Compassion: Kishi Bashi and "Theme from Jerome (Forgotten Words)"

Japanese-American singer-songwriter Kishi Bashi brings us today's random tune, called Theme From Jerome (Forgotten Words). Kaoru Ishibashi was born in Seattle and grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. He attended the Berklee College of Music, focusing on film scoring, before becoming an internationally known violinist. He was a founding member of the New York electronic band Jupiter One, and currently also tours with the indie rock band of Montreal. He also has a thriving solo career and has released four studio albums, two live albums and three EPs, as well as one compilation set. Theme From Jerome (Forgotten Words) is from his 2019 album Omoiyari, which focuses on the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II. The Jerome camp was operated in Denson, Arkansas and was the most eastern internment camp in the United States, and one of only two in the Jim Crow south. Kishi Bashi describes this song, and the Omoiyari album, as not being about history, but the importance of history and the lessons that can be learned from it. The word "omoiyari" he translates as being akin to compassion, and he hopes that through compassion, empathy and understanding that we can overcome fear and intolerance.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: http://www.kishibashi.com/