora 2004. What kind of aural experience will they hit upon at
2300m high? Curious to find out, the band have compiled a special
program—their salute to the setting sun.
Saturday, 9 August, 7-8pm*
Seikanso,
Satomidaira, Mt. Fuji sixth station
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11.
7. 2008 |
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Mathematica
II
Gold Camera, Grand Prix Awards at
US International Film and Video Festival
The US
International Film and Video Festival is the world's largest festival of its kind,
recognizing excellence in films, commercials, TV programs etc.
across 80 categories including the arts, history, medicine and
sport. This year, Mathematica II won the First Place
Gold Camera Award in the children's program section. Mathematica
II
also achieved the impressive feat of becoming one of only three
works chosen across all categories to receive a Grand Prix, earning
high acclaim from around the world.
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Winner
of Children's Jury Prize, Prix Jeunesse International 2008
The
Prix Jeunesse International is a competition for children's and
young people's television held every two years in the German city of
Munich. This year, Mathematica II was a hot favorite in the
non-fiction category judged by children aged seven to eleven, receiving
a Children's Jury Prize.
Entry in both competitions was
episode three: "Squaring the Circle." |
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Donnajaga
Konnajaga
New song playing on satellite TV
The new Shimizu tune "Donnajaga
Konnajaga" is featuring daily on the educational program Genki
Sukusuku!, on the offbeat Benesse Channel. Sung by elementary
school duo Kigurumi,
it has an infectiously catchy melody that makes singing along
irresistible, and brims with classic
Shimizu humour.
Genki Sukusuku!
2–31 July, Monday through Friday, 7-8:30am, 4:15-4:45pm
SkyPerfecTV Ch. 248 Benesse Channel
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Sayonara
no Mukougawa
Arrangement on 6 feat. TeN cover
mini album
Shimizu did the arrangement
and plays piano on Momoe Yamaguchi's well-known song "Sayonara
no Mukougawa" currently featured in a commercial for Asahi
Kasei. The music became quite a talking point after the commercial's
release and was swiftly recorded on CD, with vocals by TeN from
the band A
Hundred Birds.
Release: 23 July 2008
EXFR-1003 Excite
Music Entertainment
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JJazz.
Net
The album Time
Is Now (1991
Tokyo x Jamaica Summit), a Shimizu collaboration with Sly & Robbie,
Michael Rose, Minako Yoshida and others, was selected for Pick
Up,
a monthly program on internet radio station JJazz.Net showcasing
the best new albums.
Broadcasting through
30 July
JJazz. Net
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Sound & Recording
Magazine
Interview spanning two issues
The “People
of Sound” interview
on Rock oN (see 30. 5. 2008 below) will now be published over
two issues of Sound & Recording Magazine.
August issue (out 15 July) and
September issue (out 15 August)
Rittor Music
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8.
7. 2008 |
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Seven
Samurai (Shicinin no Samurai)
Music for Hiroyuki Nakano's gem
of a mini film
Remake of the timeless Akira
Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai by director Hiroyuki
Nakano, with
soundtrack by Shimizu. In the second half of the film, the Rolling
Stones track "Paint it Black" suddenly comes on, providing
an exquisite counterpoint to Shimizu's composition. Don't miss
the special late show double bill of this film and Samurai
Fiction
('96), scheduled for early summer.
Kimagure selection: Hiroyuki
Nakano Special
Samurai
Fiction, Seven
Samurai (8 min. 30 sec.)
5–11 July
Shinjuku Wald9
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18.
6. 2008 |
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Nihon
no Sakkyokuka
The who's who of Japanese composers
Yasuaki Shimizu has been included
in Japan's first encyclopedia of distinguished "people who make
music," i.e. composers/arrangers who've made a mark on the history
of Japanese modern and contemporary music. The book documents notable
contributors to the field, past and present, in genres ranging
from pop, rock, and classical; scores for films, television, stage,
or commercials; even children's songs. The book was compiled under
the supervision of music critics Shuhei Hosokawa and Morihide Katayama.
Entries include answers to a series of questions, with comments
by the composers.
In bookstores:
25 June 2008
Nichigai Associates
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30.
5. 2008 |
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Yasuaki
Shimizu & Saxophonettes
Gion-festival eve concert, set
for 16 July at ALTI Hall, Kyoto
With each Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes
performance, comes a more intense listening experience. And on
this summer night, while all of Kyoto is abuzz with the sights
and sounds of Gion Festival eve, they will again make magic interweaving
new works with pieces from their Pentatonica album. A special night,
an experience to savour...
Yasuaki Shimizu (tenor sax)
Ryoko Egawa, Hirokazu Hayashida (tenor sax)
Hiroshi Suzuki, Ryota Higashi (baritone sax)
Wednesday, 16 July, 7pm
Kyoto Prefectural ALTI Hall
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People
of Sound
Interview with Yasuaki Shimizu
Recording equipment and software
specialists Rock oN interview artists working with sound in their
popular web series "People of Sound." Round 11
features Yasuaki Shimizu, and along with discussion about how he
started making computer-generated music and the equipment he uses
among other chat (in Japanese), the article includes lots of pics.
Rock oN / People of Sound 11
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Time
is Now
1991 Tokyo x Jamaica Summit album
release
Roll back the clock to a night
in 1991 when Shimizu partook in the Tokyo x Jamaica Summit - a
session with Sly & Robbie, the rhythm section that swept the
'80s Reggae scene, and Black Uhuru former lead guitarist,
Michael Rose. After 17 long years the illusive live sound source
is about
to be released...
Produced by Minako Yoshida
Sly
Dunbar (drums), Robbie Shakespeare (bass),
Michael Rose (vocals), Minako Yoshida (voice, keyboard),
Yasuaki Shimizu (saxophone, keyboard), Mr. Unknown (guitar)
Release: 4 July 2008
Istpac ISTP-1002
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21.
5. 2008 |
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Ferris
Wheel at 3:32 PM (Gogo Sanji Sanpun Jugobyo no Kanransha)
Music for the short film by Hiroyuki
Nakano
Hiroyuki Nakano is back with
his first short film since Iron won him the Young
Critics' Award at Cannes in 2006. Ferris Wheel at 3:32 PM
features actors Tomoro Taguchi and Yumiko Hosono with music composed
by
Yasuaki Shimizu.
Superb. Wowing. Keep an eye out for this one!
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Mathematica
II
Out now on DVD!
The hit NHK Educational TV
series ended in March, but is now available on DVD. Shimizu’s
pentatonic ensemble pieces, composed especially for the series,
match the surreal movements of the show’s animation to uncanny
effect. The songs "Yoitokosassa" and “Dolomiti
Spring” off the album Pentatonica also feature in the soundtrack.
(Performed by Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes)
Release: 21 May 2008
Mathematica II DVD Box
NHK
Enterprises PCBE-62856
Five-disc set/with special video (each disc contains four episodes)
Also available as single discs
Reruns now showing on Thursdays at 9:30am
NHK Educational TV
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2.
5. 2008 |
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Can't
Live on Earth (Chijo ni Nante Sumenai)
Shimizu guests with Hideo Yamaki and Akira
Inoue
19 May in Daikanyama
A concert celebrating the release
of Moving Up, the new album by drummer Hideo Yamaki, hailed as Japan's
genre-defying best, and keyboardist Akira Inoue, known also for his
boundless music productions. And who suddenly will be crashing the
party? Shimizu, of course! The date marks his first with Yamaki since
Shimizu produced Yamaki’s album There He Goes in 2002, and
his first ever with Inoue. This one-night ménage à trois
may be one not to miss!
Hideo Yamaki (drums), Akira Inoue
(keyboards)
Guest: Yasuaki Shimizu (tenor saxophone)
Monday, 19 May, 7pm
Haretara sorani mame maite
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8.
1. 2008 |
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One
String arrangement
on Ayuse Kazue’s new single
Singer-songwriter Ayuse
Kozue’s seventh single "One" builds
on her distinctive world view with catchy lyrics, music,
and vocals, as well as a lush string arrangement by Shimizu.
Produced by Tei Towa with piano arrangement by Ryuichi Sakamoto,
the single marks Shimizu’s first collaboration in
many years with these artists. Two bonus tracks reveal the
originality of Ayuse’s composition through acoustic
and instrumental versions of “One.”
Release: 16
January 2008
Toy's Factory TFCC-8923
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Music
for Food
@ Restaurant 1929: Food and Contemporary
Art - Part 4
How
better to ring in the new year than to orchestrate a banquet? Restaurant
1929 opens its doors with a host of new works by a mixed bag of artists
for the fourth staging of its Food and Contemporary Art show. Shimizu's
contribution to the fete will once again be his original "Music
for Food."
11-29 January, 11:30am-7pm
BankART 1929
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