Masa Takumi - Sakura

Winner of 'Best Global Music Album' at the 65th Grammy Awards in 2023; becoming the first Japanese artist to ever win the category.. Masanori Takumi, a composer, and multi-instrumental artist who has achieved numerous achievements in the past, including a Grammy Award nomination and the Japan Record Award for Outstanding Work, will return for the first time in two years under the name of MASA TAKUMI. This album is released with the theme of 'Japanese style'.The beauty of falling cherry blossom petals reminds us of the Buddhist teaching that even the prosperous inevitably decay. Each spring the presence of cherry blossoms gives us a moment of utmost elegance. With the fleeting nature of this beauty in mind, it's blossoming essence is cherished. Through the creation of this album, I have given cherry blossoms the ability to bloom not only in the spring but year round in each and every moment of our lives. I hope this 'Sakura' will reach your hearts.Masa Takumi's global music album Sakura (Cherry Blossom) gets a physical release. It used traditional instruments such as Koto, Erhu, Shamisen, Bansuri, and many percussion instruments and features Ron Korb, Nadeem Majdalany and is produced by Lonnie Park. The 2nd song Katana is a weapon, but it is also a symbol of the authority of emperors and warriors, an object of worship, and a piece of arts and crafts. The katana is no longer used as a weapon and is now considered a piece of arts and crafts and a cultural asset. The katana has the strength to cut through even a pistol bullet, but it's sharp blade only glints quietly in the silence, giving a sense of it's inner strength without hurting anything. The importance of the existence of the katana in the modern age is a piece of art expressing it's strength, not through it's military power, but through it's existence. I expressed such mysterious power of the katana in this music. Each song title is named as Japanese on purpose to express Japanese inner beauty. I hope this 'Sakura' will reach your hearts.