CD yeb-7706-2	Jun Miyake "stolen from strangers" Jun Miyake - flh, keyb, samples Arto Lindsay - vocal, git Vinicius Cantuaria - git, perc Lisa Papineau - voc Dhafer Youssef - oud Arthur H - voc Sanseverino - voc Peter Scherer - p Hitoshi Watanabe - b Masahiro Itami - git Didier Havet - tuba Hideo Yamaki - dr and the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra + The Cosmic Voices of Bulgaria

This man is afraid of nothing! Avantgarde, jazz, gregorian chant, trip hop, chanson, tango, pop hit, an Arab, Indien, Latin American and Asian musical vocabulary. Jun Miyake mixes all of this so tastefully that it is overwhelming. Executed by tuba, cello, oud, mandolin, a Bulgarian choir and a multitude of electronic and acoustic percussion from which Miyake extracts the most curious of sounds, there is only one conclusion to come to : for whoever likes the melting of contrasts, who likes Tom Waits, David Sylvian or Chet Baker, should absolutely listen to "Stolen from Strangers". Only for those who like musical drawers, there is a need for caution: be careful, this recording endangers your musical perception of the world.

The protagonist Jun Miyake and his accolyte Arto Lindsay take a good portion of creative freedom. They unite what does not seem possible to unite, they mix oil and water as if there had never been any problem doing so. Daring without ever running the danger of shaking or stumbling, the duo moves forward on its way. Despite of all the stylistic changes, the red thread, which leads through this album like a thick rope, is always within reach. Taking into consideration all the peculiarities and exceptions, "Stolen from Strangers" carries a clear handwriting.

And it is for this clear leadership that the Japanese trumpet player/pianist/producer has been admired for a long time now. Within the planned chaos, he never poses his scepter. This is due to his unique, unmistakeable handwriting in the invention of scurrilous arrangements - a crucial feature of his music. Hal Willner, star record producer (Lou Reed, Bill Frisell, Wynton and Brandford Marsalis, John Zorn, Sting, Ringo Starr, Keith Richards, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and many more) summarizes it: "His compositions are refined, complicated, but never overblown and always beautiful, with an excellent sense of humour".

This judgement can also be applied to "Stolen From Strangers". Already the opening title "Alviverde" demonstrates Miyake's playful love for experiment and characteristic individuality, qualities we know from personalities like Tom Waits or, well, Arto Lindsay. Added to that is a love of sound, which perpetrates the production to the tiniest of sounds. The Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, which contributes the string arrangement parts, has such a delicate tremolo pianissimo, that any lover of sound will have tears in his eyes. How does Miyake manage to create such magical string sound?

In "The Here and After" , the MPB star Vinicius Cantuaria, a companion of Miyake of many years can be heard on percussion. "Turn Back" awakes association with the unforgettable Chet Baker, whose love of bossa tunes is common knowledge. His fragile singing and his interpretations of Antonio Carlos Jobim's bossa evergreens have left a strong trace in the memory of jazz. "Turn back" looks for the direct way into those neuronal depths, a tune in which Arto Lindsay is completely at easy as a singer and a "noise guitarist".

The French language "Le Voyageur Solitaire" reminds us of the big chansonniers: Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel and others send a friendly wave. Not surprising, since no lesser artist than Arthur H. who has been a major star in France for a while, adds his immense voice. We already know the principle. The musette mentality of the verses is set against a refrain lead by tuba and a Bulgarian choir. The Cosmic Voices of Bulgaria do a perfect job. Fantastic! In the next track "Easturn" these heavenly voices take on the leading part. While the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra is allowed to enter into action in one of the few moments when their recording has not been electronically treated, Jun Miyake combines their acoustic charms with exquisite electro jazz experiments. He is given support for this by Dhafer Youssef, whose oud and chant cannot be ignored ever since the release of his "Electric Sufi" CD in 2001.

A chanson-like Polka with mandolin, trombones and rough gypsy strings invites the surprise on "Le Mec dans un Train". Slowly, you run out of words to describe this wealth of invention and combinations. By the way: the artwork for "Stolen from Strangers" is by Jean-Paul Goude, the French star photographer, who has, amongst others, created striking images for Björk and Grace Jones.

Biografie Jun Miyake

Artist, Composer, Songwriter (Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piano, Pianica, Programming) and a very influential musician, trumpeter in and around Tokyo music scene; had released twelve album as an eccentric artist; appeared as a guest soloist and served as a producer for numerous artists. Collaboration with contemporary dance and theater pieces with Pina Bausch, Robert Wilson,Philippe Decouflé etc. Co-produced albums with artists like Hal Willner, Vinicius Cantuaria and Arto Lindsay.

"About three years ago, I received a tape of Jun Miyake's Music through a mutual friend. The tape knocked me out. In less than an hour, I heard almost every type of music on the earth pass by, in a consistent way, by an artist who was obviously in control of the proceedings. Jun has an incredible understanding and command of all musical languages, unlike anyone I have ever encountered, and in my musical travels - that is quite a feat. There is also a lunacy present, which never got in the way of the overall vision. I wanted to work with this guy ! The album takes the listener on a very unique journey always guided by Jun's unique yet familiar arrangements and his playing which shows up at the perfect moment.This is a magical audio movie that strongly holds together as one piece, while taking one through a surreal history of music.In my own work, I have taken the strong catalogues of Thelonius Monk, Nino Rota, Kurt Weil, Walt Disney and others, using artists including Tom Waits, Sun Ra, and Gil Evans, Keith Richards and Leonard Cohen, interpreting the music in my life long pursuit in finding where these personalities meet. In Miyake, we find all of this in one person really. His music is sophisticated but not hi-brow a sense of humor." Hal Willner 1993, about the album "Enthorpaty"

Soon after he came back to Tokyo from his studies in Boston and New York, he started to work as a Jazz trumpeter; his style of playing was immediately respected and offered opportunities to make solo albums with people like Ron Carter, Al Foster, Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, etc as well as with Japanese top musicians. The success of the albums did not just result from his playing. He started to get offers of composing for commercials. His work quickly became so popular that at one point, he found himself writing music for more than 300 commercials a year for the biggest clients in town. He also work for movies and features film credit among which Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday", as well as collaborations in contemporary dance and theater pieces with Pina Bausch, Robert Wilson, Philippe Decoufle, etc. His ability to blend the most seemingly disparate element of music garnered him several awards.

Discography

2007    "Stolen from Strangers" (VideoArts records)
2007    "KIBA vol.2 sound track" (Sony Records)
2006    "KIBA vol.1 sound track" (Sony Records)
2004    "Mask de 41 sound track" (Little More Records)
2000    "Innocent Bossa in the Mirror" Co-produced with Arto Lindsay (BEAM EXOTICA / Consipio Records)
             "Mondo Erotica" (BEAMS Records)
1999    "Glam Exotica" (BEAMS Records)
1998    "Pu Pu the Sound Track" (Little More Records)
             "Angel's Rondo" (Terapika Records)
1997    "Latinism Reversible" (Tokuma Communications)
1996    "Live at CAY '95 / Tokonatsu no Urei" (Saidera Records)
             "CM Tracks Vol. 1" (SLC Records)
             "CM Tracks Vol. 2" (SLC Records)
1993    "Entropathy" Co-produced with Hal Willner (Sony Records)
1988    "Tokoshie no Tenohira / Love you Tokyo" (Switch Records)
1984    "Especially Sexy" (TDK Records)
1983    "Jun Night Love" (TDK Records)

Dance

Robert Wilson "The White Town" (Copenhagen 2002)
Philippe Decouflé "Iris Workshop" (Yokohama 2002)
Philippe Decouflé "Solo Performance" (Paris 2005)
Pina Bausch "Rough Cut" (Wuppertal 2005)
Katrine Wiedeman "The Mermaid" (Copenhagen 2005)
Philippe Decouflé at Teatre Mogador" (Paris 2005)
Pina Bausch "Vollmond" (Wuppertal 2006)
Philippe Decouflé Solo" (Paris+Thai 2006,New Yorik+Tokyo+Paris 2007)
Pina Bausch "Bamboo Blues" (Wuppertal 2007)
Pina Bausch "new peace 2008" (Wuppertal 2008)

Recent Events

Arranged and Conducted for Hal Willner's " Stay Awake Live"
at St. Ann's warehouse / Ney York,
with David Byrne, Gavin Friday & Jenifer Charles 2008

Music Director for " Threepenny Opera " (Burt Brecht/Kurt Weill)
at Setagaya Public Theater and Hyogo performinmg arts center.
Directed by Akira Shirai 2007

Arranged and Conducted for Hal Willner's " Forest of No Return"
at Meltdown Festival / Royal Festival Hall / London,
with Grace Jones, Beth Gibbons, & Gavin Friday. 2007

Performed as a guest soloist for Philippe Decoufle at Teatre Mogador 2005

Performed with his own group at Berlin Jazz Festival in November 2003.

Improvised session performance with Beijing Opera dancers in Beijing 2002
From 1988 to 2004, performed with his own band at clubs and halls in Tokyo, Boston, New-York, Paris.
Appears as soloist in Montreux Jazz Festival with Seigen Ono Ensemble (1993)

TV Commercials

Sony, TDK, Maxell, Scotch, Panasonic, JVC, Mitsubishi, NEC, Sanyo, Ford, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Suzuki, Shiseido, Max Factor, Maybelline, Suntory, Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo, Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Kyocera, Olympus, Coca-Cola, 7up, and many more …

Awards

• Cannes International Advertising and Film Festival
• International Broadcasting Advertising Award
• Clio Award
• Dentsu Advertising Award
• ACC Japan CM Festival
• JAM Advertising Music Festival
• Massachusetts State of Artist Foundation : Award for Jazz Composition
• Multi Media Grand Prix for CG Arts
• MAGINA, Prix Pixel
• London Effects and Animation Festival
• Le Festival du Dessin et du Film d'Animation