beautiful accordionism

12Jun09

Here are a few shots from a series I of portraits I took in Kyoto of Marié Abe, a stunningly talented accordionist and composer who is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.  These shots were originally intended for use in the 2009 edition of the Bay Area Accordion Babes pin-up calendar (with CD!), but […]

Filed under: fashion, Japan, Kansai, music, photography   |  2 Comments
Tags: accordion, Bay Area Accordion Babes, 着物, 阿部万里江, kimono, Kyoto, Marie Abe, musician, photo shoot, photography, portraits, 京都

Midori Hirano, Yasushi Yoshida, Miaou, Tracer AMC

17Dec06

Midori Hirano is a piano player and composer who creates an assemblage of dreamy, beautiful, lush and layered sound using a combination of keyboards, computer manipulation, and live instrumentation. The first time I saw Midori play was with RF at Urban Guild in Kyoto. Since that show was so good, I was really looking forward […]

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Tags: Abe Marié, accordion, drone, electronic music, 阿部万里江, improvisational music, LushRush, Marie Abe, Miaou, Midori Hirano, Rain Dogs, Tracer AMC, trance, Yasushi Yoshida

Ett and Ryukusanburu Koen

01Dec06

My friend Marié invited me out to Café Barbes the other night to see Ett, who she described as “my FAVORITE beautiful duo from Nagoya,” as well as a band called Ryukusanburu Koen (more on Ryukusanburu later). The show at Barbes was tremendous, and Ett — Kei on guitar and vocals by Sayuri Nishimoto — […]

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Tags: accordion music, accordions, Argyle, いぬんこ, エット, チャンキー, テンカラ, リュクサンブル公園, benshi, Café Barbes, Chanky, Coup Music, Ett, 阿部万里江, 西本さゆり, haiku pops, Ichi, Inunco, Kei, Marie Abe, Martha, neo-benshi, Ryukusanburu Koen, Sayuri Nishimoto, Shirokuma, Yoshitomo Nara, Yuji Hirama, 奈良 美智, 弁士, 渓

RF at Urban Guild

02Nov06

The reason that Marié came down from Tokyo, lugging her accordion with her, was to play a gig with RF — from San Francisco — at Kyoto’s Urban Guild. RF stands for “radio frequency,” of course, but it also stands for Ryan Francesconi, the center of a cosmos of musicians that participate in the RF […]

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Tags: Audio Safari, club, concert, electro-acoustic, Kyoto, livehouse, Mami Sakurai, Marie Abe, Midori Hirano, minimalism, music for quiet ears, quiet music, RF, Ryan Francesconi, Tim Frick, Urban Guild, 京都

Four Flea Circus

23Aug05

On July 28th, Four Flea Circus came to Osaka to play at The Bridge, a musicians’ collective located in the Shinsekai area of Osaka, which is kind of a cross between Coney Island and Amsterdam. Shinsekai is the site of one of Japan’s early modern entertainment districts, Luna Park, the Shinsekai Amusement Grounds. The original […]

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Tags: Charles Ferris, Den Den Town, Dotombori, 贋魚, Four Flea Circus, Jason Levis, Lisa Mezzacappa, Marie Abe, Nipponbashi, Niseuo, Shinsekai, Smartball, Tsutenkaku Tower