KACIREK, SVEN - SONGS FROM OKINAWA (CD)

"On his new album SONGS FROM OKINAWA Sven Kacirek searches for traces of a unique, traditional music of the famous Pacific islands in the south of Japan. He has recorded various musicians, amateurs as well as local celebrities and subsequently added his trademark instruments marimba, xylophone and piano. The result is an incomparable album of timeless beauty and elegance. This album offers intimate insights into both Sven Kacireks art of composition and the outstanding sonic heritage of instrumental and vocal techniques in Okinawa. In its gentle style, with asymmetrical chord progressions and highly dynamic volume proportions, "Songs From Okinawa" challenges our listening habits and develops its strength in the gaps and pauses. "My goal was to add something new to traditional japanese music without banishing the ghosts of the old songs" states Sven Kacirek. It is an artistic approach similar to his previous "The Kenya Sessions", where he juxtaposed musicians whom he had met and recorded in villages in Kenya with his own drumming and composition. The main difference is that, this time Sven Kacirek has completely maintained the basic arrangements of the recorded songs. With "Songs from Okinawa" Sven Kacirek returns to Pingipung, after releasing some records on famous imprints like Honest Jon's, Bureau B or Naive. The comprehensive liner-notes of the release give further information about the musical culture of Okinawa, the recording sessions and the lyrics of the songs." (label info)