Thrilled to release a rare live recording from New York-based, Japanese artist, writer, theorist, and composer, Yasunao Tone.
An original member of the Fluxus movement and Group Ongaku, and a pioneer since the early 60s in sound art and digital composition, Yasunao Tone, has worked with John Cage, Merce Cunnigham, Yoko Ono, Robert Ashley, and Florian Hecker to name just a few.
Invited to perform at Cafe OTO by Russell Haswell as part of his three-day residency here in November 2015, Tone gave a sublime performance, presenting two versions of a piece, mixing abrasive and meditative qualities to transcendent effect. The two parts of the performance act as disorientating reflection of the other; overlapping and reprising in places but allowing subtle shifts in tonality and dynamics to shift the emphases and take the listener to whole new places entirely.
Overwhelming, coruscating, transportive, soothing, and enlightening - at times all at once - this is an essential document from a true visionary.
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Recorded by Shaun Crook
Mixed and mastered by Oli Barrett
Cover design by Oli Barrett
Thanks to Russell Haswell
Available as 320k MP3 or 24bit FLAC
Tracklisting:
1. Part 1 - 19.16
2. Part 2 - 19.15
Yasunao Tone, a co-founder of Group Ongaku and an original member of Fluxus, was born in Tokyo in 1935 and has resided in New York since 1972. He has given numerous concerts and group performances, and has participated in group exhibitions and collaborations. Solo Concerts have taken place at such venues as the Kitchen, Experimental Intermedia, Roulette, Guggenheim Museum SOHO, Metronom, Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona.
His work is distinguished by conversion of text into music via images with analog (Molecular Music) and digital means (Musica Iconologos) and music generating text (Lyrictron), also with critique of medium in use (Music for 2CD Players, Solo for Wounded CD). His solo albums, Musica Iconologos (Lovely), Solo for Wounded CD (Tzadik), and YASUNAO TONE (Asphodel), also, many collaborative albums and numerous compilations.
