My Collection/
Meine Sammlung
Discography
Misc
Gaia Onbashira
CD
1998
Domo Records
72438-45789-2-3
1. YAMADASHI: TANNE/ PRAYER 13:27
2. MISTY 4:13
3. GAIA 7:11
4. WOOD FAIRY 5:34
5. SATOBIKI 9:21
6. KIOTOSHI 9:30
Gesamt 49:16
Distinguished by warmth and emotion, "Feeling," according to Kitaro, is the most important element of his music. In the artist's new release, Kitaro embarks on a journey deeply rooted in centuries old tradition and respect for our planet, GAIA, mother earth.
Inspired by the Onbashira Matsuri or Pillar Festival, much of the music contained in
GAIA centers on this - the largest and most grand of events which takes place every seven years.
As one of the three oldest and most ornate structures of its kind, the rebuilding of Japan's Suwa Grand Shrine is the focus of the celebration. The origin of the festival first appears 1,400 years ago in Japan's first book of writings, the Kojiki. In
those days, the people living in the country of Shinano-no-kuni, today's Nagano, would take part in the spiritual Onbashira Matsuri every seven years, on the anniversary of the rebuilding of the structure.
"We should all respect nature - always."
-- KITARO, 1998
Gaia
Kitaro has been living in Rocky mountains for about seven
years. Don't know if he watched the pillar festival ( onbashira ) last time.
Kitaro's new album Gaia features the special festival, onbashira, in Suwa.
Onbashira is the festival in which people in Suwa cut down the trees in the
mountains, send the trees back to the villages, and upright them to rebuild the
Grand Shrine.
To teach people beating the taiko drums during the closing ceremony of winter
Olympics in Nagano, Kitaro was back to Japan for three days during his leisure
time. The enthusiasts must see Kitaro dressed in brocade kimono druming with the
people from Suwa if they watched the winter Olympics closing ceremony, though
the footage was not long enough. The curtain of winter Olympics had already been
lowered. When I called Kitaro to ask him when he will be back to Nagano, I
couldn't help telling him that the "Suwa lumbering tune" ( I really
don't know how to translate this...) in the opening was so touching that I even
cried. That's when he told me that he is writing the music for onbashira.
I had never thought that I would cry for the lumbering tune. The lumbering tune,
as I know, is kinda like the ballad chanted by the men in the lumbering place.
But when watching onbashira during the opening, the chanting was loud, sonorous,
and clear. Just hearing the first chant made me feel that the tendon on my back
was trembling. And I couldn't stop my tears from coming out. The reporter who
sit beside me saw me crying so asked me why, I told him this song is the sacred
song which woodcutters give to the god of mountain as tribute, and if you listen
carefully, than.......
Suwa keeps a lot of old traditions. I have been thinking, the Suwa lumbering
ballad may not be a folk ballad for the holiday, but the special song that men
use to be sympothetic to the god of mountain. When listening to the tape Kitaro
sent from Colorado, the scene of the lumbering ballad with men transporting the
trees back as god to enshrine came out.
"Is there god of mountain or wood faerie in our world? People who live in
the busy cities might not have leisure to think deeply about this issue. But
there are still many wonderful and amazing things bestowed by the nature on this
earth."
"If there is god of mountain in the mountains, god of river in the rivers,
than there must be great spirits living in all living things such as woods or
birds. We can find them as long as we pay a little attention." This is the
conversation between Kitaro and I when walking in the forest while there was
still snow accumulated in Mount Fuji.
In the forest, we looked at the flying clouds while listening to the impromput
song Kitaro played with bamboo flute, trees swung in the mild winds, birds
gathered in the music of flute. All these along with the taiko drum tunes Kitaro
had played in Mount Fuji and Suwa, after two years' brewing, crystallized into
this new album Gaia.
Through the album which is expected for a long time. I feel the unadorned beauty
of the earth. Maybe at this moment, in the mountains of Colorado, Kitaro is also
strolling with the whisper of swinging trees and the babble of streams as
meditating with his peaceful mind....
Ishikawa
All music written, arranged and played by
Kitaro
Produced by
Kitaro
Recorded by
Gary Barlough and
Jun Yoshida
at Mochi Studio, Ward, CO
Mixed by
Peter R. Kelsey
at Mad Hatter Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Mastered by
Doug Sax
at the Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, CA
Additional Musicians:
Angus Clark:
Electric Guitar
12 String Guitar
Derek Zimmerman:
Percussion
Kristin Stordahl Kanda:
Transversal Flute
Masa Ito:
Classical Guitar
Ty Burhoe:
Tabla and Tamboura
Luis Perez:
Atmospheric Percussion
Tadayasu Nishi:
Kiyari Chant
Jonathan Goldman:
Chanting Voice
Keiko Takahashi:
Hand Drums
Ryusuke Seto:
Biwa
Kitaro / Keiko Takahashi / Gary Barlough / Miazawa and Rieko:
"Human Birds"
Cover Photo:
Kitaro
Photographs of Kitaro:
Osamu Matsuki
Art Direction & Design:
JAPAN - Graphic Compose Yellow
U.S. - Wendy Sherman/Art Slave
Special Thanks:
Eddie Gilreath, Mitch Rabin, Michael Zildjian, Tom Kidd, Lisa Jo Woodruff and Dino Malito for Domo Records,
Craig Melone for Hands On Public Relations, Mark Bookin and Fred Walecki at Westwood Music,
Korg USA, Korg Japan, Sonic Solutions, Apogee, Demas, Remo Belli and all at Remo Drums,
Toca Percussion, Paiste Cymbals, Gibraltar Hardware and Legend Drums.
Very Special Thanks to Mickey Houlihan, Bob and Steve and all at Wind Over the Earth.
Management and Direction: Eiichi Naito and Penny Muck for Domo Music Group.
(P) & © 1998 DOMO Records, Inc.,
2211 Corinth Ave., Suite 100,
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Manufactured and distributed by
NARADA PRODUCTIONS, INC.,
4650 N, Port Washington Road.,
Milwaukee, WI 53212-1063,
Tel. (414) 961-8350
Printed and manfactured in the U.S.A.
GAIA ONBASHIRA pays tribute to Mother Earth and to Onbashira
Matsuri, a festival celebrating the rebuilding of one of Japan's oldest
structures, the Suwa Grand Shrine in Nagano. Kitaro, in other words, once
again takes on two of his favorite themes: the importance of nature in our
lives, and the need to maintain a spiritual connection to past traditions in this
world of ever-increasing complexity and chaos. The album opens with bird
imitations by Kitaro and guests (calling themselves "human birds"); the
listener is then taken on a winding journey through a variety of sonic
landscapes.
Stops along the way include the meditative "Tanne," evoking the image of
mist-covered mountains from old Japanese paintings; the lushly orchestrated
"Misty," reminiscent of Kitaro's award-winning score for Oliver Stone's
HEAVEN & EARTH; and the droning, mildly Indian-influenced "Gaia,"
recalling his 1994 album, MANDALA. His textures range from the gentle
and ethereal, bringing to mind his early treks along THE SILK ROAD, to
the strident and pulsating, reminding us of his roots in progressive rock. He
employs a rich array of instruments, including the Japanese biwa, the Indian
tabla and tamboura, and the David Gilmour-inspired guitar work of Angus
Clark.
Pressetext von Domo Records
Gaia, the newest offering from Kitaro, recently entered Billboard Magazine's New Age Top 10 with a bullet and continues to climb. Then we went to #4 position on Amazon.com's New Age chart. Now we've hit #2 on Music Boulevard's list of Top Sellers, which means we've moved more units than the latest from Jesse Cook, The Carpenters and Bette Midler. In fact, we're second only to Disney's Mulan soundtrack. Thanks to all of you in the press who have helped make Gaia such a success.