TOKYO (The Japan Times), April 11, 2008:By YUNG-HSIANG KAO
She released her acclaimed debut album 32 years ago at the age of 21, but Akiko Yano still refuses to rest on her laurels. Even with a 27th solo album on the way, the pianist, vocalist, lyricist and composer is still searching for new musical experiences.
Akiko Yano plays as part of Yanokami at the Rock in Japan festival
Known mainly for her unique, versatile voice on her renditions of jazz and pop tunes, Yano has been collaborating with Kyoto-based electronic artist and producer Rei Harakami for the last four years in a duo called Yanokami. She first encountered Harakami in 2002.
"There's a Japanese band called Quruli and they have a single arranged by him called 'Bara no Hana,' " Yano says during a brief trip to Tokyo following a Yanokami performance in Singapore. "When I listened to it, I was blown away. So new. Very organic. It was something that I'd never heard of.
"You know, I've been in the music business for over 30 years. It's pretty rare to have an impression like that — to find music that is 'new' in its true sense."
After hearing that track, Yano wanted to work with Harakami, so she got in contact. "I had the chance to talk to him and the next thing I did, I said, 'Hey, let's play music together.' And he couldn't say no," she says with a laugh, feigning effusive charm.
Akiko Yano and Rei Harakami of Yanokami The pair worked together on two tracks for Yano's 2004 album "Honto no Kimochi." These two tracks, "Night Train Home" and "Too Good to be True," both appear, as new versions, on Yanokami's self-titled debut album, released last August. And in March, an English-language version of the album, called "Yanokamick," was released, featuring two new tracks.
The Yanokami albums consist mainly of Yano's original works with Harakami's electronic orchestrations and programming complementing her piano and vocals.
"Originally, we started the Yanokami project with English vocals. The release of the Japanese version, I didn't intend to do that, but maybe the record company wanted it," Yano laughs.
Yano says she has no preference for singing in Japanese or English.
"Language itself has a rhythm," she says. "There is a song (on both albums) called 'Big Love.' When I sing it in Japanese, it has a different meaning because Japanese is my native language. The sounds and meaning come together."
In person, Yano is straightforward yet cheerful, choosing her words carefully but quick to let out a laugh, even about herself.
"I was a kind of ugly duckling," she says with a big laugh as she recalls her childhood piano studies. Yano has played piano since she was 3, but did not attend a formal music school.
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