NAMM 2006 Show News

Kitaro

For over nearly thirty years, the electronic music of Kitano has cast its spell on listeners around the world. As a composer and multi-instrumentalist, Kitaro has reached millions of people on every continent with his recordings.

Kitaro's music is a reflection of his reverence for nature and for the world as humanity's natural habitat. "Nature inspires me," he says. "To me, some songs are like clouds, some are like water."

The beauty of nature was part of Kitaro's earliest days. He was born into a Buddhist/Shintoist farming family in Toyohashi Prefecture in Central Japan in 1953. His rural youth gave him an early feel for the simplicity and grandeur of nature. "I found a place in nature when I was very young," he recalls. "And spirituality, I was always a universalist in my outlook."

In high school, he discovered the electric guitar. Self-taught, Kitaro fell in love with American rhythm and blues. Kitaro says, "I love classical music, which is like pictures, and rock music, to me, means power and energy. We have music so we can feel the Universe."

He formed the rock group Albatross, which featured his early poetry set to music, with some school friends. In the early 1970's, he recorded with a group called The Far East Family Band, and switched from guitar to keyboards. He recalls, "I had switched over to keyboards and we were doing a rough form of the kind of impressionistic music that I would later start playing."

"I remember when I first created the wave sound. I could create an ocean, a winter coastline, a summer beach." The Japanese became fascinated by Kitaro's music and the critics referred to it as 'sound pictures' and 'mind music.' In 1980, he created the music to Silk Road, an hour-long documentary about the overland trade route from Europe to Japan. The Japanese National Television program was so well received that it evolved into a series that ran on Japanese television for five years.

For many years, a small and devoted audience in America, through albums imported from Japan and Europe, knew Kitaro. By 1985, that audience widened considerably when Geffen Records simultaneously released a number of Kitaro compilations.

In 1986, came Tenku. The title, which means "Heavenly Sky," reflects the open air environment of Kitaro's home studio, a 200-year old farmhouse in the Japanese Alps, where the album was made. On the opening track, a child's laughter is heard. The album's theme concerns images and impressions of childhood.

In the fall of 1987, The Light of the Spirit was released, co-produced with Grateful Dead Percussionists Mickey Hart, a long time Kitaro admirer. Thematically, the CD includes Kitaro's vision of life, death and rebirth, and continues his musical exploration of the life cycle that started with Tenku. Kitaro earned his first Grammy nomination for "The Field" in the category of best new age performance.

Later that year, Kitaro toured the U.S. and played to sold-out venues in many cites, including New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Atlanta and was often required to add a second night to satisfy demand.

In 1992, Kitaro became even more accessible to pop culture in the U.S. by a collaborating with Yes' Jon Anderson for the Dream album. And later that year, was enlisted to score the music for Oliver Stone's final chapter in his epic trilogy about the Vietnam War, Heaven and Earth. The soundtrack to this critically acclaimed feature earned Kitaro a Golden Globe Award.

In the following years, Kitaro earned a number of Grammy Nominations for Mandala, An Enchanted Evening and Gaia Onbashira. The accolades were made official when after an amazing six nominations, Kitaro captured the prestigious Grammy Award in the 'Best New Age Album' category for Thinking of You. Kitaro notes, "The Grammy Award was always an incredible dream and to actually win was truly a dream come true."

In 2001, Kitaro was commissioned to record the accompanying soundtrack to the NHK special, Messages from the Past and inspired the music for Kitaro's seventh Grammy Nominated album, Ancient.

An Ancient Journey takes the listener on a trip, which began with his previous release, Ancient. Merging the finest of Eastern and Western culture, Kitaro invites you to experience the life and spirit of the world's ancient people.

Kitaro has noted that his purpose with his music is to calm the inner person: "The wars of the world don't come from outer space. People create them, people who have a war within themselves. I want to create music that eases that war within."