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Mstation Classical Reviews


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Thu, 01 Jun 2006


Japanese Music

Japan - Shakuhachi and Koto
Sozan Chiaki Kariya
Shunjn Kariya
LP, Air Mail Music
www.playasound.com

This CD is from a series from different countries called Air Mail Music and is quite cheap. I was interested to find out if the production was also cheap. The CD notes certainly are but the recording itself is not and there are 62 minutes of the soft sounds of the bamboo flute and stringed koto.

Also, very happily, there has been no attempt to dumb things down by Westernising it so one can get a real flavour of ... well, we're not actually told very much about where these tunes originated and how they were originally used but it all sounds quite genuine and almost expressionistic in a muted sort of way. One could imagine some of it being played at a tea ceremony. I must learn a little more about this music. (Baron K)

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