About this blog

This blog would be dedicated to the music lovers. It will feature useful info related to the history of famous musicians, as well as music group, lyrics of the latest songs. As a matter of fact, i happen to be a guitarist as well, so i will be providing guitar chord tabs and other guidelines along with the lyrics as well!

So enjoy guys, lets rock hard! After all, its all about MUSIC... Yeah!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

DANNY YAMAMOTO - Hiroshima


Another member of the Hiroshima band is Danny Yamamoto, who graduated from Dorsey High School, Los Angeles. Danny has had a deep love relation with music.


He started his music career with Accordian, Danny played the instruments virtually in a band and refracted his eclectic taste in music and art. He found Drums as the key and a tool to express the self-expression. He played the battle of the band in his high school but got second place. It was just the rising of a star musician. He made a group with a Jazz trio including most popular musician-producer and bassist Larry Klein, famous pianist and downbeat award-winning Jazz keyboardist Billy Childs and himself.

After a luminous start, he settled in music major field at UCLA, but involved more and more with Hiroshima gradually. Later he became principle member of Hiroshima and left the school to give fulltime to world of music. Danny kept his interest toward traditional Japanese music while giving his total time to other bands.

Other then just a drummer, he is learning and playing other instruments like taiko in his music workshop, and also in concert in Hiroshima. He also plays synthesizers with his friends and June Kuramoto. He studed drum from his drum teacher Freddy Gruber and expanding the collection of ethnic instruments.

DAN KURAMOTO - Hiroshima

Don Kuramoto was an art student from the college of East Los Angeles. Dan was working for Recreation and County parks and L.A. to earn money and also working as a sports specialist. Dan used to play flute in his Hippy style. Peoples call this Post-Hippy style pf flute playing. He was highly qualified too, with the knowledge of evaluation of ethnic studies on the campus; he held a bachelor degree in fine arts like drawing and painting too.


He set as the first department chairman at Cal State University at Long Beach, for Asian-American studies. He started teaching music as an Asian-American and as an artist, for three years. He found university life is not big enough to open his wings. He also found that playing music for various fund-raisers community was a kind of expression, which became his passion.

Music was his whole-soul and music also provided a great forum for communication and art that was his desire. Fueled by musical work of Jazz artists that he loved most, and the incredible creative and destructive energy of the artist like Wind, Fire and Earth, Jimi Hendrix; Den assumed music as a vehicle to voice and music of Japan and America was mixed and both heritage of music get together and build a greater sound that will touch the soul of all creatures. He felt that the greatest source of America is its diversity.

Later on, he met June and found the answers of his questions and destination of his journey. She was a famous Japanese classical musician and her high desire to create a “new music” inspired Dan a lot. This inspiration helped them to make collaboration and here was the birth of Hiroshima. They had short music background but had a endless ideas and imagination with persistence. Dan became the lead music composer, leader and producer of the band.

KIMO CORNWELL - Hiroshima

Another member of the American Jazz Fusion band Hiroshima is Kimo Cornwell, who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kimo is a genius and amiable keyboard player from Hawaii, who can speak Chinese as well as English. Kimo was born in Honolulu and brought up in Kalihi. He graduated from a Farrington High School. Kimo had great talent and sooner he became famous as the best keyboard player of Hawaii Island. This was all his efforts and blessing of music with love.

He played a large number of music and recorded many of them with the topmost groups in Hawaii. Later Kimo moved to Los Angeles with his wife Debbie. There he has got the first offer with the band ‘mainland’ music scene. Talent never hides and touring groups immediately discovered the talent of Kimo and here he got a chance to make a hit.

He introduced his talent to the world with a hit of Cheryl Lynn (‘To Be Real”), after that with the great artistic friends including Ronnie Laws, Al Jaeerau, Maze and Frankie Beverly, they started a unique LA band Hiroshima. It was some attraction only that they all were united with each other by Hiroshima, followed by Maze, Jarreau, Hiroshima, Maze and you will get a unique picture. It was like his head has given a way to his heart and shown the way to divine source of music.

In an artistic way, it can be said that it was like he has become pocketbook of bits and master of ministry of full time music with the band. Being in the important place of keyboardist, arranger, sound composer and producer he became the heart of Hiroshima; and truly the soul of music.


JUNE KURAMOTO

The founder and manager of the world class music band Hiroshima, June Kuramoto was born in Saitama-ken (Japan), in a place situated outside Tokyo. She grew up and at very young age she was brought to Los Angeles, Crenshaw district. She was very passionate about music and musical instruments and used to play and sing more often. She had an idea to build a group and compose her talent and serve to public.


She worked on it and optimized American music and art culture and mixed with Asian tone that generated a new taste of music. She returned to Japan in her childhood and learned ancient Japanese instrument-- The Koto. Madame Kazue Kudo, a renowned Koto master with the famous kotoist and music composer Michio Miyagi, took the responsibility to teach Koto to June and relocated to United State, and started teaching Koto to June in her family home. With the help of her Grandmother, the 6 yrs old June found the divine connection between life and music. It was the magical effect of Koto and Japanese music.

June kept on improving her talent about classical Japanese instruments and received almost all degrees in classical musical instruments from the Miyagi School of Koto in Japan. Alongside with all these degree travel she also performed solo and some of with the greatest musicians from the classical Japanese music world to the Pt. Ravi Shankar. But as an American artist, June wanted to integrate the western music in to her life. She wanted to make American culture and music as her life that she loves the most.

Later on, June met with a real artist named Dan, an eccentric artist and they started a new mixture of Koto music with diverse musical environment of Los Angeles. The birth of the band Hiroshima happened at this point of time. Later on, June became the leading artist of Hiroshima and created the mixed multi-culture music with her group. She is one of the great Kotoists in this modern music world.

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