Music From The Song Film: Omoiyari

KISHI BASHIはアメリカのシアトル出身のミュージシャン兼ヴァイオリニストであるKAORU ISHIBASHIによるソロプロジェクト。
ブルックリン発のバンドであるJUPITER ONEのメンバーでもある。2011年からソロ活動を開始し、2012年にJOYFUL NOISE RECORDINGSからデビューアルバム『151A』をリリースし、批評家たちの称賛を受けた。

2022年に公開された1941年の真珠湾攻撃後の 12 万人の日系アメリカ人の投獄調査を巡るKISHI BASHI 自身の 6 年間にわたる発見の旅に焦点を当てた社会正義のドキュメンタリー映画『MUSIC FROM THE SOUNG FILM:OMOIYARI』のコンパニオン・アルバム。アルバムはKISHI BASHIのライブ即興演奏が収録されており、その多くは強制収容所があった場所で録音されている。THE SOUNGSとTHE SCOREで構成せれているこの作品はMTV DOCUMENTARY FILMからリリースされ、現代のインディーズで才能のあるミュージシャンの一人であるKISHI BASHIのプロセスとパワーを感じることができる作品となっている。

In 2019, Kishi Bashi (Kaoru Ishibashi) released an album of poignant orchestral folk songs called Omoiyari, a Japanese word related to the concept of compassion and empathy through active practice. The songs came advertised as having been written for and/or inspired by a documentary he was working on about the U.S.s WWII-era Japanese American internment camps, and cautioning against contemporary anti-immigrant political rhetoric. That film, Omoiyari: A Song Film by Kishi Bashi, finally had its world premiere in 2022, with a broader release and accompanying soundtrack album following in late 2023. With over 70 minutes of original recordings, Music from the Song Film: Omoiyari contains different versions of many of the songs from the 2019 album alongside new ones, an acoustic version of tour favorite "Manchester," and score material composed by Ishibashi. The new songs include the plaintive "Red, White, and Blue," an acoustic lament featuring guitar, piano, cello, violin, and a brittle-voiced Ishibashi, and standout track "For Every Voice That Never Sang" featuring cellist Emily Hope Price, a more fully produced track with Kishi Bashis trademark violin loops, multi-layered vocals, and keen bittersweetness. While most of the music here is expectedly heavyhearted or at least pensive, a few lighter moments include a third original song, "A Safe Place for Animals," a childrens tune of sorts featuring his daughter, Sola Ishibashi; and a section of jazz manouche, including score track "1853: Commodore Perry and His Black Ships" and a brief swing sample of Bachs Concerto for Two Violins. Also included are several so-titled improvisational clips and appearances by the Nu Deco Ensemble, who seamlessly flesh out the composers affecting chamber compositions on a dozen of the soundtrack albums 33 music cues. As the child of Japanese immigrants, and with a decades worth of sensitive songs to his credit in addition to a background in production music and arranging, Ishibashi seems the ideal candidate here for the tasks at hand. ~ Marcy Donelson