2 CD set to celebrate 20 years since the extraordinary Cicala Mvta released their first album. The name 'Cicala Mvta' (pronounced Shikala Moota, Italian for a mute cicada) is a tribute to Soeda Azembo, the greatest street singer and songwriter of popular music in Japan, who was reduced to silence by the authorities after the 1920s. Led by clarinetist Wataru Ohkuma, one of the most innovative musicians in Japan today, Cicala Mvta are heirs to Soeda Azembo and have taken over the fight against the Japanese establishment. They develop music drawn from from chindon (street advertising music, the commercial medium before the advent of TV) and it's predecessor, Jinta (original Japanese brass band music, a form for anti-establishment expression). A mixture of old and new, east and west their music borrows openly from Klezmer, Turkish, Nepalese and Balkan music, progressive rock, punk, free jazz and folk to create it's own world. The band members over the years have included several of Japan's most innovative including Hiromichi Sakamoto (cello, Shibusashirazu, Pascals, Otomo Yoshihide), Yoshiki Sakurai (guitar, Lonesome Strings), Masahiro Uemura (drums, Otomo Yoshihide), Tatsuda Yoshida (drums, Ruins) Takero Sekijima (tuba, Kuricorder Quartet), Gideon Juckes (tuba, Bellowhead, Shibusashirazu).
Press on Cicala Mvta
"This is music from out there, as if trying to be - simultaneously - a Nepalese wedding band, a Japanese chindon combo (think of John Coltrane as town crier) and a kabuki orchestra. It defies categorization." Time Out, London
"An outrageous punk-meets-brass-band rave-up that even Romanian gypsies would be left scratching their heads at. Highly recommended" Mojo, UKClick on Listen to watch Cicala Mvta perform Stara Planina
CD1.
From Cicala Mvta (1998)
1. Punku-Mancha’s Dance (4:48)
2. Michikusa no Tameni (Musashino 7/8)(6:27)
3. Oku ni Tsu-jiru Tobira (4:10)
4. Shi Cho-me(3:54) Ohkuma Wataru: :clarinet,bass clarinet,xylophone,vibraphone
Sakurai Yoshiki:guitar
Sakamoto Hiromichi:cello
Sekijima Takero:tuba,recorder
Uemura Masahiro:drums
(guest) Ohta Keisuke:violin
From Deko Boko (2001)
5. Kyu-na Saka (4:29)
6. A Weekend of a Clown (6:50)
7. The Bule Flower Kopanitza (4:07)
8. Sukini Natte Gomen-nasai (5:56)
9. Don Chorecha Variation (5:24)Ohkuma Wataru : clarinet,bass clarinet,xylophone,vibraphone
Ohta Keisuke:violin
Sakurai Yoshiki:guitar
Sakamoto Hiromichi:cello
Sekijima Takero:tuba,recorder
Kamimura Shoukou:drums
(guest) Kawaguchi Yoshiyuki:sax
From Buta no Mukui soundtrack (RES-33)
10. Fanfare - Umai Hanashi (4:28)Ohkuma Wataru:clarinet,alto sax,accordion
Ohta Keisuke:violin
Sakurai Yoshiki:guitar,spring reverb
Sakamoto Hiromichi:cello
Sekijima Takero:trumpet,trombone,tuba
Matsunaga Takayoshi:bass
Uemura Masahiro:drums
CD2
From Ghost Circus (2004)
1. Pillow Walk (5:17)
2. Stara Planina (5:39)
3. The Sleepwalker’s Escape (5:37)Ohkuma Wataru:clarinet,bass clarinet,xylophone,vibraphone
Kawaguchi Yoshiyuki:sax
Watanabe Akiko:trombone
Ohta Keisuke:violin
Sakurai Yoshiki:guitar
Sakamoto Hiromichi:cello
Sekijima Takero:tuba,recorder
YoshidaTatsuya:drums
from Namazemi Live! (2006)
4. Chichu San-myaku (7:36)
5. Presente! (6:09)
6. Turkish Dance (6:34)Ohkuma Wataru:clarinet,bass clarinet,xylophone,vibraphone
Kawaguchi Yoshiyuki:sax
Ohta Keisuke:violin
Sato Yoshiaki:accordion
Sakurai Yoshiki:guitar
Sekijima Takero:tuba,recorder
YoshidaTatsuya:drums
Kogure Miwazow:chin-dong,grosse caisse
from Hadaka no Hoshi (2010)
7. Yamanami (7:58)
8. Chigire-gumo no Ballad (14:23)Ohkuma Wataru:clarinet,bass clarinet,xylophone,vibraphone
Kita Yoichiro:trumpet
Kawaguchi Yoshiyuki:sax
Watanabe Akiko:trombone
Ohta Keisuke:violin
Sakurai Yoshiki:guitar
Sekijima Takero:tuba,recorder
Gideon Juckes:tuba
YoshidaTatsuya:drums
Kogure Miwazow:chin-dong,grosse caisse
