In 2003, Akiko found Rei via Quruli's song "Bara no Hana (remixed by REI HARAKAMI " on the album "WORLD'S END SUPERNOVA").
She fell in love with his style from the very first musical note.
As it turns out, Rei had always been a huge fan of her music.
Early in the winter of 2003, their first collaboration started with Rei working on some of the songs for Akiko and Akiko performing with Rei's compilation at her annual Winter concert titled [Satogaeru Concert].
Rei's magical touch to Akiko's music proved so successful that it led to their first ever performance on stage together in the Summer of 2004.
To further show their appreciation for each other's musical talents, they both appeared as guest performers at each their respective concerts held at Japan's Summer Festival in 2006. Needless to say, they were a hit together.
Since then, Akiko and Rei have worked quietly in the background together on their "yanokami" project by exchanging emails back and forth from NYC to Kyoto.
Like a seed growing into a beautiful flower, Akiko and Rei's union of two unique musical styles since they first worked together has flourished into a remarkable musical marvel.
In 2007, yanokami's cover song "Love is Peach Color" was included on the album "Tribute to Haruom Hosono".
This was yanokami's long awaited debut.
yanokami's debut album "yanokami" (produced by Rei Harakami) was released by YAMAHA MUSIC COMMUNICATIONS / avex on August 8th 2007.
[Akiko Yano]
"Akiko Yano is a world class songwriter with a clear, gentle, wide-ranging voice. She is also an accomplished, endearing performer who might be a Japanese Carole King, Joni Mitchell or Meredith Monk...."JON PARELES - NY TIMES
Akiko Yano is one of the most famous people you never heard of. She has recorded with many of the world's great musicians, and has been a major star in Japan since she was 21.
Born in Tokyo, and raised in Aomori Japan, Akiko started playing piano at 3, and quit school in her teens, when she ascended to the top ranks of Japan's studio musicians as a pianist and synthesizer player. At 21, she released "Japanese Girl" -- her first CD, largely recorded in L.A. with her fans Lowell George and Little Feat. She began a collaboration with Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), who played on her next recordings, and joined them on their worldwide tours. Akiko expanded her musical collaborations with YMO on her subsequent CDs, and she married YMO's Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1982.
Akiko has continued to collaborate with some of the world's most renowned musicians: Thomas Dolby, Pat Metheny and The Chieftains -- (whose CDs include Akiko's songs and vocals), singing in both Japanese and English. She has also composed the music for the film "My Neighbors the Yamadas" by the famed Studio Ghibli animation studios as well as for Toei's animated feature "Atashin'chi".
Akiko has toured Europe extensively, including concerts at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Cafe de la Danse and Cite de la Musique in Paris, and in London where she sold out a week of special concerts at Pizza Express in 2002. In the U.S., she has performed in L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and of course, New York City, where she periodically plays sold-out concerts throughout the year at the famous Joe's pub at the New York Public Theater.
Akiko has released 24 original albums to date. (3 released in the U.S.) Also released are two "Best of" compilation albums, of which one is the most recently released collection of selections from her piano solo works, titled "PIYANO AKIKO".
She has lived in The U.S. since 1990, and now resides in a loft in Lower Manhattan.
"Yano's singing becomes so glued into her own spiritualized presentation of change that she stops sounding as though she's recording in Japanese..."LA WEEKLY.
[rei harakami]
Born in Hiroshima and now living in Kyoto,Japan, Rei is known as an
"Electronic musician" who plays and mixes with a Hard Disc recorder.
He released his debut solo album in 1998 on the Sublime Records label, as well as his follow up albums,1999's 'O*PAQ' and 'Red Curb' ( 2001), which showcased his skills as an artist and producer and led to his production and collaborations with artists such as UA, Great 3 and Coldcut.
His recent collaboration as an artist and producer on Akiko Yano's
Album (Honto no kimochi) has resulted in widespread recognition in Japan.
Rei manages to regularly rock the stage at some of Japan's big festivals like the "Fuji Rock Festival", the "RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL", and "Sonar SoundTokyo". On the international stage, Rei has appeared at several music showcases in Europe,
including the Sonar 2005 in Barcelona. where he appeared with Shiro Takatani (from performance unit, "dumb type", as visual collaboration).
In 2005, his 4th album [Lust], caught on very quickly with many different musical fans, and gained wide notice from a wide variety of musicians.
In May 2006, he released a new compilation album-- "Wasuremono"and the planetarium project CD album "Colors of the Dark" for "Miraikan" was released in July.
