Omni:

Kato Hideki

Tetuzi Akiyama

Toshimaru Nakamura

Omni

• Release date: September 5, 2009.

• Personnel:

Kato Hideki (electric bass with prime number tuning, bass synthesizer).
Tetuzi Akiyama (prepared electric guitar, electronics).
Toshimaru Nakamura (mixer, headphones, electric guitar).

• Tracklist:

01. 40:10 [40:10] [mp3][mp3][mp3][mp3]
02. 05:02 [05:02]

Recorded live by Kato Hideki at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo on November 25, 2008.
Concert organized by Noda Shigenori (Callithump).
Live sound engineering by Noribumi Uchida (SuperDeluxe).
Mixed and mastered by Kato Hideki at Shadow World Studio in Brooklyn, NY in 2009.

• Notes:

Time is an essential subject in music. Conventionally, musical time moves in one direction on a linear plane. OMNI was co-founded by myself, Toshimaru Nakamura & Tetuzi Akiyama in 2006, to make music that develops in the depth of time.

We visualized the three of us on separate trains going through tunnels, rather than riding together on a linear time-table. Prior to the performance, each of us came up with individual sequences, without telling the others what we would do.

The result was many layers of moments that were transfixed in the recording, like a photograph taken with a long exposure.

Kato Hideki
Brooklyn, NY
July 10, 2009

• Links:

Kato Hideki
Tetuzi Akiyama
Toshimaru Nakamura
Alexey Titarenko (cover photography, from the City of Shadows series)

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura
Masahiko Okura

Trio

• Release date: November 3, 2008.

• Personnel:

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura (microphone, headphones).
Masahiko Okura (alto sax).

• Tracklist:

01. Duo [06:54] [mp3]
Recorded live at Loop Line, Tokyo, July 28, 2006.

02. Solo(s) [40:38] [mp3]
Recorded live at Loop Line, Tokyo, September 17, 2006.

Recorded and mastered by Mitsuhiro Yoshimura.

• Notes:

Although this CD is the live recording of a duo concert of Masahiko Okura and myself, I feel that these recorded performances are like two solo sets. However, at the same time, the coincidence factors intruded on these performances deeply and surely influenced in some way so that we can also say this is a trio performance CD.

Of course, a title (here, of the music) doesn’t explain the work of art, and also vice versa. One of them is not subject to the other. The title is on a parallel with the music for me.

I don’t deny the meaning of a phenomenon nor prohibit, never limit. I just want to awaken meaning. What meaning do I want to alert? It is, “what is improvised music?”.

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura
January 2008

• Links:

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura
Masahiko Okura
Julien Pacaud (illustrations)

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura
Toshiya Tsunoda
Taku Sugimoto

Santa

• Release date: November 3, 2008.

• Personnel:

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura (microphone, headphones, book).
Toshiya Tsunoda (buzzer and brass sticks).
Taku Sugimoto (papers).

• Tracklist:

01. Santa [60:11] [mp3]

Recorded live by Taku Unami at Aoyama Book Center HMV Shibuya, May 19, 2007.
Mastered by Mitsuhiro Yoshimura.

• Notes:

“Santa” is a free paper which Sugimoto, Tsunoda, and Yoshimura edit and is issued about 4 times a year. “Santa” always includes 30000 to 40000 characters on the both sides of the A3 format because all the essays written by ourselves and the guest writers are of considerable volume. “Santa”, which is aimed specially for critiques that concern music and words, is indeed a free paper consisting of almost only characters!

We had an event, which was called “santa book fair”, at a certain bookstore in Tokyo for a month. For this book fair, each of us selected some of our favorite books and commented on them. This CD is the recording of the concert that we had at the gallery in the book store while the book fair was being held.

By the way, “santa” is a technical term, which means 3, as used in the traditional Japanese gambling game “oichokabu”. It is therefore nothing to do with Santa Claus!

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura
January 2008

• Links:

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura
Taku Sugimoto
Toshiya Tsunoda (MySpace fan profile)
Julien Pacaud (illustrations)