Yasuaki Shimizu Yasuaki Shimizu is a saxophonist, composer and producer whose nearly 50-year career spans an impressively broad variety of genres. In Japan he is a well-known musical figure, valued for his genre-crossing pop hits, his film scores, and numerous high-profile live commissions, installations and collaborations with artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Björk, Van Dyke Parks and David Cunningham.
A wider audience in the West came to Shimizu's music through the reissues of his iconic solo album Kakashi (1982) and of the classic Utakata No Hibi by his band Mariah on the label Palto Flats. Both works are considered masterful fusions of Japanese folk and pop traditions with refined electronic or disco-influenced production aesthetics.
In this new live programme, Yasuaki performs as a duo together with his sister Mieko Shimizu.