Vor kurzem erschien das erste gemeinsame Album des in Japan lebenden klassischen Tenors John Ken Nuzzo und des Produzers Shintaro Haioka, dessen 2021 erschienenes Album “Aru” wir seinerzeit vorgestellt hatten. “East Wind is the result of many persistent sessions they accumulated”, heißt es in den Liner Notes von Christoph Braun. “Before the recording sessions, Haioka would send his tracks to the singer. Yet the process involved something that is not a given in the world of classical music: To blend more natural operatic melodic lines with contemporary electronic music, John Ken Nuzzo repeatedly improvised singing the simple lyrics over the simple loop tracks prepared by Haioka.

To maximize the opera singer’s expressiveness, Haioka provided John with themes and characters to embody, and he rose to the occasion. Haioka then meticulously went through the extensive recordings of the singing, editing and at times completely remaking the tracks, to produce the work. Though this process might appear incredibly challenging and stressful, it was a natural act for Haioka given his production career. His approach to music has been about “connecting moments and moments in era with music”. Just as he has previously blended traditional Japanese music with contemporary electronic sounds and reinterpreted music from bygone eras to create something new, he now sought to merge times with classical vocal music as his canvas. Nuzzo would improvise his parts. From the start with „Fire In Rain“, this album sounds like an installation, a world to enter and study. Haioka provides space for his tunes, what is not audible is as important as what you can hear. From „Neon Lights“ through „East Wind“ to „Drifted Away“, the album slowly builds up its melancholia that can be interwoven with sudden outbursts of contempt, and even joy. „We envisioned a fragile world, as our world is now. A world as shown in Science Fiction such as Blade Runner“, Haioka states on the conceptual layout. Just to promote the key word in its ending track, „Blowin’ In The Wind Of Love Again“: This world needs an overall spring, and as Japan is located in the east it’s the East Wind that will bring it”. Das Album erscheint digital bei Emerald & Doreen Records.