Night And Fog in Japan

Named after Alain Resnais' essay film on the abandoned landscapes of postwar Auschwitz that bear silent witness to the tragedy of the Holocaust, Night and Fog in Japan, Nagisa Oshima's fictional deconstruction of the left movement in the aftermath of the ratification of the second U.S.-Japan Security Treaty (Anpo) in 1960 is also a caustic and pointed cultural interrogation into personal and collective accountability that, as implied by Resnais' film, have been (consciously) obscured by the fog of guilt and memory.

Hidehiko "Sleepy" Matsumoto was one of the best jazz sax players in Japan. Born October 12, 1926 in Okayama; died February 29, 2000. His nickname was given by an American soldier when he was playing in a US military camp after the war. A true giant on tenor and flute, his contributions to the jazz industry of Japan were many and recognized by many awards and honors.

The Beatles was an American animated television series featuring the fanciful and musical misadventures of the popular British rock band of the same name. It ran from 1965 to 1969 on ABC in the USA (only 1965 to 1967 was first run; later transmissions were reruns). The series debuted on September 25, 1965 and ended on September 7, 1969. A total of 39 episodes were produced. The series was shown on Saturday mornings at 10:30 AM until the fall of 1968, when it was moved to Sunday mornings. Each episode has a name of a Beatles song, so the story is based on its lyrics and it is also played at some time in the episode.

'Oriental Landscapes' is a subtle showcase for percussionist Evelyn Glennie's skills, and the first piece, Chen Yi's Percussion Concerto tackles the obvious problem head on. She talks in the notes about combining Eastern sounds and folk music with Western art music: 'If you just put them together…then it sounds artificial. But if you can merge them in your blood, then they sound natural together'. For the first two minutes there's the astonishing range of sounds made by a collection of traditional Chinese gongs, and when the orchestra enters ……..

Andrew McGregor @ BBC review