里アンナ × 佐々木俊之
里アンナ：島唄・三線・竪琴 佐々木俊之：ドラム
奄美大島の唄者 里アンナとドラマー佐々木俊之の異色ユニット。
奄美大島の伝統的な島唄は、唄と太鼓(チジン)のみで成立するもの。
その基本的な編成を大事にしつつ、島唄、三線、竪琴、西洋のドラムによって、
既存のものにはない新しい音楽をクリエイトしている。
里アンナは2005年の「愛・地球博」で山本寛斎プロデュースのイベント出演後にデビュー。
2013 年、2015 年ミュージカル「レ・ミゼラブル」にファンテーヌ役で出演。
ベルギーの振付家シディ・ラルビ・シェルカウイの作品「ICON」で島唄を歌唱。
スペインのフラメンコダンサー エバ・ジェルバブエナと共演。
2018年大河ドラマ『西郷どん』のメインテーマに歌で参加し、女優として出演した。
ドラマー佐々木俊之は繊細かつ力強いドラミングが支持され、
2014年結成した自身のバンド”Nautilus”では
ドイツの音楽レーベルからも作品を発表するなど、海外でも活躍。
里アンナ×佐々木俊之のユニットでは、2016年フランスのコルシカ島で開催された
歌のフェスティバル、パリ公演を成功させ、高い評価を得た。
Anna Sato x Toshiyuki Sasaki
Anna Sato: Vocals (shima-uta), Sanshin, Amami harp
Toshiyuki Sasaki: Drums
An alternative musical unit featuring Anna Sato, a master of shima-uta (traditional folk songs of Amami Island) and a drummer, Toshiyuki Sasaki.
Shima-uta is traditionally performed simply with singing and accompanied by a drum called chijin. This unit creates a completely new sound while embracing its fundamental composition, by combining the sounds of shima-uta, sanshin(traditional three-stringed instrument), Amami harp (traditional harp of Amami Island) and the western drums.
Sato started training shima-uta with her grandfather at the age of three and has won multiple awards since. Her major-label debut followed after performing at the opening event of EXPO2005 (Ai-chikyūhaku) produced by Kansai Yamamoto, an internationally recognized fashion designer. In 2013 and 2015, she performed in musical Les Miserables in the role of Fantine. Then she caught the eye of renowned Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and performed shima-uta in his dance production ICON. With the stage, Cuentos De Azucar (Sugar Tales), she collaborated with a leading Flamenco dancer, Eva Yerbabuena. In 2018, she sang the main theme of NHK’s long-running drama Sego-don and also appeared on the drama.
Sasaki’s poetic yet powerful drumming has gained him a following. He formed his own band, Nautilus in 2014 and put out works from a German music label, drawing more attention to his work on a global scale.
Anna SatoⅹToshiyuki Sasaki, have performed as a musical unit in Paris and also at a festival held in Corsica, in 2016, which brought them success with a international acclaim. Ever since, they have been actively performing domestically as well as internationally.