Former islander Hanz Araki plays a benefit concert to help Island Music Guild.

Flutist extraordinaire Hanz Araki may be considered an anomaly by some.

He has a Japanese musical heritage that spans six generations, yet he didn’t pick up the family instrument – the shakuhachi – until he was 17.

When he did, he taught himself “simple Irish and Scottish melodies” on the Japanese flute, which, he said, was his undoing.

And he can’t read a lick of music.

Chalk that up to a piano teacher he had when he was 8 years old. She was “endlessly frustrated” by the child who could play Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” from memory. The lessons lasted six months.

Also shaping his musical mind were cassettes of music from the Emerald Isle from his Irish mother, jazz and early punk.

This Friday, islanders will have the chance to hear Araki and his band, An Tua, in a concert benefiting the Island Music Guild.

In 1988, after only four months of lessons from his father, shakuhachi master Kodo Araki V, Hanz made his debut on the bamboo flute in Japan.

For the next three years he lived in Tokyo, where he practiced for hours every day, played recitals and concerts and taught shakuhachi at his father’s alma mater, Keio University.

Because young people in Japan had little interest in traditional Japanese music, Araki moved back to the States. The former Bainbridge Islander soon garnered attention for his flute prowess and singing.

Araki, who now lives in Seattle, has achieved worldwide acclaim for what one reviewer called “his masterful wooden flute playing, which is sweet and lush and full of feeling and nuance.”

Other press called him a “global beat” player with “considerable chops” and “smooth tenor vocals.” His flute playing “ranges from fiery to sweet and shows his complete mastery of Irish flute style.”

In addition to the shakuhachi, Araki plays flutes, penny-whistles and a few other wind instruments.

“I’ve seen Hanz before at the Sisters Folk Festival in Oregon. I bought a CD and followed his progress. I didn’t know he grew up here and has grandparents here,” said Norm Johnson of the Island Music Guild.

“I was really thinking he was out of our league. A mutual friend told me he actually grew up here. He wrote me an e-mail…It’s an interesting combination (his Japanese background and Irish musical taste). He’s one of the world’s experts on Irish flute.”

During their conversation, Johnson described the guild’s mission.

“They essentially run it as a nonprofit and as a benefit for the space itself. I like the idea…to be able to keep (the Island Music Guild),” Araki said. “Hands-down, these are my favorite places to play. If I never had to play another big space again, I’d be happy.”

When their talk turned to remuneration, Araki’s least favorite subject, he brought up the idea of doing a benefit.

“I always wanted to play on the island. My grandparents (Lynn and Alyce Campbell) still live here,” Araki said. “My family moved here in 1978, the year after ‘Star Wars.’ I date everything from then. I was here from grade three to grade nine (and then) moved to Seattle.”

All of a sudden, Araki said, “My dad started making trips back to Japan for summers. He was a schoolteacher…and took quite a bit of time off for music himself. He did some seminars. He had large groups of students there. I asked him to start teaching me the Japanese flute, the family flute.”

Back in Seattle, Araki, his brother, Hutch, and friends formed a band that became part of the Irish pub scene.

When Araki started meeting Irish virtuosos, he moved on to Irish tunes and ballads.

He joined the Paperboys, a Vancouver, B.C. band, as flutist and singer and toured the U.S. and Canada. In 1997, the band won the Canadian Juno award for Best Folk Roots Album.

After playing with various bands, Araki decided to strike out on his own.

“A little over a year ago, I started pulling in people for an album I was recording. We’ve all known each other for years,” he said.

He and his band mates – Dave Cory plays banjo, bouzouki and bodhran, Suzanne Taylor is on piano – recorded “Six of One, 5 of the Other,” which features six traditional songs and five sets of tunes.

Proceeds from Araki’s concert will help the Island Music Guild do some of the “little things that need to be done to outfit the building,” Johnson said.

The basic building is finished for teaching and performing, Johnson said.

By early September, he hopes to have three additional studios completed, followed by a stage and lighting. The concert also will support ongoing restoration for the building.

“It’s hard in summer months,” Johnson said. “A lot of teachers aren’t teaching, (and) it’s a way the community can support the independent institution.”

* * * * *

Helping Hanz

Hanz Araki and his band, An Tua, will play a benefit concert at the Island Music Guild from 8 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 5. The guild is at 10598 Valley Road in Rolling Bay.

Tickets are $12 for general admission and $9 for students and seniors. Call 780-6911 for tickets or visit www.islandmusic.org. Proceeds from the concert will help the guild defray construction costs.

An Tua’s album, “6 of One, 5 of the Other,” is available at www.antua.com.