About
TENMA....
1) TENMA comp by Liu Hongjun 6'12"
"Jia" was the name of the daughter
of my friend, drummer John Blackwell, who was
a young rising star and is now a member of Prince
& The New Power Generation. I was really
shocked when I heard that Jia was drowned in
the swimming pool at their house on June 27,
2004. In spite of this tragedy, John continued
playing live for Prince's "Musicology Tour."
I could feel that in his heart he was weeping;
in fact I heard from one of my friends that he
cried on stage while playing "Purple Rain"
in New Orleans, and that made me really sad.
This song is for Jia, who was only 2 years old
when she passed away.
Liu Hongjun Hulus, Baw, and Keisekkin (a special
marimba made of very rare stone from China)
Morgan Fisher Sampled strings and ambient textures.
Kiyoto Fujiwara Bass.
Osami Mizuno Drums.
Arranged and mixed by Morgan Fisher
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2) MR. VELOCITY (FOR TONY WILLIAMS) Comp by
Osami Mizuno Arranged and mixed by Morgan Fisher
& Osami Mizuno 4'17"
On March 8, 1975 at New York's Carnegie Hall,
I saw Tony play for the first time, in a concert
titled The Music of George Russell "Living
Time". Since then he became my big brother.
Later, during a lesson, I asked our teacher Alan
Dawson, "Which of Tony's drum solos do you
like best?" Immediately, he replied "Seven
Steps to Heaven."
On this song, I used the 32-bar (AABA) form of
Tony's solo, and tried to put a melody to it.
I played a 16-inch crash cymbal which Tony gave
me. Also I picked up my 22-inch ride cymbal,
which Tony played a couple of times in Tokyo.
Yutaka Guitar
Morgan Fisher Sampled orchestra and Fairlight
Voicetracker
Osami Mizuno Drums
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3) FOR ALAN (ALAN DAWSON) Comp by Kiyoto Fujiwara
Arranged and mixed by Morgan Fisher & Osami
Mizuno 6'34"
I
played this song with the wire brushes my mentor
Alan Dawson gave me about 30 years ago. Pablo
Casals said at The United Nations in 1971, "I
am going to play a melody from Catalan folklore:
El cant dels ocells. Birds sing when they are
in the sky, they sing: 'Peace, Peace, Peace',
and it is a melody that Bach, Beethoven and all
the greats would have admired and loved."
This song was his favorite and he played it at
all his concerts, such as the one which was released
as A Concert At The White House, recorded live
at the White House in 1961. I love his playing
on this record.
At the recording of "For Alan," I had
the image of this Catalan (Catalonian) song.
And I was sure that bassist Kiyoto Fujiwara would
be the one who could make this image a reality.
In fact, this idea has been in my mind since
I first heard him play in concert.
After the recording of "For Alan,"
I was convinced that I was right.
The sound of the Vibrandoneon (a unique Italian
instrument based on the bandoneon) and the Claviola
added more colors - we found a chemistry right
there! In the near future, I'd love to get these
people together and play this song - whatever
the cost.
Kiyoto Fujiwara Bass
Morgan Fisher Hohner Claviola (German) and Vibrandoneon
(Italian)
Osami Mizuno Drums
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4) CONCENTRATION Comp byTakazumi Shimomiya Arranged
by Osami Mizuno 6'39"
Japanese traditional instruments
Takazumi Shimomiya Houshou (Mouth Organ), Biwa
Kiyoto Fujiwara Bass
Osami Mizuno Drums and percussion
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5) ENCOUNTER Comp by Takazumi Shimomiya and
Osami Mizuno Arranged by Osami Mizuno 7'24"
Takazumi Shimomiya Houshou (Mouth Organ), Japanese
Cymbal
Ryuichi Kaneko Hitiriki
Ekyou Tuchida Mokushou
Kiyoto Fujiwara Bass
Osami Mizuno Drums
I used to listen to the great composer Toru
Takemitsu's works, especially the song called
"November Steps" and "In an Autumn
Garden, for Gagaku orchestra."
In the 90's I was very lucky to have an opportunity
to collaborate with Gagaku (Japanese traditional
court music) players. Gagaku is one of the oldest
musical forms in Japan and has a long, rich tradition.
But in working with these musicians, I came to
realize that they sometimes "deconstruct"
their past treasure instead of just passing it
on as it was. They feel that the deconstruction
is part of the gradual process of change, and
the sound coming from that change will eventually
become a part of their tradition. With this song,
I tried to deconstruct Gagaku music with the
help of my instrument, the drums (which evolved
in the United States about 100 years ago to play
jazz), and with the explosive jazz improvisation
of bassist Kiyoto Fujiwara. This is my way of
deconstruction.
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6) SHOOTINGSTARS Comp by Morgan Fisher and
Osami Mizuno Arranged and mixed by Morgan Fisher
4'12"
On October 20, 1990, I was very lucky to have
the chance to meet Ayrton Senna da Silva at the
Suzuka Circuit, thanks to the help of a friend.
I wil never forget that moment.
On that day Senna made an unprecedented achievement
which every racing driver had dreamt of up to
that time. He drove a superfast lap in 1 minute
36.996 seconds (the best qualifying record of
Suzuka's original Grand Prix circuit, 1987-90)
and won the Poll Position.
We will never again see such extraordinary driving.
With this song, I tried to play drums as a melody
instrument, and tried to imagine and express
what Ayrton was feeling during that race in Suzuka;
I had fantastic support from Morgan Fisher.
Morgan Fisher Yamaha YC-45 combo organ and
Variophon analog wind synthesizer
Osami Mizuno Drums
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