Author: afuriko

Categories
articles & reviews

Tao album review: Festival Peak

artwork © Margaux Couet

“In AfuriKo’s enchanting world, music opens up to every kind of interpretation.”

Review of AfuriKo’s third studio album Tao by “Jazz Medium” Carol Banks Weber on Festival Peak (February 2019), a blog with “words about experiencing music.” Carol uses her heightened awareness, hyper-empathic qualities, and true fondness of jazz to write vivid accounts of what she sees, hears, and feels when listening to music.

🇬🇧/🇺🇸 “AfuriKo’s new music really flies in the face of jazz, opening up your ears to a world of possibilities.”

🇫🇷 “Défiant l’essence même du jazz, la nouvelle musique d’AfuriKo ouvrira vos oreilles à un monde de possibilités.”

Carol Banks Weber, Festival Peak

🇬🇧/🇺🇸 “Tao taps into a prism of rhythmically diverse jazz fusion.”

🇫🇷 “Tao puise dans un prisme jazz fusion d’une grande diversité rythmique.”

Carol Banks Weber, Festival Peak
Categories
announcements

shout out to our “Tao” backers!

A muffled thud, and
the harlequin butterfly
soars into the light.

The haiku above is an image that came to mind when reflecting on the many emotions Akiko and I went through during the first part of the production process for Tao. It is also a celebration of the transformative powers of the butterfly, and is featured on the poster some of you have chosen as a reward.

Once again, AfuriKo would like to thank Laurent Maget, Charles Frossard, Chris Hayward, Margaux Couet, Diana & Ray Xecu, and Andy ‘Hippy’ Baldwin for their invaluable creative, artistic, and technical contributions to this recording and artwork.

Very special thanks also go to our fans, friends, and families, who generously participated in our Kickstarter campaign, joining us on the wonderful journey of making this music tangible. In alphabetical order:

  • Alyse Korn
  • Andre Below
  • Ant Law
  • Benjamin de Roubaix
  • Bruno Wilhelm & Laure Lang
  • Cheryl Suzanne Arnold
  • Chiyomi Hayata
  • Chris T. Armstrong
  • Christèle Oudin & Laurent Naccache
  • Coline Chaumont & Philippe Lopes de Sa
  • Daniel Crease & Yuko Horii
  • Danièle Jullien
  • David Shimamoto
  • Dominic Inferrera
  • Eddie Parker & Elaine Furness
  • Eloise Chadourne
  • Ernezt Kuijpers
  • Erwan Ledoux
  • Etienne Prat
  • Godefroy Dronsart
  • Greg Rawlings
  • Hidetomo Narisawa
  • Hiroko Horii & Christian Weiss
  • Hiroshi & Mieko Machida
  • Homi Faris
  • Isabelle Olivier
  • Jade Choi
  • Jean-Claude Dessein
  • Jean-Nicolas Dumez
  • Jeff Boudreaux & Isabelle Bégué
  • Jenifer Bright
  • Jez Matthews
  • Joscha Gujahr
  • Juan Andrés Ospina
  • Julien Porceddu
  • Kashima Hirotsugu
  • Kevin Funnell
  • Koichi & Yuriko Horii
  • Kumar Chopra
  • Kuniko & Kiyoshi Nakamura
  • Laszlo Gardony
  • Laura Bohn
  • Laurent de Laprade
  • Laurent Maget
  • Marcelo Woloski
  • Martin Vanden Bossche
  • Masayuki Tamura
  • Mathis Plapp
  • Mika Mimura
  • Mike & Hélène Funnell
  • Natsuko Matsuoka
  • Nguyen Lê & Dominique Borker
  • Noah Rott
  • Noor Bseiso
  • Olivier Michel
  • Özgün Forta
  • Pascale Audouze
  • Pedro Goueythieu
  • Peter Bailey
  • Peter Traunmueller
  • Ray & Diana Xecu
  • Robert Kyle
  • Robin Nitram
  • Ron Bozarth
  • Ryoko Yamada
  • Sandy Woodruff
  • Stefan Bornmann
  • Sylvain Moreau
  • Takeo Muramatsu
  • The Creative Fund
  • Tomoko Omura
  • Tomoko Yanagita
  • Tore Velden
  • Tracy Perry
  • Valérie Rozenberg
  • Violette de Bartillat
  • Xavier Hermosin
  • Yann Raineau
  • Yoshiko Oda
  • Yuuka Nakamura
  • Zacharie Abraham
Categories
TV

AfuriKo at Beats in Bliss Plaza covered by Queens by the Minute

AfuriKo was honored to be part of Beats in Bliss Plaza this year and perform an open-air concert for the first time in their beloved neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens. The event was presented by Sunnyside Shines (Sunnyside District Management) and Nicholas Biondo from Queens by the Minute, an excellent source of local news, was present to cover the special event. In addition to visiting their website, you can find their channel here on YouTube.

Categories
podcasts & radio

むさしの-FM (Musashino-FM) interview

AfuriKo appeared on むさしの-FM 78.2 on November 14, 2017. Musashino is a city in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis.

Categories
articles & reviews

Le Baiser Salé concert announcement on Le jars jase jazz

20170217 Baiser Salé
Double bill concert “AfuriKo + Jim Funnell’s Word Out” at Le Baiser Salé (an inimitable Parisian jazz club when it comes to jazz with a world music flavour!) announced on jazz critic Guillaume Lagrée’s blog “Le jars jase jazz:” Jazz concerts selection in Paris and Île-de-France for February 2017.

Categories
articles & reviews

Jazzmandu 2016: Himalayan Times review

Article in The Himalayan Times, Nepal’s largest selling English daily newspaper, reviewing AfuriKo’s concert at “Sounds of Latin Jazz.” The event was part of Jazzmandu, otherwise known as Kathmandu Jazz Festival (or the “Biggest Jazz Party in the Himalayas!”) and took place at the Summit Hotel in Patan (Nepal) on October 23, 2016.

Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban tunes strike the right chord
The Himalayan Times
2016-10-25

Categories
gallery podcasts & radio

Style CD release: Radio Osaka (OBC) interview

AfuriKo appeared on Osaka Broadcasting Corporation (OBC), also known as Radio Osaka, an AM radio station of National Radio Network (NRN). The interview, including excerpts from AfuriKo’s second album Style, was aired on September 9, 2016, as part of weekly cultural program “Utazuki Don!“. The show is hosted by renowned Japanese producer, arranger, and singer-songwriter Taiji Nakamura, who has received several awards including the Japan Record Award (major annual music awards show that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer’s Association in a manner similar to the American Grammy Awards) twice in 1972 and 1982.

Categories
podcasts & radio

The Other Village EP release: FM Salus interview

AfuriKo appeared on local radio station Yokohama Community Broadcast Co., Ltd., located at iTSCOM Studio & Hall in Setagaya (Tokyo) and better known as FM Salus, on November 3, 2015. The interview, including a few musical excerpts from their second EP, The Other Village (released in Japan only), was aired as a part of daily program “Afternoon Salus.”

Categories
gallery podcasts & radio

Jazzbox live session on Aligre FM

AfuriKo was invited to perform live on Jazzbox, a weekly program hosted by jazz lover Jacques Thévenet and aired every Saturday from 5 to 6pm on Aligre FM. This multicultural radio station was established in 1981 in the “quartier d’Aligre,” a historical working-class neighbourhood of the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Its mission statement is to “create and develop social and cultural links,” and many of its programs highly value notions such as freedom of speech, respect of human rights, and equality.

Categories
TV

On the Far Side interview: JazzActu.tv

photo © Ory Minie
Interview on Bob Garcia’s JazzActu.tv (published November 6, 2014), “la première chaîne de télévision consacrée exclusivement à l’actualité du jazz” (the first television channel devoted exclusively to jazz news) for the release of AfuriKo’s debut album On the Far Side.