Mai Yamane

Mai Yamane
Born	October 9, 1958 (1958-10-09)
Origin	Izumo, Japan
Genre(s)	Jazz, Blues J-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Piano, Vocals
Years active	1980 - current
Associated acts	Yoko Kanno, New Archaic Smile, Fence of Defense, The Seatbelts
Website	(Japanese) homepage

Mai Yamane (山根 麻以,, Yamane Mai^?) is a Japanese singer-songwriter who worked on the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks.

Biography

Her career began in the 1980s when she entered a contest for young singers in Japan and six months later recorded her first album. She recorded as a solo artist until 1995 when she joined the New Archaic Smile.

Yoko Kanno had initially contacted Mai to do a TV commercial after listening to one of her albums. From there she introduced her into singing for anime soundtracks such as Macross Plus, Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop.

Her most recent international performance was on June 20th, 2007 in Seoul, South Korea as a member of Yoko Kanno team.

She lists Janis Joplin and Edith Piaf among her influences and personal tastes in soul music.

Discography

Solo Arist

• The Day Before Yesterday (1984)
• Flying Elephants (1985)
• Embassy (1986)
• Woman Tone (1988)
• 1958 (1989)

Cowboy Bebop (Vocals)

Cowboy Bebop OST:

• "Want It All Back"
• "Pushing The Sky"
• "Rain"
• "Don't Bother None"
• "See You Space Cowboy"
• "Mushroom Hunting" (Live version)
• "Blue" (Last episode ending song)
• "Gotta Knock a Little Harder"
• "The Real Folk Blues" (Ending Song)