picture of tremolo harmonica
New CD/Tape/Video Informations

Last Update: 23 Jan. 2001

New CD of Claude Garden

GARDEN CLUB is a CD of Claude Garden, a chromatic player, accompanied by piano, bass and drums. It is released in Dec. 2000 by ELABETH(France). The number is ELA621034.
It contains 11 musics below. I have heard that Claude made IKEGAMI inspired by Oeshiki festival on Ikegami Hon-mon-ji, a temple in Tokyo.
  1. I FEEL GOOD (C. Garden)
  2. SOUS LE CIEL DE PARIS (J. Drejac - H. Giraud)
  3. RECCADO (J. Fereira)
  4. SUMMERTIME (G. Gershwin)
  5. RUE WATT (C. Garden)
  6. OVER THE RAINBOW (H. Harien - E. Y. Harburg)
  7. IKEGAMI (C. Garden)
  8. LULLABY OF BIRDLAND (G. Shearing)
  9. AUTUMN LEAVES (J. Prevert - V. Cosma)
  10. WILLOW WEEP FOR ME (A. Ronell)
  11. IGUANA CAFE (C. Garden)
The CD is distributed by DAM(France), PLAINISPHARE(Switzerland), BALTIC(Belgium), NORTHCOUNTRY(USA), YTT(Japan) and MULTIWAVES. For more information, contact to spp@club-internet.fr.

Shima Kobayashi's CD of musics composed for harmonica

Golden Girl is a CD of Shima Kobayashi, a female chromatic player, accompanied by Rikuya Terashima's piano. It is released in Apr. 2000 on FONTEC label from FONTEC(Japan). The number is FOCD3463. Perhaps this CD is her first CD, I think.
It contains only musics composed for harmonica, each of which have not been introduced in Japan. They are as below.
  1. Period Piece (James Moody)
  2. Three American Sketches (George Martin) - 3 pieces
  3. Firebrand (Alan Langford)
  4. Seven Greek Folk Dances (Alan Hovhanes) - 7 pieces
  5. Boyhood Memories (Gordon Jacob) - 3 pieces
  6. Besuch in Tokyo (Leonard Morris and Tommy Rundle)
  7. Sonatina (Max Saunders) - 3 pieces
  8. Golden Girl (Max Martin)

Toots' new CD with Japanese pianist

Rencontre is a CD of the session of Toots Thielemans and Fumio Karashima, a Japanese pianist. It is recorded in Feb. 16 to 18, 1999 and released in Sep. 1999 on Verve (not sure) label from Polydor(Japan). The number is POCJ1460.
It contains the songs below.
  1. STOLEN MOMENTS (Oliver Nelson)
  2. EVENING IN PARIS (Quincy Jones)
  3. CHAN'S SONG (NEVER SAID) (Herbie Hancock / Stevie Wonder)
  4. THREE VIEWS OF A SECRET (Jaco Pactorius)
  5. GIRL TALK (Neal Heft / Bobby Troup)
  6. WITCHCRAFT (Carolyn Leigh / Cy Coleman)
  7. I'LL CLOSE MY EYES (Billy Reid)
  8. QUIETUDE (Thad Jones)
  9. EMBRACEABLE YOU (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin)

Jean Jacques Milteau have released new CD

Jean Jacques Milteau have released a new CD Bastille Blues in September 1999. It is distributed from Wagram Music in France. For more information and online order etc. please access the site www.milteau.com.

Maple Fantasy

Maple Fantasy is an enhanced CD, featuring 10-holes (perhaps Katsumi Namiki) and chromatic (perhaps Keiji Namiki) play. It includes 5 commercial songs of canadian Maple Road (perhaps with video), Katsumi and Keiji Namiki's 6 repertoire songs.
I am ordering this CD. For more information, please wait till I will get it, or contact directry to Tombo Family Club (Tel. 03-5810-6820, FAX 03-3802-2107)

New CDs of Masami Oishi's series

Masami Oishi's tremolo harmonica CD series Kokoro no Harmonica (harmonica of heart) has added new 2 CDs. they are released from Nippon Columbia.

One is named Ai no Sanka (songs of love) (COCW-30284, 2,940 Yen). It has 16 tracks as below, some Japanese songs and some world popular.

  1. KOHAN NO YADO
  2. SENDO KAWAIYA
  3. RINGO NO UTA
  4. TOKYO BOOGIE WOOGIE
  5. LA CUMPARCITA
  6. TANIMA NO TOMOSHIBI
  7. MASHIROKI FUJI NO NE (white Fuji mountain)
  8. HOKKIKOU (return to north)
  9. ERIMO MISAKI
  10. SAKE YO
  11. CHIISAI AKI MITSUKETA
  12. AI NO SANKA
  13. HANA
  14. DEFUNE
  15. DANNY BOY
  16. HOTARU NO HIKARI

The other is named Harmonica to Heitai san (harmonica and soldier) (COCW-30285, 2,940 Yen). It has 18 tracks as below, all are japanese army and navy songs and war-related songs, made before World War II.

  1. MIYA SAN MIYA SAN
  2. BATTOU TAI (BUNRETSU KOUSHIN KYOKU)
  3. GUNKAN MARCH
  4. DOUKI NO SAKURA
  5. KANTAI KINMU (GETSU GETSU KAA SUI MOKU KIN KIN)
  6. GOUCHIN
  7. WAKAWASHI NO UTA
  8. ASU WA OTACHIKA
  9. MUGI TO HEITAI
  10. KUDAN NO HAHA
  11. HEITAI SAN YO ARIGATOU
  12. CHICHI YO ANATA WA TSUYOKATTA
  13. ROEI NO UTA
  14. AIKOKU NO HANA
  15. RABAURU KOUTA
  16. SEN'YU
  17. HAVAROVSK KOUTA
  18. UMI YUKABA

New CD of Yoshio Morimoto's series

Yoshio Morimoto's CD series Waga Kokoro no Harmonica (harmonica in my heart) has added a new one Eien no Screen Music (eternal screen music).
He is one of the top tremolo player in Japan. The CD includes Disney medrey, Otoko Wa Tsuraiyo, Mononokehime etc.

Chromatic solo (unaccompanied) CD of Joe Sakimoto

Joe Sakimoto's THE ART of HARMONICA has released in Apr. 1998 from Camerata Tokyo, a Japanese CD maker focused on classical musics. (30CM-482, 3,000 Yen and Tax)
It has 27 tracks of chromatic solo plays without accompaniments.
It includes
  1. PARTITA IN A MINOR BWV 1013 (J. S. Bach)
  2. KONZERT-ETUDEN FUR CHROMONICA nach Paganini Themen (Fritz Pilsl)
  3. IMPROMPTU for Unaccompanied Harmonica (Graham Whettam)
  4. CAPRICCIO (Jean Steurs)
  5. MALAGUENA (Ernest Lecuona)
  6. MY LAGAN LOVE (Irish traditional / arranged by Tommy Reilly)
  7. COPIA per Armonica a bocca sola (Meireau Soegaharat)
  8. ANDANTE ~ Tre Notturni pe Armonica a bocca sola (Meireau Soegaharat)
  9. GREEN BOX (Haruna Miyake)
  10. OBSEDE (Haruki Mino)
  11. GA-GETSU (Haruki Mino)
  12. VALSE POUR TRENTE (Chieko Miyamae)
* sorry, but some characters (with accent etc.) are not correct in above list.

10-holes JAZZ CD from Japan

Chikara Tsuzuki's Delight has released in Oct. 1997 (in Japan). As its well-designed monochrome photo jacket shows, it is a CD of 10-holes jazz performance.
It has 11 songs as below.
  1. Evening
  2. Lovin' You
  3. Tell Me a Bedtime Story
  4. Thursday 26th
  5. After the Rain
  6. Chikara's Baiao
  7. O Nosso Trem
  8. Altair & Vega
  9. Tell Me a Bedtime Story (Reprise)
  10. Crystal Screen
  11. Castle of Lazur
It have got 8th rank in jazz CD sales in HMV Shinjuku (Tokyo Japan).

Lee Oskar's CD

YOU AND I has released in Apr. 1997 (in Japan). It has 12 songs as below.
  1. You and I
  2. Lavender Song
  3. Leslie's Song
  4. A Soulful Prayer
  5. Another Time & Place
  6. Stephanie's Lullaby
  7. In The Pocket
  8. So Much in Love
  9. Whatta Day
  10. Before the Rain (*)
  11. Blues Interlude (*)
  12. See You Later
Two (*) songs are bonus trucks only in Japanese version.

Fata Morgana Quartet

Fata Morgana is a young harmonica quartet in Holland. They have won championships in several international concours.
I hear that the 1st CD (Bob Jensen, a leader of the band, has already released a solo album) Way To Your Heart includes 17 songs of popular and classics. If you are interested, please check it!

Cham-Ber Huang

Cham-Ber Huang is a Chinese American, living in NewYork. Famous Chromatic Player.
Music That Touches the Heart is announced to include 50 minutes' classics accompanied with piano. It may be a good teacher to the chromatic players.

Pete Pedersen's CD

Groovin' High is his new CD. Total 72 minutes of well-known jazz numbers. 11 songs the CD contains are as below.
  1. Jitterbug Walts
  2. My Funny Valentine
  3. Have You Met Miss Jones
  4. I Mean You
  5. Here's That Rainy Day
  6. Groovin' High
  7. Sophisticated Lady
  8. Joy Spring
  9. Body And Soul
  10. I'll Remember April
  11. How Insensitive
If you want it and you are in Japan, please send 2,500 Yen by the postal money exchange deposit (Yuubin Furikae) from your nearest yuubin-kyoku (postoffice) to here. For more information, please ask
(The address in Japanese is here.)

Ryuuichiro Senoo's 1st and 2nd albums

2 albums of one the top players of blues harmonica have already been re-released as CDs from P-VINE.

CD of female chromatic player

Maria Wolfsberger is a female chromatic player. She is a champion of both '91(Detroit) and '93(Trossingen) Championships. She has released a CD HARMONICA DREAMS in Austria (Little Treasury Market). The piano accompaniment is by Mrs. Knopp Naoko. The song list is as below. In Japan, you can get it by 3,000 Yen from the below.

CD anthology of Masami Oishi

Masami Oishi, a famous tremolo harmonica player have released CD box.
Oishi Masami Harmonica Mei-en Shuu(Masami Oishi Harmonica Best Plays), is a set of 6 CDs including total 90 songs. In the songs there are many Enka, Douyou, Japanese popular songs like Kitaguni no Haru, Hana, Oboro-Dzukiyo, Shiretoko Ryojou, Koujou no Tsuki, Shiki no Uta, Yuki no Furu Machi wo, Kawai Su-chan and so on. The scores are also included.
Tombo Musical Instruments Co. (Tel. 03-3802-1772 from inside Japan) accepts its order. Price is 15,000 Yen (plus transfer fee 500 Yen)

Oishi has also released a cassete tape named OHAKO dokusouhen. It includes 14 solo plays of him, such as Mademoiselle de Paris, Autumn Leaves, Hungarian Danse No.5, Yagiri no Watashi, Yoimachigusa, Swan etc. the price is 3,500 Yen. Please contact ON Kikaku (Tel. and FAX 03-5729-0707 from inside Japan).

New CDs of blues harpists

Japanese 2 leading blues harpists will release their new CDs.

Koichi ARI Matsuda's CD is his first album, including Hamabe no Uta, Parade of child elephants, Goodnight, Irene, Rocomotion Boogie and so on.
ARI's Harmonica Workshop (Tel. 03-3409-1015 from inside Japan) accepts its order. Price is 3,000 Yen (plus transfer fee 300 Yen)

Senoo's CD has now been released as an album of his band Rollercoaster from P-VINE, Japanese record company. The title is Keep On Going (PCD-5703), and the price is 2,884 Yen (tax included).

Live Video of Memorial Concert in Kansai

The live video of the memorial concert of Japanese harmonica 100th anniversally (at Osaka City in Oct. 15) are sold. It is a 120-minutes VHS type video tape, contains the plays of Pete Pedersen, Nobuo Tokunaga, Yasuo Watani, Kyoto Harmonica Quartet (WHF'95 champion of group (4 to 6) category), Tadao Kobayashi and Masataka Yoshimori.
I have already received it and much enjoyed. Introductions of players and other announces are cut almost completely, so you can only get the good sounds like Take the A-Train of Pete Pedersen and Nobuo Tokunaga, Suzukake no Michi of Nobuo Tokunaga, Toredo of Yasuo Watani, Valsentino of Kyoto Harmonica Quartet and so on.
If you want it and you are in Japan, please send 5,000 Yen Teigaku Kogawase of Yuubin-kyoku (Postoffice) to this address (in Japanese). For foreigners, mail to me, or contact directly to the below.
(Sorry but the pronounciation of the name may be a little different.)

WHF '95 Video

Digest video of the World Harmonica Championships '95 in Yokohama has distributed from Nippon Harmonica Suishin Kyougi-Kai. 60 minutes VHS (NTSC) tape. Price is 6,000 Yen (includes tax and transport fee). Please contact directly to the Kyougi-Kai office (Tel. 03-3265-4013 from Nippon).
Masaaki Shigehara / PFD00763@nifty.ne.jp