自分の声を探るために、実験的に百曲歌ってみることにしました。ほぼアカペラで、マイクに向かって吹き込み編集も何もせずに、素のままです。自分研究の一部です。
Human voice is so intriguing to me. There is a vast world there. This is not a public performance but a personal project to explore my own voice. I’m just curious what lurks inside of my body and how it comes out to form a sound and a melody. I’m curious about what songs I choose and how I approach them. I am also curious about how my songs affect the listeners’ soma (mind/body)
My relationship with my voice started in elementary school. I was airing the ‘lunch hour’ school radio program and my favorite class was music. I loved doing that. There was something in my voice I felt very close to. I sang through many years of my life - middle school, high school, beginning years of college, grad school and later as performing artists, in bands, choirs, and other performances. For a long time, I was busy with trying to sing well. But about 20 years ago or so I started paying more attention to the quality of my voice and how it manifests my internal world. As I got to know my own voice better and better, I became more aware of my own perception and astigmatism, which had a lot to do with my self image. As I studied somatics, nutrition, and voice production, I became more and more curious about how and where resonance happens in the body for each person and what it means.
Just like my other improvisatory performances, the source varies - some from existing pop or ancient songs, some came from pictures, and others came from physical material like fabric, rock, etc. Most songs are sung a cappella unless mentioned otherwise.
1.Stand by me
2. Sometimes I feel Like a Motherless Child
3. Nagori Yuki 久しぶりに会った高校時代の友N君が、私がこの曲をクラスの皆に向けて歌っていたと思い出させてくれました。もう一度歌ってほしいとのリクエストを、ありがとうございます。あの時代のとってもピュアな自分は、今の私の礎です。この曲を彼に捧げます。
4. 木曽のなかのりさん (Japanese old folk - Kiso no Nakanori san)
So my friend asked me what it means by ‘Kiso no nakanorisan’? Kiso is the name of a northern region in Japan. Nakanorisan is a worker who handles the transportation of goods through the route of the river. It is also said that ‘nakanorisan’ was send by God doing his work on the earth.
5. Take Me Home by Julian Lennon (a cappella) ジョン・レノンの息子の一人、ジュリアンの曲。内容はとっても寂しいですが、メロディーは切ないけれども壊れかけの砂糖菓子のようにキラキラ光ってます。こんなふうに生きてきたんだろうなと、レノンとの関係や、複雑な心境を感じます。
6. One Starry Night by Naoko (Piano)
Piano improvisation. One take without hands leaving the keys.
7. とおりゃんせ (Tooryannse Japanese children’s song) - experiment with hand clap and voice, a bit of a stutter
This very well known Japanese children’s song has such an eerie tone. Many Japanese children songs share this eeriness somehow. It is not only the tone that is eerie but the lyrics are even more eerie. The last line of the song says, “going is good, returning is frightening’. Many scholars continue discussing the content and the meaning of the lyrics. It feels like a kind of ‘threshold’ song.
8. Ha Ri Ho - an excerpt song from the improv with an experimental vocalist Irene Tomazin (2018.3)
私の大好きなスロベニアの前衛的なヴォーカリスト、イリナ・トマシンとのコラボ即興です。小さい音を大きな音と同じに大切に大切に形作っていく人です。
9. Voice of Skin in Slovenia - an excerpt from the improv with a violinist Marco and a Contrabass Jane (2018. 3)
同じくスロベニアで実験的に、コントラバスとヴァイオリニストの二人と私の声での即興です。若いお兄さん達お二人に助けていただきました。初のヨーロッパでのヴォーカルです。
10. ずいずいずっころばし (zui zui zukkorobashi - Japanese children’s song) experiment with hand clap and voice, a bit of a stutter
手拍子のリズムで。
11. 流浪の民 (ruroo no tami) ~ Gypsy song Zigeunerleben by Robert Shamann - 4 parts with one voice
ちょっと恥ずかしいですが、中学の時に合唱コンクールで歌った、「流浪の民」を一人で歌ってみました。とても不思議なジプシーの歌。私の人生と少し似た部分があり、共感を覚えます。実験的です。
12. Danny Boy (a cappella) at the foot of Pennsylvania mountains (Now closed down Inglebean Cafe)
ペンシルバニア田舎の唯一のカフェ、イングルビーンで、アカペラで歌いました。
13. 酒と泪と男と女 (Sake to namida to otokoto onnna - Sake, Tears, Men, Women) by Shingo Kawashima with guitar by Masahiro Yamada
懐かしき河島翔吾さんの歌。途中で騒音、入っちゃってます。ごめんなさい。
This is a very well known song in Japanese pop music sung by Shingo Kawashima. It is about how and why men and women drink sake. They have different reasons for drinking and different ways of how they end up doing after drinking a lot of sake.
Heads up - please be aware that there are some ‘noise’ in the recording. I’m sorry!
14. 私たちの世界 (Our world) by Naoko Maeshiba
パンデミック中に宇宙や背かや社会のことを考えていた時に、作りました。親友の一人がこの曲を聞いて、私にヒーリングのCDを作るリクエストをしてくれた、大事な曲です。
15. Sukiyaki （上を向いて歩こう）＠Inglebean Cafe, Penns Valley, Pennslvania
ペンシルバニアの田舎に引っ越して、寂しくてどうしようもなかった時、音楽のお誘いが来ました。近くで唯一の喫茶店、今はなきイングルビーン・カフェの毎週金曜日のオープンマイクで歌った初めての曲が、この曲でした。3:30ぐらいから、7:10ぐらいまでです。
16. Prayer by Pat Bethany やのあきこさんが歌っている、とても美しい曲です。
17. Time After Time (a la Eva Cassidy)