Sending out echoes of jazz, electronica, ambient music and minimalism, Mercury Prize nominated Portico Quartet have created their own singular, cinematic sound over the course of five lauded studio albums and one EP.

From the band’s 2007 breakthrough Knee-Deep in the North Sea, and the John Leckie produced Isla in 2010, to the self-titled recording Portico Quartet in 2012, the heralded Art In The Age Of Automation in 2017 and the critically acclaimed Memory Streams in 2019, each album has seen the band expand its palate or explore new trajectories. 

"Portico Quartet continue to plough their own furrow on their gorgeous new album Memory Streams" Bleep

https://akirakosemura.com/
Akira Kosemura (he/him) is a composer and pianist hailing from Tokyo, Japan. He is a prolific artist, constantly releasing solo albums and composing music for films, TV drama, games, stage, and commercial music.

Akira founded his own label Schole Records early on after his solo album It’s on Everything released in 2007 while he was still in school. In 2017 and 2018 Akira’s music was ranked in Spotify’s “Most Played Japanese Artists/Songs Top 10”, and his works have been highly acclaimed on media around the world, including US music media Pitchfork, Australian newspaper THE AGE, French public broadcast FIP, and Canadian public broadcast Ici Musique.

Akira’s major score works include Fragments of The Last Will by Takahisa Zeze, the Cannes 2020 featured film True Mothers (Asa Ga Kuru) directed by Naomi Kawase, Hollywood produced drama series Love Is__, the Nintendo Switch game Jack Jeanne produced by Sui Ishida, the TBS drama series Chugakusei Nikki, the contemporary ballet piece MANON, and the Japan Pavilion in Milano EXPO. His music pieces were also featured in the Amazon original movie Jonas Brothers’ CHASING HAPPINESS, the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion awarded director Audrey Diwan’s debut film Mais vous etes fous (Losing It), and the Toho movie Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare.

In recent years, he has worked on projects in different media such as SK-II STUDIO’s documentary The Center Lane (featuring Rikako Ikee), directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, the runway music for a collection from apparel brand TAKAHIROMIYASHITA The Soloist., as well as music for LA MER BLUE HEART, LAND ROVER, and L’OCCITANE. Akira has also co-produced a song with American musician Devendra Banhart.

In addition to his versatility and diverse portfolio, Akira has been working on a world scale. In 2022 he signed a contract with prestigious Decca Records, and the EP Pause (almost equal to) Play was released worldwide. Akira’s music was also sampled in John Legend’s song “The Other Ones feat. Rhapsody” included in his new album Legend Act I & II. And Akira’s first major album SEASONS was released on Decca Records (UMG) on June 30, 2023.

Official SoundCloud account for Blue Note Records
www.bluenote.com

OKeh short history: 

OKeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann when he set up his own recording studio and gramophone record pressing plant in New York City in September 1918. Heinemann formed the name of the record label "OKeh", from his initials.  OKeh began by issuing popular songs, dance numbers, and vaudeville skits similar to the fare of other labels, but Heineman also wished to experiment with music for audiences neglected by the larger record companies. OKeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish for the USA's immigrant communities. In 1920, Ralph Peer's recordings by African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a surprise smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African American artists. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke are only a few names of jazz greats that have recorded for the label. By 1926 Columbia Records bought the label and kept it running into the 60's with jazz and R&B recordings. 

In 1994, Sony Music reactivated the OKeh label as a new-age Blues label. Okeh's first new signings included Keb' Mo, Popa Chubby, and Little Axe. By 2000, the Okeh label was again retired, but in 2013 it will see its re-launch as a jazz label once again.

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