Irish flute player Hanz Araki is the quintessential world music musician. He has performed around the world with the Juno Award-winning Paperboys, The Bridies, Casey Neill and an all-star tribute to The Pogues called "K.M.R.I.A." He has played with the Seattle Symphony, the University of Washington Wind Ensemble and is featured on more than a dozen recordings and soundtracks, from feature films and documentaries to popular video games.

He is a favorite performer at festivals across the United States, from the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle to the Milwaukee Irish Festival to Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland. He was asked to attend CivWorld's Interdependence Day Celebration in Mexico City, and took part in The Future of Music Coalition conference in Rio de Janeiro.

While his love is Irish music, his deep roots are in the shakuhachi, the traditional bamboo "Zen flute" of Japan. Hanz (short for Hanzaburo) is the world’s only sixth generation shakuhachi player, following in the footsteps of his father, Kinko Ryu Grand Master Kodo Araki V. With no prior musical training, Hanz took up the shakuhachi at age 17. Under his father’s tutelage, four months later he made his concert debut in Shimoneski, Japan. He went on to teach shakuhachi at Keio University for two years before moving back to his hometown of Seattle in 1991.

There, his American mother’s Gaelic roots came into play, and he began teaching himself Irish and Scottish tunes on the flute and whistle, inspired by the many excellent pipers and fiddlers in Seattle. His ability on the flute and his uncanny command of traditional songs with his voice quickly made him a fixture of the Irish music scene in America.

In 2004, Hanz released a solo album of traditional Scottish and Irish music with a fresh new slant, "Six of One, Five of the Other." It has been favorably received by fans and Irish music aficionados and earned him liveireland.com's Best Newcomer of the Year and KLCC's "Best Music of 2004" list. His newest release, "Little Fires" is a bold mix of traditional Celtic and modern music.

"What a great piece of business this is. Araki has a perfect voice for the songs, and is a wonderful, wonderful flute player. New. Fresh. Brill."
--Bill Margeson www.liveireland.com

CDBABY LINK for HANZ ARAKI: Little Fires



CDBABY LINK for HANZ ARAKI: Six of One 5 of the Other

Contact: hanzaraki@gmail.com