URB magazine wrote " the energy and speed in Ark's playing is mind blowing... rips through solos with a calculating precision and unprecedented command of Jazz harmony". LA Jazz Scene wrote "a marvelous, technically adept musician, who plays with a controlled fury". Ottawa Citizen said, "Ark Sano has dazzling technique and a special fluency on modal burners".
Renowned Jazz critic Leonard Feather of the Los Angeles Times praised Sano saying he "displayed a diversity of ideas that ranged from ingenious chording to rapid single note lines". The Sacramento Bee wrote "Sano, who on the boppish opener had shown a hard hitting attack, framed (ballads) along with tenderly wonderful chords and changes" and the Los Angeles Weekly wrote "Sano, uses his McCoy Tynerish chording and broad rippling sounds as the delivery system for the nerve-twisting harmonic structures".
At the age of 12 he started playing an organ that his parents bought him. This extraordinary talent was soon realized and he started with formal training. Within two years, having acquired the ability of transcribing and arranging the music from TV, radio. Etc, he decided to from a band. He began performing around his hometown, Gifu, Japan. By the age of 16, the music of the great masters such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin had caught his attention so he directed most of his time towards the piano, and left organ behind.
When he had graduated from high school, he continued to play at the better local clubs and restaurants. Ark was introduced to Jazz when one of the local musicians heard this gifted young pianist playing at a club, and enticed him into joining their band. It didn't take too long before Ark was totally fascinated by Jazz. Now, Ark decided to dedicate himself to Jazz music, so he continued listening to and studying the art.
Soon after he was performing with his own jazz band. His band quickly gained attention as a newcomer to the jazz scene. However, his passion and inspiration for the music, as well as his desire to become a better musician, led him from Gifu, a small town in Japan, to the U.S.A. to study at Berklee College of Music, which awarded him a scholarship.
While at Berklee, he was quite active, participating in ensemble audition teams and playing for Berklee project bands, while giving and performing numerous concerts and recitals. In 1989, he made the finals in The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. In 1990 he graduated from Berklee College of Music, Summa Cum Laude, majoring in Jazz composition, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career. While performing at local clubs and restaurants, he attended numerous jam sessions and met Black/Note, which he became a regular pianist of.
His enthusiasm for music keeps his schedule full. He is actively performing with his own trio and solo piano while writing and performing classical pieces and giving concerts. He is also composing/arranging for various chamber ensembles including Japan America Chamber Ensemble, for which he serves as a music director.
taken from his homepage:
http://home.att.net/~arksano/myhome/ind_e.html
Undertow
Ark Sano Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've been struck dumb by a voice that
Speaks from deep
Beneath the cold black water.
It's twice as clear as heaven,
And twice as loud as reason.
It's deep and rich like silt on a riverbed
And just as undisturbing.
Suggests and beckons all while swallowing.
It surrounds and drowns and sweeps me away.
But I'm so comfortable, too comfortable.
Shut up shut up shut up shut up
Shut up shut up shut up shut up
You're saturating me
So how could I let this bring me
Back to my knees again again again
Under for the third time.
I've been baptized by your voice.
It screams from deep beneath the endless water.
And it's half as high as heaven
And half as clear as reason.
It's cold and black like silt on the riverbed.
But I'm so comfortable.
Far too comfortable.
Why don't you kill me,
I'm weak and numb and insignificant,
And I'm back on my knees.
Lost in euphoria.
I'm back down. I'm in the undertow.
I'm helpless and awake in the undertow.
I'll die within your undertow.
It seems there's no other way out of this undertow.
Euphoria.
The lyrics of Ark Sano's song Undertow have a deeply emotional and intense meaning. The song speaks about a person who has been overcome by a voice that speaks from the depths of the cold black water, which is twice as clear as heaven and twice as loud as reason. The persona is so deeply immersed in this voice that they are comfortable in the darkness, even though it surrounds and drowns them, and they are helpless and lost in the undertow.
The voice in the song represents an addiction or a toxic relationship that the persona cannot let go of, no matter how hard they try. The persona is so weak and insignificant that they cannot resist the temptation of the voice, even though it will ultimately lead to their demise. The chorus of the song, "Shut up shut up shut up shut up, you're saturating me," represents the persona's inner conflict between their desire to break free from the addiction and their fear of confronting the voice that controls them.
The song speaks to anyone who has been lost in the undertow of addiction or a toxic relationship, and the struggle to break free from its hold. The poignant lyrics were written by James Keenan, who is known for his emotionally charged lyrics in Tool's music. Undertow is a powerful song that captures the depths of human emotion and the struggle to break free from the undertow of addiction and toxic relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Gone under two times.
I have already experienced this feeling of being overwhelmed and unable to control my thoughts or actions, and it has happened twice.
I've been struck dumb by a voice that
Speaks from deep
Beneath the cold black water.
The voice that is causing me to feel this way seems to be coming from somewhere deep within my subconscious, and it feels as though I am drowning in it.
It's twice as clear as heaven,
And twice as loud as reason.
The voice is both extremely clear and loud, making it hard to ignore or control.
It's deep and rich like silt on a riverbed
And just as undisturbing.
The voice is powerful and all-encompassing, much like the way silt can cover the bottom of a river bed without being noticed.
The currents mouth below me opens up around me.
Suggests and beckons all while swallowing.
The force of the voice is like a current that surrounds me, pulling me in and making it hard to resist.
It surrounds and drowns and sweeps me away.
But I'm so comfortable, too comfortable.
The feeling that the voice creates is overwhelming, and yet I am strangely comfortable in this overwhelming state.
Shut up shut up shut up shut up
Shut up shut up shut up shut up
You're saturating me
I am begging the voice to stop, as it is taking over my entire being and saturating me completely.
So how could I let this bring me
Back to my knees again again again
Under for the third time.
Despite having experienced this overwhelming feeling before, I am still succumbing to it and am now on my knees for the third time as a result.
I've been baptized by your voice.
It screams from deep beneath the endless water.
The voice feels like a powerful baptism that is taking over every aspect of my being.
And it's half as high as heaven
And half as clear as reason.
It's cold and black like silt on the riverbed.
The voice is still loud and clear, but its power has slightly diminished compared to before.
But I'm so comfortable.
Far too comfortable.
Although the voice has weakened slightly, I am still too comfortable being in this state of overwhelming emotion.
Why don't you kill me,
I'm weak and numb and insignificant,
And I'm back on my knees.
The overwhelming power of the voice is making me feel powerless and insignificant, to the point where I am begging for death.
Lost in euphoria.
I'm back down. I'm in the undertow.
The overwhelming emotions create a sense of euphoria that pulls me back down into the undertow of my thoughts and feelings.
I'm helpless and awake in the undertow.
I'll die within your undertow.
It seems there's no other way out of this undertow.
The undertow of my thoughts and emotions is so overwhelming that it feels like there is no escape from it, and I am resigned to dying within this state of mind.
Euphoria.
Despite the overwhelming and potentially dangerous nature of the voice and its effects, there is still an underlying sense of pleasure and euphoria that comes with feeling so completely submerged in emotion.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: GOAPELE K. MOHLABANE, JAMES RYAN WUIHUN HO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind