OKI
Dub Ainu

One of the unexpected hits at this year's WOMAD festival in Reading was OKI Dub Ainu Band. The mix of Ainu -indigenous Japanese- music played on the tonkori, a skinny stringed instrument that produces hypnotic bass lines with dub and other modern influences, wowed the audience on two stages, and listeners to Charlie Gillett's BBC London radio show broadcast live from the festival.

Dub Ainu is a mini CD of remixed versions of tunes from some of OKI's previous albums and of the late Ainu elder female singer Umeko Ando, produced by OKI. Much, but not all, of the vocals have been stripped away, leaving light, sparkling dubbed out versions of mostly ancient traditional tunes. This CD was previously only available as a mail order item from farsidemusic.com. However following his WOMAD appearance and media reviews in magazines including Wire, Straight no Chaser, fRoots and Songlines, plus requests from stores and other media, it soon became clear Dub Ainu demanded a proper UK (and worldwide) release. Dub Ainu has been specially imported by Far Side Music direct from Japan for distribution through our network of distributors including New Note (UK)

OKI biography- OKI was born to a Japanese mother and an Ainu father. After graduating in crafts at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, he moved to New York in 1987, where he worked as special effects artist on film productions. He returned to Japan in 1992, and was presented with his first tonkori - the traditional stringed instrument of the Karafuto Ainu. Originating from the Sakhalin Island, the instrument inspired him to relocate to Hokkaido, where he taught himself to play and craft the tonkori. Currently, OKI is the most prominent performer of this instrument in the world. His contemporary approach, which fuses Reggae, African and Electronica with Ainu folk melodies, has won praise not only in Japan, but also worldwide. Through his active participation in the United Nations' Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP), OKI has developed a network with other indigenous artists. He has collaborated so far with the well-known Native American Flutist, R. Carlos Nakai, the Australian Aboriginal band, Waak Waak Jungi, the Taiwanese singer-songwriter, Pau-Dull (Chien-Nien), as well as Abe Barreto Soares, the East Timorese poet, and the Siberian vocalist, Olga Letykai Csonka. Many of these collaborations are featured on his 3rd album,
"No-One's Land", released in 2002. OKI is accredited as the producer for the widely acclaimed CDs "Ihunke" (2001) and "Upopo Sanke" (2003), both featuring Umeko Ando, the renowned Ainu performer of the mukkuri (Jew's harp) and upopo (traditional chanting). In 2004, OKI toured throughout the US, as well as performing at WOMAD in Australia, with his band OKI & the Far East Band. In July / August 2005 OKI Dub Ainu Band performed at WOMAD Reading UK, and OKI performed with Irish group Kila at the Festival of World Cultures in Dublin.

Tonkori- Developed on the northern island of Karafuto (Sakhalin), the tonkori is the only stringed instrument in the Ainu musical tradition. It is a long, flat instrument, which produces mysterious overtones.
These tones are the result of its thin body allowing for sound to reverberate strongly within. The instrument's soundboard is unfretted, and traditionally only the open pitches of the 3-5 strings are sounded, so it cannot be adapted for choral harmony. The limited pitches require the player to rely on rhythmic variations to sustain interest. The resulting sound is clearly distinct from Western and traditional Japanese music.