Pianist Keiko Matsui has long used her music as a way to help people in need. Her past efforts include musical benefits for the National Marrow Donor Program and AIDS research. Matsui’s new album, Wildflower, released this week on Narada, continues in that vein. Royalties made from the album’s title track will be donated to the United Nations World Food Program (UN-WFP) and its African programs. The royalties will be generated by television and radio play and record sales, as well as other licensed uses of the song-for instance, “Wildflower” is currently being played on many airlines’ in-flight music schedules.
Matsui will launch a world tour in March dedicated to UN-WFP. A number of confirmed tour dates are listed below, though some of these dates are missing venue information. Check the pianist’s Web site, www.keikomatsui.com, for further updates.
Tour dates:
Mar 11-14 • Oakland, CA • Yoshi’s
Mar 27 • Washington, DC • Kennedy Center
Mar 28 • Austin, TX • One World Theatre
Apr 15 • El Cajon, CA • Sycuan Casino
May 2 • Jacksonville, FL • Metropolitan Park
May 22 • Tokyo, Japan • Metropolitan Theatre
June 19 • Cerritos, CA • Cerritos Center
Jul 10 • South Africa
Aug 20 • Riga, Latvia • Congress Hall
Aug 21 • Vilnius , Lithuania • Congress Hall
Aug 22 • Warsaw, Poland
Aug 26 • Kiev, Ukraine • Palace of Ukraine
Aug 28 • Oyster Bay, NY
Sep 17 • South Africa, Johanesburg • Jazz Festival
Sep 19 • South Africa, Johanesburg • Gala Event
Sep 20 • South Africa, Cape Town
Oct 3 • Seoul, Korea
Nov 13 • Shizuoka, Japan
Nov 14 • Osaka, Japan
Nov 15 • Kouchi, Japan
Nov 16 • Fukuoka, Japan
Nov 17 • Hiroshima, Japan
Nov 22 • Nagoya, Japan
Nov 25 • Yokohama, Japan
Nov 26 • Tokyo Japan
