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New Kazumi Tamaki CD to be released on 9/25/08!
Have you heard of the Okinawan word churakaagii? Well, the very handy Okinawan-English Wordbook (Amazon.com link) defines the word as “a beauty; a belle; a pretty girl; a good-looking woman.” All of these describe utasaa Kazumi Tamaki and to top it off, she’s super nice in person too. Anyway, before I go on about Kazumi,…
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Toru Yonaha getting back to his Roots
This upcoming release from Toru Yonaha is the perfect companion to his 2007 album “Utage ~party~” which was heavily influenced by J-pop. The 11 track album titled “Roots ~Ryukyu Iwaiuta~ (Best of Okinawan Traditional Songs)” will be released on 9/24/08 in Okinawa. Dude, I am so buying this. (Via 沖縄三線日和.)
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OMG! Ayano Uema to release a new album?
One of our favorite utasaa (唄者) here at Karakui.com, Ayano Uema, announced (well, it was more of a blurb) on her blog that she just completed shooting photos for a “new CD.” Now whether that means it’s a CD that she’s featured in or if it’s her own album remains to be seen but further…
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Misako Koja’s latest album, “Miguru Inochi,” to be released on 10/25/08
Misako Koja’s “Miguru Inochi” will be her first new album in eight years following the fantastic “Amakakiru Hashi” released in 2000. With a total of 12 tracks, “Miguru Inochi” also includes an album versions of the powerful “Kuroi Ame (Black Rain)” and the beautiful “Kuganingwa” (one of my personal favorites of Misako’s). According to her…
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Tatsuya Shimabukuro to perform in Hawaii’s Okinawan Festival!
I blogged about Tatsuya Shimabukuro’s debut album several months ago and now I’m elated to hear that he’ll be performing at this year’s Okinawan Festival (Honolulu, Hawaii). He’s set to perform on Saturday, August 30, as part of the ROK segment as one of the winners of their Miuta Taisho competition. BBtv has footage (video…
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Found while browsing the iTunes Store
While browsing the iTunes Store (waiting patiently for Hikaru Utada’s [a J-pop artist with no ties that I know of to Okinawan pop culture but thought I’d share this information with you anyway 😛 ] latest album to pop-up there) I stumbled on two indies artists — one an utasaa, the other an O-pop duo…
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Yasuo Yoshida’s ‘Jakai’ hits stores on March 23rd
Veteran utasaa (Okinawan folk musician) Yasuo Yoshida has a new album out today titled “Jakai.” Yasuo-sensei is one of the most I’m-happy-to-be-in-the-background-kind of musicians I’ve ever met so I’m quite eager to listen to the album. Many of you who follow shimauta and O-pop (Okinawan pop music) will probably be familiar with his wife, Yasuko…
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Lyrics: Misako Koja’s ‘Warabigami’
Warabigami Lyrics by Misako Koja / Music & Arrangement by Kazuya Sahara from the album “Ama Kakeru Hashi (Bridges Over Heaven)” (DM-002) tiN kara nu migumi, ukiti ku nu shige ni Nmari taru nashigwa, wami nu mui sudati irayoo hei, irayoo hoi irayoo kanashi umi nashigwa nakuna yooya heiyoo heiyoo tida nu hikari ukiti yuuiri…
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Singer Kozue Chinen posts kunkunshi of her song ‘Imenshori Iijima’
In a very cool move, Okinawa minyou singer Kozue Chinen posted kunkunshi (musical notation) of her composition “Imenshori Iijima” on her blog along with the lyrics which are a tribute to her hometown. “Imenshori” means welcome in Iijima (Iejima) dialect and she also links to a YouTube clip of her performing the song.
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Music: Respect Record to release Seijin Noborikawa original album in January 2008
Respect Record has been the record label most associated with original album releases (as opposed to compilations or reissues of an artist’s earlier recordings) of artists from Okinawa that’s readily available outside of Okinawa on say iTunes or from my personal favorite online stores like CDJapan. The label’s release of Seijin Noborikawa’s fantastic “Spiritual Unity”…
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