ASA-CHANG & Junray is a band founded by Japanese percussionist ASA-CHANG, who was the founder and original bandmaster of

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra , commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene. At the time, the band's sound was unlike t ...

. After leaving the group in 1993, he formed ASA-CHANG & Junray in 1998 with programmer and guitarist Hidehiko Urayama. They were joined in 2000 by

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

player U-zhaan. Live, the group used a portable sound-system called 'Jun-Ray Tronics', hence the name; the word 'junray', however, also means 'pilgrimage'. In 2002, the British label

The Leaf Label The Leaf Label is a British independent record label based in Yorkshire, England. Initially an electronic music label, releasing mainly instrumental music, the company's approach now features artists spanning jazz and post-punk. History The Le ...

released ''Jun Ray Song Chang'', which compiled the group's first two Japan-only albums. It was followed a year later by the mini album ''Tsu Gi Ne Pu''. The group's song 'Hana' was featured on Fabric Live 07, while 'Tsuginepu To Ittemita' was included on a

The Wire Tapper ''The Wire'' (or simply ''Wire'') is a British music magazine publishing out of London, which has been issued monthly in print since 1982. Its website launched in 1997, and an online archive of its entire back catalog became available to subs ...

CD. The group's 2005 album, ''Minna no Junray'', featured vocals by singer and actress

Kyōko Koizumi (born February 4, 1966) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is signed to Victor Entertainment. Career In 1981, Kyoko Koizumi participated in and won the Star Tanjo! programme and released her first single in March 1982. She obtained several ...

. On March 31, 2010, Urayama and U-zhaan left the band. In 2012, saxophone flute player Yoshihiro Goseki and violinist Anzu Suhara joined as live members. In 2013, their song "Hana" was re-done and used as the ending theme for the anime adaptation of Shuzo Oshimi's '' The Flowers of Evil''. Several versions, including the original, are used throughout the series.

Members

* ASA-CHANG (Hirokazu Asakura, ex.

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, tablabongo * Yoshihiro Goseki (ex. DCPRG, ex. Zainichi Funk): sax,

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

* Anzu Suhara (ex. Led Act Sect):

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, vocal

Former members

* Hidehiko Urayama:

music sequencer A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling Musical note, note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open ...

* U-zhaan:

Albums

*''Tabla Magma Bongo'', 1998 (Japan only) *''Hana'', 2001 (Japan only) *''

Jun Ray Song Chang ''Jun Ray Song Chang'' is the third album and first compilation by experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experimen ...

'',

2002 *''Tsu Gi Ne Pu'',

2003
BBC review
*''Minna no Junray'', 2005 *''Kage No Nai Hito'', 2009 *''Mahou'', 2016 *事件, 2020

References

External links

*

Asa Chang on The Leaf Label
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asa-Chang and Junray Experimental musical groups Japanese experimental musicians