Ai Watanabe, Kokichi Yanagisawa

*250 copies limited edition* Ai Watanabe is a Tokyo-based composer. After studying at Tokyo College of Music’s graduate school, she went to France and completed a graduate program at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris, and subsequently earned a doctoral degree at Tokyo University of the Arts. In recent years Watanabe has been focusing on electroacoustic music using field recordings as additional materials, earning high praise inside and outside Japan. Kokichi Yanagisawa is a guitarist based in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. From 2013 to 2016 he studied jazz in New York, and since his return to Japan has been performing jazz and improvised music in both his home region and Tokyo. He also has a strong interest in contemporary classical music.

In 2023, Ai Watanabe and Kokichi Yanagisawa performed two duo concerts at Ftarri, Tokyo. This album contains three tracks from those concerts—one piece from their performance on May 20, and two from their concert on October 7. On both days Watanabe used synthesizer, Kaoss Pad, computer and objects, while Yanagisawa played archtop electric guitar. Minute sounds from guitars, electronics and other sources expand to create a unique and harmonious space.