Ak’a Tamaani

Ak’a Tamaani is a wild and earthy piece from Heart of the Beast. The title means “long ago,” “in days of old,” or “many years ago” in the Central Alaskan Yup’ik language (Yugtun).

Composer Jared Michael Fry’s score for Heart of the Beast is really amazing, and I can hardly wait to dig into it further. The immediate standout was Ak’a Tamaani, a guitar piece from Fry’s longtime collaborator Wayne Ingram. The vocals are by Pamyua, an Alaska-based performance group.

For my arrangement, I shortened the piece and played the opening guitar line twice.

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