On June 4, 1996, “Gut” label released “1996”, the twelve Ryuichi Sakamoto studio album. It was recorded in 1996, at “Right Track Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album contains a selection of his popular songs and two new songs, arranged for piano trio.

Personnel:

• Ryuichi Sakamoto– piano
• Jaques Morelenbaum– cello
• Everton Nelson – violin
• David Nadien– violin
• Barry Finclair – violin
• Fernando Aponte – engineer, mixing
• Ted Jensen– mastering
• Joe Lizzi & Jason Goldstein – engineer assistant
• Hideki Nakajima – art direction, design
• Yoshinori Ochiai – design
• Kazunari Tajima – photography
• Clare de Graw, David Rubinson – production managers

Track listing:

All tracks by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

1. A Day a Gorilla Gives a Banana
2. Rain
3. Bibo no Aozora
4. The Last Emperor
5. 1919
6. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
7. A.Y. in the Backyard
8. The Sheltering Sky
9. A Tribute to N.J.P.
10. High Heels (main theme)
11. Aoneko no Torso
12. The Wuthering Heights
13. Parolibre
14. Acceptance (End Credit)
15. Before Long
16. Bring Them Home