Imani Winds

Imani Winds is an American wind quintet based in New York. The group was founded in 1997 and is known for its adventurous programming, which includes newly composed works, as well as compositions featuring African, Latin American, and American influences.

Overview

They have presented premieres by composers including Paquito D'Rivera, Mohammed Fairouz, Wayne Shorter, Richard Wernick, Fred Ho, Kenji Bunch, and Bruce Adolphe.

The group has released four CDs. Their first CD on a major label, The Classical Underground (Koch Entertainment), was released in January 2005 and was nominated for a Grammy award in 2006.

Imani Winds have toured throughout the United States and Canada, and participated in Chamber Music Society Two, a professional residency program of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In addition, Imani has toured internationally and recorded with saxophonist Steve Coleman, performed with pop recording artists Morley and opened for Cassandra Wilson and Wynton Marsalis. They have appeared on radio programs including Saint Paul Sunday, Performance Today, News & Notes, The Bob Edwards Show, and The World.

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On the surface of the Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the Sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space. Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the regions in which they occur, and their effect. The strongest observed winds on a planet in the Solar System occur on Neptune and Saturn. Winds have various aspects, an important one being its velocity; another the density of the gas involved; another is the energy content or wind energy of a wind.

In meteorology, winds are often referred to according to their strength, and the direction from which the wind is blowing. Short bursts of high speed wind are termed gusts. Strong winds of intermediate duration (around one minute) are termed squalls. Long-duration winds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, and hurricane. Wind occurs on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hours, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between the climate zones on Earth. The two main causes of large-scale atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect). Within the tropics, thermal low circulations over terrain and high plateaus can drive monsoon circulations. In coastal areas the sea breeze/land breeze cycle can define local winds; in areas that have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes can dominate local winds.

W-inds

w-inds. is a Japanese pop boy band that is managed by Vision Factory and has been signed to the Pony Canyon label since 2000. The group consists of the three individuals Ryohei Chiba, Keita Tachibana, and Ryuichi Ogata. They made their formal debut in 2001 and, to date, have released 30 singles. In addition to their popularity in Japan, they have a relatively large fan base around other Asian countries (such as Taiwan and Hong Kong) and regularly make television appearances there.

Tachibana is the lead singer of the group, and initially Chiba and Ogata were to join as back-up dancers. However, throughout their career, Chiba and Ogata both gained larger roles in their music by providing back-up vocals and occasionally rapping. In 2002 together with Flame and Folder5 they compiled a short studio album titled Earth Harmony.

History

Pre-debut

Ryohei Chiba began attending a dance school in Sapporo, where he met Ryuichi Ogata, who attended at the request of his older sister. Chiba performed dances live with his friends and also made a television appearance in 1998 with his mother at a variety show, where he won the attention of all the female judges as the cutest.

Winds (band)

Winds is a Norwegian neo-classical/progressive metal band formed in 1998. The music is largely influenced by classical music, with Andy Winter's piano work and Carl August Tidemann's guitar solos, often the central focuses. The lyrics are written by Andy Winter, and deal mostly with astral and existentialist philosophy.

Members

Current members

Session Members

Of Entity and Mind

Reflections of the I

The Imaginary Direction of Time