Postcards from Japan
I first went to Japan in 1986 on tour with the Thompson Twins and then again in the 1990s when I was working with Cyndi Lauper.
We went about half a dozen times - I loved Japan - so many fond memories of the hospitality and kindness of the people and their enthusiasm for live music.
My last trip was in 2001 - I hope I get to go again one day . . .
A lot of music was inspired by those exciting journeys on the bullet train and walks through the Peace Park at Hiroshima , the beautiful shrines and mountains and islands.
Cyndi first heard my track "Searching" there and started writing lyrics - the song"Mother" was sketched out on a keyboard in a hotel room in Osaka. We used the group Shang Shang Typhoon from Okinawa on "Early Christmas Morning" - it was a dream come true to debut the "Sisters of Avalon" album in Japan in 1996 -7 and to see Ryuichi Sakamoto live at the Budokan . .
Later on my aTHeNa BLue album I used a recording of walking through the Peace Park at Hiroshima and ringing the Peace Bell. It became the backdrop to the track " The Bell in the Park" - You can hear the crows - I was reminded of that when I heard on an interview about the recent March 11th catastrophe that the first inkling something was about to happen came from the crows just before the earthquake.
Here are a few postcards from Japan posted to my FaceBook account http://facebook.com/jan.pulsford
. . . they were taken on what was then the first digital camera by casio . . so excuse the resolution!
Look forward to sharing an hour of music with you on Wednesday 3PM Pacific Daylight time - that's 9PM in the UK.
I will be streaming a special hour of live music as part of an online benefit concert being broadcast into the virtual world of Second Life where I perform using the avatar JaNa KYoMooN
You can also hear my concert on http://www.radiojana.com and I will make the show the gift of a download in return for a donation to the Red Cross
The world has been shocked by what they have seen . . . let's do something, anything to help
1 comment:
it's 10 PM UK time! 3PM Pacific Daylight TIme
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