Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano

Legendary composer, performer and producer Ryuichi Sakamoto will tour the UK for the first time in fifteen years this autumn.

Ryuichi will present audiences with an opportunity to hear and experience the new arrangements from ‘out of noise’ alongside favourites from his extensive and highly acclaimed recording career.

Sakamoto’s interest in different types of music – jazz, bossa nova, modern classical, dub and gamelan – was evident in his writing for YMO, his own solo albums, and starting in 1983 with Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, a series of soundtracks. That year, Sakamoto left YMO to launch his career as a solo artist and to pursue his interest in “world music.” These interests have carried over in Sakamoto’s collaborations with, among others, David Bowie, David Byrne, David Sylvian, Iggy Pop, Youssou N’dour, Robbie Robertson, Caetano Veloso, as well as writers William Burroughs and William Gibson.

Sakamoto’s best-known work is probably the soundtrack to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, but in 1987, his score for Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor won him an Oscar, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, as well as the New York, Los Angeles and British Film Critics Association awards for best original soundtrack. Since then, he has worked with Bertolucci twice (The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha), Oliver Stone (Wild Palms), Pedro Almodovar (High Heels), and Brian De Palma twice (Snake Eyes, Femme Fatale).