The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center Present ELECTRIC ISLAND, ACOUSTIC SEA

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) present the mainland concert premiere of GRAMMY Award winners Tak Matsumoto and Daniel Ho's new album, Electric Island, Acoustic Sea. Following a sold-out 24-show tour in Japan and Hawaii earlier this year, Los Angeles audiences will be treated to two special events celebrating Gibson Guitar legend Matsumoto and ukulele virtuoso/multi-instrumentalist Ho's debut album. First, the duo will kick off their mainland premiere with an intimate Q&A and exclusive live performance - An Evening With Tak Matsumoto and Daniel Ho - at the GRAMMY Museum in Downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, October 10 at 8:00pm. Then, four days later, a sensational live concert experience - The Electric Island, Acoustic Sea Concert - will rock JACCC's Aratani Theater in Little Tokyo on Saturday, October 14, 2017. The performance will start at 7:00pm, and tickets range from $39 for balcony seating to $49 for orchestra seating. For additional information on the artists' debut collaborative album, please visit http://www.danielho.com/physical-shop/cd-eias. Tickets to the GRAMMY event can be found here and tickets for the Aratani concert can be found here.

The prolific duo's first project together - Electric Island, Acoustic Sea - which was greeted with widespread critical acclaim, debuted at #1 in Japan upon its release on February 8, 2017. In a role-reversal, the album channels Ho's inner rock star and Matsumoto's love for the relaxing pace of Hawaii. As Ho explains, it features an original collection of contemporary compositions rooted in the artists' native cultures, "Our album is a musical convergence of our island cultures of Japan and Hawaii. We used traditional instruments like 'ukulele, slack key guitar, ipu heke, taiko, sanshin, koto (June Kuramoto from the group Hiroshima recorded the koto parts) in our original music." The almost entirely original, instrumental album sports one song with vocals by Ho, a cover of Journey's ballad "Faithfully."

Details for the upcoming mainland celebrations are as follows:

Tue. Oct. 10

An Evening With Tak Matsumoto and Daniel Ho

GRAMMY Museum

Clive Davis Theater

800 W Olympic Blvd., A245

Los Angeles, CA 90015

• doors: 7:00pm, show: 8:00pm

• $20

• an intimate conversation about their newest collaborative album, which will be followed by a live performance, hosted by Executive Director Scott Goldman.

• event page • Tickets • FB event page

Sat. Oct. 14

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. & Japanese American Cultural & Community Center present

The Electric Island, Acoustic Sea Concert

Aratani Theatre

244 S San Pedro St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

• 7:00pm

• $39 Balcony / $49 Orchestra

• Tickets • FB Event page

Tak Matsumoto - Mini Bio -

Tak Matsumoto's career as a Gibson Guitar artist and co-founder/lead composer of Japan's iconic, best-selling rock duo B'z, spans nearly three decades, with over 80 million records sold in Japan alone, 49 consecutive #1 singles, and continuous sold-out stadium tours. As one of the world's most accomplished guitarists, Matsumoto performs with an unrivaled electric musicality, recognized around the globe. In 2007, Matsumoto joined Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Ace Frehely, and Slash to become the fifth guitarist in the world to have his own Gibson signature Les Paul. Gibson currently produces eleven different Tak Matsumoto signature guitars. In 2011, his collaborative album with Larry Carlton, Take Your Pick, earned him a GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.

Daniel Ho - Mini Bio -

Six-time GRAMMY Award-winner and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Ho's versatility on ukulele, slack key guitar, and piano encompasses a genre-crossing repertoire of Hawaiian, world, classical, contemporary instrumental, and vocal compositions. His solo ukulele instrumental album, Polani, became the first ukulele album in music history to receive a GRAMMY nomination - one of fourteen GRAMMY nominations throughout his career, thus far. He received international recognition in 2008 for his Hawaiian cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares to You," which was featured in the end credits for the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall. With an extensive career including over 100 albums, Ho works tirelessly as a solo artist but relishes in collaborative partnerships as well. He and Tia Carrere have two GRAMMY-winning albums together and most recently, in 2014, Ho's album Our World In Song with Luis Conté and Wu Man was nominated for a GRAMMY in the World Music category. Ho is an official YAMAHA Guitar and BOSE Professional artist, with a side-passion for instrument design. As the acting Co-Designer at Romero Creations, Ho, along with the world-renowned luthier Pepe Romero Jr. - son of legendary classical and flamenco guitarist Pepe Romero Sr. - has designed his signature ukulele, the Tiny Tenor, which is the official ukulele of Electric Island, Acoustic Sea.

Tak Matsumoto - Full Length Bio -

Championed in his homeland as the most renowned guitarist in all of Asia, Tak Matsumoto is best known as songwriter, guitarist and producer of the Japanese rock duo, B'z. Formed in 1988, Matsumoto and vocalist, Koshi Inaba have released chart-topping albums and singles over the course of their career, and hold the record of 49 consecutive #1 single debuts on Japan's Oricon Singles Chart. With sales totaling over 80-million units in Japan alone, B'z is recognized as the best-selling music act in Japanese history.

Complementing their storied musical success, B'z is celebrated for their dynamic live shows. In 2011, their sold-out North American tour culminated in an unforgettable performance with rock band, Linkin Park, to raise money for victims of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. Later that same year, they played a sold-out dome tour in Japan, which included three nights at the famed Tokyo Dome with 600,000 fans in attendance.

Matsumoto began his career as a session musician. With exposure to a myriad of musical styles, his unique sound is inspired by elements of jazz, blues, classical, metal, rock, and ska. He released the critically acclaimed instrumental albums, Hana and Dragon From The West, which were heralded for their powerful flowing melodies and evocative imagery.

In 2010, Matsumoto joined forces with jazz guitarist, Larry Carlton, and released the album, Take Your Pick. Drawing upon their vast knowledge and diverse musical backgrounds, Matsumoto and Carlton blended their Eastern and Western guitar styles to create a truly magical album. After a successful tour of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, Take Your Pick won the GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 53rd GRAMMY Awards in February 2011.

Matsumoto's solo discography has garnered prestigious milestones. Strings Of My Soul was released worldwide in August of 2012. It peaked at #2 on the indie and mainstream Smooth Jazz Charts in the US and stayed on the charts for five months. Matsumoto digitally released an instrumental version of "Live Life," a single from Strings Of My Soul in January 2013, which went to #8 and spent three months on the BDS Billboard Smooth Jazz Radio Top 30. His 2014 album, New Horizon, and 2016 album, Enigma, both culminated with sold out Japanese tours. Eliciting rave reviews, the tours incorporated spectacular stage sets with visual and lighting techniques that presented instrumental music in a cutting-edge experience.

Matsumoto is eager to explore and expand his musical world. His most recent collaboration is with 6-time GRAMMY winner, multi-instrumentalist and producer Daniel Ho. They released Electric Island, Acoustic Sea in early 2017. It is a dynamic album that features sounds of the island cultures of Japan and Hawaii. The sold out 24-show tour through Japan concluded with Tak's first concert event in Hawaii. With B'z embarking on their 30th anniversary celebration in the fall, Tak Matsumoto continues to electrify audiences with his prolific skill set and undeniably signature guitar sound.

Daniel Ho's simple philosophy of presenting music with sincerity and artistry encompasses six consecutive GRAMMY Awards, fourteen GRAMMY Nominations, several number-one albums on national airplay charts, and a slew of top-ten albums on Billboard.

Ho's six GRAMMY Awards (2005-2010) were for Best Hawaiian Music Album as an artist, producer, and engineer. In 2010, his solo ukulele album, Polani (Pure), was the first ukulele album in musical history to receive a GRAMMY nomination. On piano the following year, he received a nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album for his LP, E Kahe Malie (Flowing Gently). Ho's 2012 album On A Gentle Island Breeze was nominated for a GRAMMY in the World Music category, and again in 2014, his album Our World In Song with Luis Conté and Wu Man was also nominated for a GRAMMY in the same category.

A Honolulu native, Ho started music lessons at an early age and spent his teenage years orchestrating big band arrangements. At the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles, he excelled in composition and film scoring. He was the leader and keyboardist of the acclaimed '90s contemporary jazz band, Kilauea.

Ho performs original songs in English and Hawaiian that feature his versatility on ukulele, slack key guitar, and piano. Notable credits include singing Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" in Hawaiian for the end credits of the feature film Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), and his widely covered ukulele instrumental anthem, "Pineapple Mango." As an independent record company owner, he pursues excellence in composition, performance, audio engineering, and production. Ever the innovator, Ho's custom six-string KoAloha ukulele, the D-VI, is currently on exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum (going on year 6!). In addition, he has collaborated with world renowned luthier Pepe Romero Jr. in the design of the Romero Creations Tiny Tenor and XS Soprano 'ukuleles.

Founded in 1971, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center is one of the largest ethnic arts and cultural centers of its kind in the United States. A hub for Japanese and Japanese American arts and culture and a community gathering place for the diverse voices it inspires, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center connects traditional and contemporary; community participants and creative professionals; Southern California and the world beyond. In partnership with Bose, the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center operates the Aratani Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles - the first performing arts venue in Southern California to house a newly custom-designed Bose RoomMatch sound system. A total audio refit was completed in November 2014 with Bose's innovative technologies, bringing the theatre's acoustic performance to new levels of excellence. Today, the Aratani Theatre continues to be at the epicenter of Japanese and Japanese American performing arts, and it is also shared by the arts community to showcase the vibrancy and diverse cultures of Southern California and beyond.

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