Musical boundaries are no barrier to Yasuaki Shimizu, whose 40-year career spans an impressively broad range of genres. He is recognized for his crossover albums, film soundtracks, and high-profile installations and collaborations (working alongside fellow luminaries including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Harumi Hosono, Julee Cruise, Van Dyke Parks and David Cunningham).

His peerless back catalog reached a wider audience following the 2015 reissue of his band Mariah’s 1983 classic Utakata no Hibi, a masterful hybrid of Japanese folk and pop idioms. Reissued in 2017, cult favorite Kakashi playfully weaves together minimal dub and musique concrète. In 2018, Shimizu took these reissued albums on a six-nation European tour that included a stop at Roskilde Festival, one of continent’s largest music events. 2022 saw the reissue of yet another gem, Kiren, an album that leans into his proclivity for electronic experimentation. In a period of renewed activity and excitement, Shimizu is now gearing up to perform in North America, a place he’s not played since the 1980s.

Shimizu’s boundary-breaking approach to music goes beyond composition and performance. He views physical space as an extension of his instrument, and often “plays the space,” making use of unique acoustic environments in which to record and play.

 

Press Links

Pitchfork – Kiren review

Pitchfork – Utakata no Hibi review (Best New Reissue)

Bandcamp – 40 Years In, Saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu Finds A New Audience

Crack Magazine – 7 Essential Japanese Ambient And New Age Albums

The Quietus – Cult Album From Yasuaki Shimizu To Be Reissued

Redbull – Mariah’s Yasuaki Shimizu interview