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Award-winning vocalist Donna Burke of Metal Gear, GOD EATER, and Silent Hill fame teams up with a jazz quintet to bring GANIME JAZZ to life.

Press release:
TOKYO – March 30, 2018 – Dagmusic is pleased to present GAME + ANIME = GANIME JAZZ, an exciting collection of game and anime music classics done in a classy jazz style featuring famed vocalist Donna Burke. Burke–who is most famously known for her contributions to the Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill franchises as well as being the English language announcer on Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka–founded the GANIME JAZZ quintet in 2016 and has mostly focused on live performances. GAME + ANIME = GANIME JAZZ is the quintet’s first studio album, is fully licensed, and will be available in digital and physical CD formats when it launches worldwide on April 3, 2018 on Bandcamp, with pre-orders available today:

GAME + ANIME = GANIME JAZZ Pre-Order on Bandcamp
GAME + ANIME = GANIME JAZZ Physical Merchandise

The album features 12 jazz-infused tracks, including fan-favorites from the Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicle series alongside two original tracks inspired by Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. The full track list is as follows:

01. Calling to the Night (Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops)
02. Way in the Dark (Implosion – Never Lose Hope)
03. Sins of the Father/Quiet’s Theme Intro (Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain)
04. Glassy Sky (Tokyo Ghoul)
05. Snake Eater (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater)
06. No One Can Save Me (Angela’s Song) (Inspired by Silent Hill 2)
07. Hotarubi (Firefly) (Tales of Legendia)
08. Kami to Hito to (God and Man) (GOD EATER)
09. Moonless Starry Night (Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles)
10. A Quiet Night (Original)
11. Morning Sky (Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles)
12. To Suffer is to Love (Claudia’s Song) (Inspired by Silent Hill 3)

“I hope that fans’ interest in videogames and anime leads to a newfound appreciation of jazz,” Burke explains. “Although I’m well-known for my videogame ballads, I want to take this opportunity to share my passion for jazz with my fans all around the world.”

In October 2018, Burke will also be performing as a part of the Metal Gear In Concert tour in Los Angeles (Oct. 10), New York (Oct. 13), and Paris (Oct. 28). The concerts will feature a symphony orchestra and video of iconic scenes from the Metal Gear Solid games with Burke singing “Sins of the Father,” “Snake Eater,” and “When Heavens Divide.”

About GANIME JAZZ
GANIME JAZZ, founded in Tokyo in 2016, interprets classic game and anime songs within a jazz quintet. GANIME JAZZ’s debut album GAME + ANIME = GANIME JAZZ features jazz arrangements of some of Donna Burke’s hit game and anime songs as well as original songs, two of which are inspired by her iconic voice acting roles in Silent Hill 2 and 3. GAME + ANIME = GANIME JAZZ was recorded to reflect a live sound in an intimate jazz bar.

Rounding out the GANIME JAZZ crew is composer/arranger/pianist Shunsuke Itoh, drummer Kohji Ebisawa, bassist Motoyoshi Ozawa and electric guitarist Hideki Tsuchiya. The band members, all fans of game and anime music, bring passion and originality to Donna’s original recordings, allowing fans to enjoy these songs performed in an acoustic jazz style.

Learn more: https://www.ganimejazz.com/

About Donna Burke
Donna Burke is a Western Australian singer and professional improvisational theater performer who exploded onto the videogame scene with 2010’s “When Heaven’s Divide” from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. In 2015, “Sins of the Father” from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain cemented her status as a prominent videogame vocalist. She’s also established in the anime industry with her hit song, “Glassy Sky,” from anime Tokyo Ghoul, which has over 12 million plays on YouTube and 20,000 cover versions by fans from all over the globe.

Donna is also an actress, voicing Raising Heart from the cult Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime series since 2004, the iDroid in Metal Gear’s Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain, and appearing in cult horror videogames Silent Hill 2 and 3 as Angela and Claudia. Donna’s voice is famous in Japan as the English announcer on the Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Kumamoto. In December 2017, the Nintendo Switch game ARMS added Doctor Coyle, a boss voiced by Donna.

In 2016, Donna formed a jazz quintet called GANIME JAZZ performing her own songs from anime and games including GOD EATER, Tales of Legendia, Metal Gear Solid, Little Charo 2, Gundam Movie, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Journey’s End and Tokyo Ghoul.

Jonas “O.J” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround