CD-231 Akira Otsuka "FIrst Tear"

 AKIRA OTSUKA first toured the U.S. with legendary "Bluegrass 45," the first and most influential Japanese Bluegrass band to hit these soils. Since that time, Akira has been acknowledged and honored in both the U.S. and Japan for his outstanding abilities on the mandolin. Highly sought as an accompanist and session player on guitar, banjo and bass as well as mandolin, Akira has shared the stage and recorded with many of the genre's greatest artists, including Emmy Lou Harris, Nils Lofgren, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck, Jethro Burns, Danny Gatton, Hazel Dickens, Bill Kirchen and Peter Rowan.

Akira continues to grow in the innovative tradition for which he has won accolades, in venues as diverse as the White House, the Grand Ole Opry, the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution. Musical versatility is Akira's hallmark. As composer of many of the tunes on his first solo CD, "First Tear," he tastefully expands musical parameters, while respecting traditional boundaries.