Takashi Hirayasu Nankuru Naisa CD - Import

Additional Tracks

Personnel includes: Takashi Hirayasu (vocals, acoustic guitar, sanshin); Bob Brozman (acoustic guitar, Weissenborn guitar, bottleneck guitar, ukulele, charango, background vocals); David Hildago (Mexican guitar, requinto, ukulele, accordion); Piper Hesig (acoustic & electric basses, background vocals); Rick Walker (drums, conga, djembe, background vocals)
Recorded at MARS Recording Studio, Santa Cruz, California. Includes liner notes by Paul Fisher.
Personnel: Takashi Hirayasu (vocals, guitar); Bob Brozman (guitar, bottleneck guitar, charango, ukulele, background vocals); Piper Heisig (electric guitar, upright bass, background vocals); Craig Owens (electric bass); Rick Walker (drums); Daniel Thomas, Paul Fisher (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Daniel Thomas.
Liner Note Author: Paul Fisher .
Recording information: MARS Recording Studio, Santa Cruz, CA; Saidera Mastering, Tokyo, Japan.
Photographer: Paul Fisher .
Translator: Shunya Hata.
Arrangers: Takashi Hirayasu; Bob Brozman.
Takashi Hirayasu and Bob Brozman's first collaboration, Jin Jin/Firefly, was such a creative triumph that one hoped the two would someday meet again. Thankfully, it didn't take Okinawan singer/sanshin player Hirayasu and American guitarist Brozman five or ten years to get back together. Jin Jin/Firefly was recorded in 1999, and their next studio encounter, Nankuru Naisa, is a 2001 release. Although the acoustic-oriented albums have some things in common -- both combine Okinawan music with elements of rock, blues, and Hawaiian music -- Nankuru Naisa is hardly a carbon copy of its predecessor. While Jin Jin/Firefly found Hirayasu and Brozman putting their own spin on traditional Okinawan children's songs, Nankuru Naisa is dominated by Hirayasu's own compositions. This CD only contains two traditional Okinawan songs: "Ayagu" and "Chim Don Don," a familiar melody that Hirayasu wrote lyrics for. One of the musicians who joins Hirayasu and Brozman on some of the material is Mexican-American guitarist David Hidalgo, the fearless leader of Los Lobos since 1973. Hidalgo, who plays accordion on "Aitaina" and requinto guitar on other tracks, is an eclectic, broad-minded player who is well-versed in rock as well as a variety of Latin music -- he isn't afraid of a musical challenge, and he demonstrates that Mexican touches can work well on an album with an Okinawan foundation. While Nankuru Naisa is excellent, it isn't long enough -- the disc is only 42 minutes long, and one regrets the fact that Hirayasu and Brozman don't provide another half-hour's worth of material. But that's the only thing that's regrettable about this album, which is as charming as it is risk-taking. ~ Alex Henderson

Mojo (Publisher) (4/01, p.113) - "...There is an undeniable beauty here....a lot for guitar lovers and masochists alike."