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Ryuichi Sakamoto

Categories: [Artist Spotlight]
Tags: [Inspiration], [Piano], [Composer]

Ryuichi Sakamoto

I sometimes look up new piano players. Not new players, but new to me. Previously unknown to me. During the pandemic I stumbled across a piece by Ryuichi Sakamoto, a world-famous pianist and virtuoso from Japan. I think the piece was Andata. It was the first piece in a video called Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the piano for the isolated. I would embed it here, but embedded playback has been disabled for this particular video.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the piano for the isolated

Every note was played with such emotion, and given room to breathe and bloom. I was impressed with his playing. In the video, he plays several instruments, and he invites his friend, a traditional shamisen musician to play as well.

Over the course of the video, his plain-spoken humility and regard for his fellow human beings became evident.

I was saddened to learn of his passing in 2023.