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Brilliant Trees
''Brilliant Trees'' is the first solo album by the British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in June 1984. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. History Produced by Sylvian with Steve Nye, ''Brilliant Trees'' was Sylvian's first full-length release after the break-up of his band Japan in December 1982 (though former Japan members Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri both appear on the album). AllMusic called the album "an eclectic affair fusing funk, jazz, and ambient." Additional musicians on the album included Holger Czukay, Danny Thompson, Jon Hassell, Mark Isham, Ronny Drayton, Kenny Wheeler, Phil Palmer and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Sylvian and Sakamoto had previously collaborated on the singles "Bamboo Houses" and "Forbidden Colours", and continued to collaborate at various points in their careers. ''Brilliant Trees'' was recorded August 1983 at Hansa in ...
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David Sylvian
David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly electronic sound made them an important influence on the UK's early-1980s New Romantic scene. Following their break-up, Sylvian embarked on a solo career with his debut album ''Brilliant Trees'' (1984). His solo work has been described by AllMusic as "far-ranging and esoteric", and has included collaborations with artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Robert Fripp, Holger Czukay, Jon Hassell, Bill Nelson and Fennesz. While his recordings of the 1980s and 1990s were a mixture of pop, jazz fusion, and avant-garde experimentalism mixed with ambient, his more recent compositions have drawn increasingly on musical minimalism and free improvisation. Biography Early years David Sylvian was born David Alan Batt in Beckenham, Kent, England. H ...
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Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ...
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Air Studios
Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded in 1969. Since then AIR has operated its own professional audio recording facilities, AIR Studios. Oxford Street, London (1970–1991) AIR's first facility opened on 6 October 1970. It was located on the fourth floor of 214 Oxford Street, at Oxford Circus, containing four studios and (later) a MIDI programming room. The facility included two large studios (one 58×32 feet, the other 30×28 feet) and two small ones. The studios contained two Bösendorfer pianos, many soundproof booths, and a 56-channel mixing console, custom-designed by Neve Electronics to AIR's specification. AIR London became popular in the 1970s for spoken word recordings. It also became one of the most in-demand music studios in London by 1973. AIR Montserrat (19 ...
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The Church Studios
The Church Studios is a recording studio located in a former church in Crouch End, North London, England. It was rented and then owned by Dave Stewart in the 1980s and 1990s, and was used to record Eurythmics' second album '' Sweet Dreams''. David Gray acquired ownership in 2004 before UK leading music producer Paul Epworth bought and refurbished the studio in 2013. It has since been used by notable artists such as Adele, Beyoncé, Mumford & Sons, Coldplay and Madonna. History It was built in the 1850s and served solely for religious purposes for the Agapemonite sect until the middle of the 20th century. As a result of the social changes that took part in the second half of the 20th century, the building became desired within the creative industries. It was eventually split in two halves; one continuing as a traditional church, the other a creative studio that has been through a number of ventures since the 1980s. In the beginning of the 1980s, animators Bob Bura and John Ha ...
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Forbidden Colours
"Forbidden Colours" is a 1983 song by David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The song is the vocal version of the theme from the Nagisa Oshima film ''Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.'' It appears on the film's soundtrack album and was released as a single on Virgin Records in 1983 (the second collaborative single release by Sylvian and Sakamoto, following 1982's "Bamboo Houses"). Background The title of the song is taken from Japanese writer Yukio Mishima's 1953 novel ''Forbidden Colors''; although not directly related to the film, both works include exploration of homosexual themes, specifically resistance to desires through faith in God. In 1984 the track was re-recorded and released as the B-side to "Red Guitar", the lead single to Sylvian's first solo album ''Brilliant Trees'' and was later also included as a bonus track on certain editions of his 1987 album ''Secrets of the Beehive''. Both Sakamoto and Sylvian have since recorded several interpretations of the song, both ins ...
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Bamboo Houses
"Bamboo Houses" is a song by Japanese musician-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and English singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released on Virgin Records in 1982. It reached number 30 in the UK charts in the second week of August 1982. The double A-side single "Bamboo Houses"/"Bamboo Music" was the first solo project by Sylvian, released while he was still a member of the band Japan. It was the second collaboration between the two, the first being the track "Taking Islands in Africa" on the 1980 Japan album ''Gentlemen Take Polaroids'' which featured Sakamoto on keyboards. The "Bamboo Houses" single in turn featured drums by Japan member Steve Jansen, who also appeared in the promo video, and was co-produced by Steve Nye. Similarly, Sakamoto was still a member of the band Yellow Magic Orchestra at the time, though he had already done some previous solo work. In 1983 Sylvian and Sakamoto would team up again on "Forbidden Colours", the theme song to the Nagisa Oshima film ''Merry Christma ...
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Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto influenced and pioneered a number of electronic music genres. Sakamoto began his career while at university in the 1970s as a session musician, producer, and arranger. His first major success came in 1978 as co-founder of YMO. He concurrently pursued a solo career, releasing the experimental electronic fusion album '' Thousand Knives'' in 1978. Two years later, he released the album ''B-2 Unit''. It included the track "Riot in Lagos", which was significant in the development of electro and hip hop music. He went on to produce more solo records, and collaborate with many international artists, David Sylvian, Carsten Nicolai, Youssou N'Dour, and Fennesz among them. Sakamoto composed music for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic ...
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Phil Palmer
Philip John Palmer (born 9 September 1952) is a rock sideman and session guitarist who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous artists. He is best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. Biography Palmer grew up in north London. Ray and Dave Davies of The Kinks were his uncles on his mother's side."Session Man" by Phil Palmer, 2021 Palmer has supported artists that include Lucio Battisti (album '' Una giornata uggiosa'', 1980), Pet Shop Boys, Murray Head, Steve Harley, Wishbone Ash (1986 touring), Joan Armatrading, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Iggy Pop, Scott Walker (''Track Three'', 1984), Thomas Anders (1989), Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Dire Straits (1992 tour), Pete Townshend (1993 and 2000 shows), Eros Ramazzotti ( Tutte storie 1993), Alejandro Sanz (Alejandro Sanz 3 1995), Paola e Chiara (1997), Pino Daniele, Geri Halliwell, Katey Sagal, Chris de Burgh, Bryan Adams, Johnny Hallyday, David Knopfler, George Michael, Ivano Fossati, Renato Zero, Claud ...
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Kenny Wheeler
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active in free improvisation and occasionally contributed to rock music recordings. Wheeler wrote over one hundred compositions and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles. Wheeler was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course. Early life Wheeler was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 14 January 1930. Growing up in Toronto, he began playing the cornet at age 12 and became interested in jazz in his mid-teens. Wheeler spent a year studying composition at The Royal Conservatory of Music in 1950. In 1952 he moved to Britain. He found his way into the London jazz scene of the time, playing in groups led by Tommy Whittle, Tubby Hayes, and Ronnie Scott. Career In the late 1950s, he was a member of Buddy Featherstonhaugh's quinte ...
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Ronny Drayton
Ronny Drayton (May 19, 1953 – February 7, 2020) was a guitarist based in the New York City area and Monroe, New York. Born and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, Drayton started out playing drums at St. Clement The Pope Middle School and switched to guitar at age 14. After high school, he eventually met and played with many notables in the genres of rock, funk, soul, blues and jazz, most notably R&B acts like The Persuaders and The Chambers Brothers. He became an in-demand session musician, performing with Edwin Birdsong and Nona Hendryx, and also studied Composition and Arrangement at Kingsborough Community College. Over the years, he has worked on countless recording projects as well as numerous TV shows and videos. In late 2012, Drayton joined 24-7 Spyz, performing with them as well as the bands Defunkt and Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber until his death. In 2012, Drayton was active in trying to get his son, Donovan Drayton, released from Riker's Islan ...
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Mark Isham
Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and television series, including '' The Hitcher,'' ''Point Break'', '' A River Runs Through It'', ''Of Mice and Men, Warrior, Nell, Blade,'' ''Crash'', ''The Black Dahlia'', '' The Lucky One'' and ''Once Upon a Time.'' Isham acted as well in ''Made in Heaven'' by Alan Rudolph (1987) and directed ''The Cowboy and the Ballerina'' in 1998. Life and career Isham was born in New York City, the son of Patricia (née Hammond), a violinist, and Howard Fuller Isham, a Professor of Humanities. His discography is extensive and varied, including participation with artists including David Sylvian, Group 87, Art Lande, Pharoah Sanders, Van Morrison, David Torn, and sessions with people like Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Terry Bozzio, Bill Bruford, XTC ...
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Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various world ethnic traditions with modern electronic techniques. The concept was first articulated on '' Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics'', his 1980 collaboration with Brian Eno. Born in Tennessee, Hassell studied contemporary classical music in New York and later in Germany under composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. He subsequently worked with minimalist composers Terry Riley (on a 1968 recording of ''In C'') and La Monte Young (as part of his Theatre of Eternal Music group), and studied under Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath. His association with Brian Eno in the early 1980s would introduce Hassell to a larger audience. He subsequently worked with musical artists such as Talking Heads, David Sylvian, Farafina, Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears ...
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