Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996 [CD]

Bang on a Can All-Stars – Ryuichi Sakamoto: 1996 [CD]

Thirty years ago Ryuichi Sakamoto arranged some of his best-known music, including his award-winning film scores, for piano trio on the career-snapshot album 1996. New York's Bang on a Can All-Stars pay tribute with a track-by-track hybrid chamber-rock version arranged by clarinetist Ken Thomson.

It keeps the moving, meditative spirit of the originals while adding a boisterous urban whimsy to classics like "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence". As a bonus there is an all-new arrangement of "Thousand Knives", the title track of Sakamoto's 1978 solo debut. CD on Cantaloupe Music.

Genre: Chamber Music, Contemporary Classical, Film Music.