Blak’s Lair
Monday, June 8, 2009

Hiroshima - Legacy [2009]

The new album is a collection of songs from Hiroshima's first musical decade. The songs were not taken from the previous albums but re-recorded by the band's current lineup, the founders Dan (sax) and June Kuramoto (koto), joined by taiko drummer/percussionist Shoji Kameda, drummer/percussionist Danny Yamamoto, keyboardist Kimo Cornwell and bassist Dean Cortez. Further guest musicians are Terry Steele, Jim Gilstrap and Yvette Nii (vocals), Richie Gajate Garcia (percussion) and the string arrangements of maestro George del Barrio. Legacy is an invitation to explore Hiroshima's musical heritage. For fans of the group a welcome addition, for others the perfect entry into an unknown world of sound.

"When you start looking back at fifteen records over thirty years, that's a lot of material to choose from, " comments Dan Kuramato. "So we narrowed the scope to the first ten years, which includes five records - two of which were gold. We tracked everything live in my home studio for this new recording, with almost no overdubs. In many cases, the songs on this record are fairly similar to the originals. In some cases, they're very different."