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Hiroshima (band)
Hiroshima is an American band formed in 1974 that incorporates Japanese instruments in its music. Hiroshima has sold over four million albums around the world. Biography Dan Kuramoto, Hiroshima's leader, is from East Los Angeles. He attended California State University, Long Beach, then led its Asian-American studies department. Through playing in a band on weekends he met June Kuramoto, a native of Japan who grew up in Los Angeles and played '' koto'', a Japanese stringed instrument. Kuramoto admired Earth, Wind, and Fire for the way it combined jazz and R&B, and Santana for his identification with Latinos. He wanted to create a band that would represent Asian Americans. He named it after the Japanese city Hiroshima, which was mostly destroyed by an atomic weapon at the end of World War II. Hiroshima's debut album sold more than 100,000 copies in its first three months. The band's second album yielded the song "Winds of Change", which received a Grammy Award nomination for Be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smooth Jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 1980s, displacing the more venturesome jazz fusion from which it emerged. It avoids the improvisational "risk-taking" of jazz fusion, emphasizing melodic form and much of the music was initially "a combination of jazz with easy-listening pop music and lightweight R&B". During the mid-1970s in the United States it was known as "smooth radio", and was not termed "smooth jazz" until the 1980s. Notable artists The mid- to late-1970s included songs “Breezin'" as performed by another smooth jazz pioneer, guitarist George Benson in 1976, the instrumental composition " Feels So Good" by flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione, in 1978, " What You Won't Do for Love" by Bobby Caldwell along with his debut album was released the same year, jazz fusion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-Square (band)
T-Square (formerly known as The Square), stylized in all-uppercase T-SQUARE, is a Japanese jazz fusion band formed in 1976. They became famous in the late 1970s and early 1980s along with other Japanese jazz bands. They are known for songs such as "Truth", "Japanese Soul Brothers", "Takarajima", "Omens of Love", among others. During the first years simply The SQUARE was printed on the frontsides of their albums. After the renaming of the band to T-Square the imprint changed to T-SQUARE (all in Capital letters) and their typical logo became a capital letter T printed over a red square. During the years with the changing names of the band the logo got modified several times, reflecting the changing band names such as T-Square alpha (where an α sign got added to the logo), T-Square plus where the text "plus" was added centered next to the T in smaller letters. "Truth" has been used as the theme for Fuji Television's Formula One coverage from 1989 to 2000 and since 2012. A spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuvan Throat Singing
Tuvan throat singing, the main technique of which is known as ''khoomei'' ( tyv, хөөмей, xöömej, mn, хөөмий; ᠬᠦᠭᠡᠮᠡᠢ, khöömii, russian: хоомей, Chinese: 呼麦, pinyin: ''hūmài''), includes a type of overtone singing practiced by people in Tuva, Mongolia, and Siberia. In 2009, it was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO. The term ''hömey'' / ''kömey'' means '' throat'' and '' larynx'' in different Turkic languages. That could be borrowed from Mongolian ''khooloi'', which means throat as well, driven from Proto-Mongolian word ''*koɣul-aj''. Overview In Tuvan throat singing, the performer produces a fundamental pitch and—simultaneously—one or more pitches over that. The history of Tuvan throat singing reaches far back. Many male herders can throat sing, but women have begun to practice the technique as well. The popularity of throat singing among Tuvans seems to have arisen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoji Kameda
Shoji Kameda is a fourth-generation Japanese American musician and composer, and leading player of North American taiko. He is a founder and member of On Ensemble, a contemporary taiko quartet, and a former member of the jazz fusion group Hiroshima. Personal life Kameda was born on May 1, 1976, in San Jose, California. He grew up in Mt. Shasta, California and attended Mt. Shasta High School. He graduated from Stanford University in 1999 with a B.A. in History and currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Emi Yoshimura. Taiko Kameda started playing taiko when he was 8 years-old. His first teachers were Russell Baba and Jeanne Mercer, former students of Seiichi Tanaka and members of San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Kameda and friend, Masato Baba, were two of the original members of Shasta Taiko, one of North America's earliest children's taiko groups. Both Kameda and Baba were featured in the video documentary, "Shasta Taiko", winner of the 16th annual National Cable ACE Award i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Another Place (Hiroshima Album)
''Another Place'' is a studio album by American jazz band Hiroshima, released in 1985 by Epic Records. The album was notably the first gold record released by the band and was on the Billboard jazz chart for over a year. Reception '' Billboard'' referred the album as an "interesting, though rather lightweight, brand of pop/fusion." AllMusic rated the album two stars out of five. Track listing Album Cover The photograph on the album cover depicts a beach with two pegs stuck in the sand and wire appearing as though it connects them to a sea stack A stack or sea stack is a geology, geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by Coastal_erosion#Wave_action, wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and wate ... in the distance. It was taken by John Pfahl in 1975 and is titled "Triangle, Bermuda." Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts References {{Authority control 1985 albums Epic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Pacific American
Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs defined Asian-Pacific Islander as "A person with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East (i.e. East and Southeast Asia), Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Samoa, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam; and in South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan." History "Asian or Pacific Islander" was an option to indicate race and ethnicity in the United States Censuses in the 1990 and 2000 Census as well as in several Census Bureau studies in between, including Current Population Surveys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East West Players
East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give voice to the Asian Pacific American experience today. Overview Established in 1965 by Mako, Rae Creevey, Beulah Quo, Soon-Tek Oh, James Hong, Pat Li, June Kim, Guy Lee, and Yet Lock as a place where Asian-American actors could perform roles beyond the stereotypical caricatures they were being limited to in Hollywood. An early statement of purpose read: "To further cultural understanding between the East and West by employing the dual Oriental and American heritages of the East-West Players." Current mission statement: As the nation's premier Asian American theatre organization, East West Players produces artistic works and educational programs that foster dialogue exploring Asian Pacific experiences. Current vision statement: * Continui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taiko
are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming more specifically called . The process of constructing varies between manufacturers, and the preparation of both the drum body and skin can take several years depending on the method. have a mythological origin in Japanese folklore, but historical records suggest that were introduced to Japan through Chinese and Korean cultural influence as early as the 6th century CE; pottery from the Haniwa period depicting drums has also been found. Some are similar to instruments originating from India. Archaeological evidence also supports the view that were present in Japan during the 6th century in the Kofun period. Their function has varied throughout history, ranging from communication, military action, theatrical accompaniment, religiou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass Guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length, and typically four to six strings or courses. Since the mid-1950s, the bass guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music. The four-string bass is usually tuned the same as the double bass, which corresponds to pitches one octave lower than the four lowest-pitched strings of a guitar (typically E, A, D, and G). It is played primarily with the fingers or thumb, or with a pick. To be heard at normal performance volumes, electric basses require external amplification. Terminology According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', an "Electric bass guitar sa Guitar, usually with four heavy strings tuned E1'–A1'–D2–G2." It also defines ''bass'' as "Bass (iv). A contraction of Double ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakuhachi
A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .Kotobank, Fuke shakuhachi. The Asahi ShimbunKotobank, Shakuhachi. The Asahi Shimbun A bamboo flute known as the , which is quite different from the current style of , was introduced to Japan from China in the 7th century and died out in the 10th century. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keyboard Instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, which are usually housed in bell towers or belfries of churches or municipal buildings. Today, the term ''keyboard'' often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Under the fingers of a sensitive performer, the keyboard may also be used to control dynamics, phrasing, shading, articulation, and other elements of expression—depending on the design and inherent capabilities of the instrument. Another important use of the word ''keyboard'' is in historical musicology, where it means an instrument whose identity cannot be firmly established. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
