Oriental Sunrise - Riley Lee

Oriental Sunrise - Riley Lee
Centuries of advancements in musical instruments have bypassed the traditional shakuhachi flute, an ancient instrument formed from bamboo root and equipped with just five finger holes. Its tender, ethereal tone thus remains essentially unaltered since its distant origins in Japan, and in the hands of a master player such as Riley Lee, an Australian, it sings to our spirits with a graceful gentleness that seems just beyond the reach of modern instruments. Lee here performs a series of duets with a koto, a stringed instrument with a harp- or zither-like character (performed by a trio of players), evoking moods of serenity and calm, carrying away your concerns on the receding mists of a golden dawn. Sweet, not shrill, Lee's gentle playing (accented by the sounds of surf at the disc's opening and close) is easily accessible to Western ears and is well-suited for meditation and massage. The combined run time of the disc's four tracks exceeds 56 minutes.

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Sankyoku - Ensemble Yonin no Kaï

Sankyoku - Ensemble Yonin no Kaï
This ensemble of four musicians playing traditional music was created in 1957, when each of its four members was awarded a gold medal in Moscow at the international Competition of Traditional Instruments (three of them won awards for pieces of traditional repertoire up to the 19th century, and all four of them for contemporary pieces). Recently, two of its members have changed. Since then, The Yonin no Kai Ensemble have given many concerts, both in Japan and abroad. As evident from their discography, these artists have made an exceptional contribution to Japanese music, ancient as well as contemporary: they have recorded, so far, as much as fifteen albums with traditional music, and some ten albums with contemporary compositions.

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Hotchiku - Watazumi Doso Roshi

Hotchiku - Watazumi Doso Roshi
Watazumido Doso Roshi (1910-1992) is perhaps the most legendary of all modern shakuhachi players and teachers. Amongst his many students is Yokoyama Katsuya, one of greatest players in Japan today.
Regarding himself as something other than a musician, Watazumido based his music in an uncompromising vigorous physical discipline. He was a practitioner of the Jo stick, a long hardwood pole with which he used to stretch, massage, pounds and invigorate his body in a daily regimen beginning at 3:30 AM each day. For over 3,000 consecutive days, he maintained this discipline.
Watazumido studied Rinzai Zen attaining the title of Roshi or Master and later became the Kanjo or unifying head of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism. He shunned traditional organized Zen practice for 32 years in favor of his own iconoclastic approach distinguished by breath training and vigorous exercise at its core. The lengthening of the "Out Breath" in his practice is directly descended from the wisdom of the breath as practiced in Zen.
Watazumido's music is as unique as it is intense. His style of shakuhachi playing is based on a discipline combining Zen breath awareness and the martial arts. He is known for the blowing an original, personal style of Honkyoku on bamboos of enormous size and length called hotchiku flutes.

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Master of Shakuhachi - Tajima Tadashi

Master of Shakuhachi - Tajima Tadashi
The shakuhachi has been much abused in the later half of the 20th century, by non-Japanese artists seeking to capitalize on its sensitive sound and hip Eastern origin to make incoherent mood music for health food stores. The reality of the instrument is one of quiet strength. The traditional version of this bamboo flute is large, over a foot and a half long with a large outside circumference. It achieves its unique sound from the musician's ability to balance the force needed to fill such a tool with air and the control to make it not only melodious, but contemplative. Tajima Tadashi performs a series of solo songs, all from the meditative tradition, created not for performance or ritual, but as a tool for the musician to achieve a state of meditation and to challenge himself in his art. These pieces show an accomplished artist pushing himself to the limit, not with wild virtuoso flights but with considered and complex melodies that are as ephemeral as snow and as strong as wind.

tracklist:
01 - Hon Shirabe.flac
02 - Shika no Tone.flac
03 - Shingetsu Cho.flac
04 - San An.flac
05 - Tsuru no Sugomori.flac
06 - Yamagoe.flac
07 - Ukigumo.flac
08 - Koku.flac

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Masters of Zen: Yamamoto & Mitterer

Masters of Zen: Yamamoto & Mitterer
Although listed as being a CD of Shakuhachi (flute) and Organ (an unusal combination for this type of music which is what prompted me to purchase it), their are other musicians and instruments on here as well. Some nice, subdued hand percussion at times, some voice, and also some bass Koto (a stringed instrument) which is used here sometimes to replace the organ.

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Ugetsufu: Masters of Zen - Kuniyoshi Sugawara

Ugetsufu: Masters of Zen - Kuniyoshi Sugawara
Kuniyoshi Sugawara was born in Hokkaido in 1955. He began playing the shakuhachi at the age of 12 and studied under several of the finest shakuhachi masters. He has received numerous awards, including first prize in the Hokkaido and all Japan Sankyoku Music Concours and 2nd place in the Pan Music Contemporary Music for Traditional Instruments Concours-solo division. Under the auspices of the Japanese Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the Japan Foundation Sugawara has toured the United States, Portugal, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, and China. He performs all types of music, from classics to contemporary, jazz to folk, and is also active as a composer and a radio and television performer.

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Higashi kara (From the East) - Reiko Kimura

Higashi kara (From the East) - Reiko Kimura
This exquisite recording presents five pieces from the repertoire of koto performers in the field known as 'gendai hogaku,' or contemporary music for Japan's traditional instruments. Performers in this field play on the traditional 13-string koto and two of its 20th century variants: the jushichigen ('17 strings', bass koto) and nijugen (literally '20 strings' but now as a rule with 21).

Performers in this field have generally undergone early training in the classical repertoire, but it is very uncommon for them to include pieces from that repertoire in their solo or group recitals. This trend is indicative of a shift in direction, away from the vocal towards the instrumental that is currently shaping the future of new composition for the original and newly-developed versions of Japan's traditional instruments.

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Quiet Heart Spirit Wind - Richard Warner

Quiet Heart Spirit Wind - Richard Warner
Music for Relaxation both Quiet Heart and Spirit Wind were originally released on cassette as separate albums more than 20 years ago. Now, Richard Warner's ethereal and calming improvisations are available in a special 2 - CD set (a remastered repackaging of two releases from 1982's Quiet Heart and 1984's Spirit Wind) that features four additional bonus tracks (two per disc). Quiet Heart is an album of subtle bamboo/alto flute harmonies performed solo by Warner. The music is soulful and spiritual, capturing the essence of calm and stillness. Spirit Wind is also comprised of wandering flute tones; only in this case they are accented by the soothing sound of crystal glasses that were tuned by being filled with water to achieve certain pitches. In addition to the bonus tracks, the music also features 20 - bit remastering for superior sound quality.

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Zen Garden - Kokin Gumi

Zen Garden - Kokin Gumi
"Tucked into the sheltered of a quiet courtyard lies a small rectangular plot of carefully raked white gravel..."
So begins the introduction to this CD of meditative music written entirely by Masa Yoshizawa for Kokin-Gumi, whose traditional Japanese instruments and artistry creates a seamless blend of old and new, east and west.

Inspired by the simple beauty of a Zen Garden, a Japanese ensemble performs twelve original compositions, that make the perfect mood for peaceful meditation and enlightenment. Instrumentation includes shakuhachi, shinobue, hichiriki, kotsuzumi, bamboo flutes, koto, bass koto, shamisen & piano.

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Yoga - Ron Allen & Friends

Yoga - Ron Allen & Friends
The Yoga CD by Solitudes embraces the curative art of yoga, which has long been known to improve strength, mental clarity and inner peace. Ron Allen and Friends have created the perfect blend of music and nature sounds that are calming yet expansive and ideal for Yoga practice. Enjoy this relaxing and meditative listening experience. Instrumentation includes shakuhachi and bass bamboo flutes, sapranino sax, harp, clarinet, guitars, keyboards and the sounds of nature.

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Zen Spirit- Tani Senzan

Zen Spirit- Tani Senzan
Tani Senzan is the foremost master of the Ueda style of shakuhachi playing. He began his studies in Osaka with his father, who was also a Ueda-ryu shakuhachi master and recording artist. Under the tutelage of Ueda Kado, Mr. Tani received his headmaster status in 1977, won three consecutive Ueda National Gold medals and also won top honours in the N.H.K. National Music Competition. During the same period he recorded an album entitled “The Season of the White Flower” for King Record. Mr. Tani has performed in Europe and North America and continues to have a busy concert schedule throughout Japan, as well as playing at cultural festivals and on radio and television.Tani Senzan also performs on “Evening Snow” and “Japanese Mysteries” both from Oasis Productions.
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Evening Snow - Tani Senzan

Evening Snow - Tani Senzan
This is the first of only two CDs recorded by Senzan Tani; the other one, Zen Spirit, is a solo album. Senzan Tani is a student of the Uyeda chool of shakuhachi while Yoko Tanaka studied at the Tadao Sawai school, Sawai being the best-known koto player of the second half of the century. This fine CD presents a series of traditional and contemporary Japanese classical pieces for koto and shakuhachi. Among the traditional pieces are "Chidori No Kyoku" (The Plover) for both instruments and "Midare" for koto solo, two of the best masterworks of the repertoire. Among the contemporary pieces, there are two excellent pieces: "Tori No Yoni" (The Dream of the Bird) from Tadao Sawai for koto solo and "Sekibetsu No Mai" (Farewell Dance) for koto and shakuhachi by the renowned shakuhachi player Kohachiro Miyata. This excellent CD has a splendid overview of Japanese music. The two contemporary pieces show that the writing on these traditional instrument provides high quality music. Highly recommended.

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Satori (Music For Yoga And Meditation) - Riley Lee

Satori (Music For Yoga And Meditation) - Riley Lee
Riley Lee is one of the Western world's leading experts and artists on the shakuhachi, an ancient Japanese flute. In the new millennium, there are several artists performing on ritualistic instruments like the Tibetan singing bowls and bells, the didgeridoo, cedar flutes, pan pipes, and the shakuhachi. Only a handful of artists were creating music in this style. Gabriel Lee - no relation - accompanies Riley on the koto, a 13-string Japanese zither. This is remarkable acoustic ambience. The shakuhachi has a distinct texture and the atmospheres are unique, although there is a vague similarity to the texture of a Native American flute..

The CD's liner notes define satori as "the indescribable experience of sudden, intuitive spiritual realization." That may be, yet unless you are a serious student of yoga or a fan of its ancient musical traditions, you may struggle to reach such a state while listening to these improvisations for shakuhachi flute and koto. Satori, originally recorded in 1983, seems best suited to serious - minded yoga practitioners and those who prefer to adorn their meditative states with only the most minimal of audio embellishments. For such people, this disc could be the answer to prayers...

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Lullaby For The Moon : Japanese Music For Koto And Shakuhachi

Lullaby For The Moon : Japanese Music For Koto And Shakuhachi
Featured here are the works of several modern composers writing for the koto and shakuhachi.

For anyone unfamiliar with these instruments, which are basic staples in Japanese music: The koto is a plucked-string instrument with silk strings and movable bridges to manipulate the pitch, played with finger picks. The shakuhachi is a magnificent flute made from the bottom of a stalk of bamboo, including the root. It takes two decades to master this instrument, which can play scales and microtones. The sound of air through bamboo is unlike any other instrument.

In combination, the koto and shakuhachi are magnificent and these compositions (including some variations on "Sakura," a very familiar theme in Japanese music) are premium quality, falling together like some act of nature.
One of the reviews below likened this music to the sound of rain falling on leaves; for some reason I think of snowfall (especially with 'Komoriuta,' which you can listen to above).

No matter. This is a delicious introduction to Asian music, and a fine entree for connoisseurs.

http://www.4shared.com/file/64308407/b997c8df/VA_LullabyForTheMoon1.html
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Japanese Melodies For Flute And Harp - Jean Pierre Rampal

Japanese Melodies For Flute And Harp - Jean Pierre Rampal
This is an album of favorite Japanese melodies in a "East Meets West" atmosphere. Rampal seems as comfortable in this setting as he is in any other. His appreciation for both the people and the music comes through in this pairing of flute and harp. The album was recorded in France with special arrangements made by the composer Akio Yashiro. There are no notes concerning the cover art, but it is a wonderful work in the traitional Japanese style. Muted colors and simple lettering, it works very well.

TPB

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A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky - Koku Reibo

A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky - Koku Reibo
Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky - of the Kinko school, is one of the three oldest pieces, known as the koden-sankyoku, of the fuke shakuhachi tradition. Respected as sacred pieces, these are the most difficult to play in the repertoire, since they are so profound in religious expression. Koku-Reibo is said to have been originally composed by a Zen priest named Kyochiku when he attained enlightenment in a dream; in the Fuke shakuhachi, it is called simply Koku, The Empty Sky, portraying a happy, peaceful feeling of awakening. Kinko Kurosawa heard this music in one of the temples at Nagasaki in Kyushu. He was very much moved by its depth and clarity, and arranged it into a musical piece which is to this day the most played piece of all the repertoire of shakuhachi music. Note: This is in FLAC format not MP3.

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The Spirit Of Silence - Yoshikazu Iwamoto

The Spirit Of Silence - Yoshikazu Iwamoto
An exquisite album of solo Shakuhachi music, featuring six of the most challenging pieces in the classical solo Shakuhachi repertoire. The Shakuhachi (end-blown Japanese bamboo flute) was originally played by mendicant Buddhist monks, wondering the countryside in search of their enlightenment. Iwamoto spurns the recent over-sentimental interpretation of their music, prefering to deal with the nitty-gritty un-ornamented version; It is all too easy to fail to appreciate his gift...simply fail to listen!

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Music for Zen Meditation - Tony Scott

Music for Zen Meditation - Tony Scott
A celebrated jazz clarinetist in the 1950s, Tony Scott started collaborating with Japanese artists on a trip he made to the country in 1959. He returned in 1964 to teach classes in American jazz and ended up collaborating with koto player Shinichi Yuize and shakuhachi flute player Hozan Yamamoto on a dozen improvised collaborations. Based on the Zen concept of beginner's mind, a state of openness that leads to exploration, the Scott-led pieces predate the more modern concept of "ambient" by a good couple of decades--but, as music descended from temples and designed to ease the mind to a state of higher consciousness, it follows many of the same directives. The gentle clarinet is complemented by the flute, with the koto--a 13-stringed zither--providing a comfortable contrast, though all three musicians appear on only a single track, the opening "Is Not All One?

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Buddha's Dream - Riley Lee

Buddha's Dream - Riley Lee
Like the instrument he plays, the centuries-old shakuhachi flute, Riley Lee has found he has staying power. Lee, an Australian esteemed as a dai shihan (grand master) of the traditional Japanese instrument, found his first audience in the alternative-health community during the 1980s, when cassettes of his unhurried explorations of the shakuhachi's broad expressive palette became popular items. Narada has periodically reissued these evocative works on CD and, considering how the pace of life has intensified since the music's original release dates, the soothing, ancient wind that blows through Lee's shakuhachi seems more welcomed and therapeutic than ever. Buddha's Dream was first released in 1984, and the ethereal expositions found on it--as hokey as this may sound to the unconverted--effectively encourage states of introspection and stillness that are a balm to the body and spirit. Broken into shorter segments than the prolonged improvisations found on such jewels as Sanctuary and Oriental Sunrise, Buddha's Dream at times involves more notes and occasionally conveys a stronger hint of mystery than is found on either of those lovely discs. Still, the same sweetness and gentle spirit radiates in pieces such as "Return of the Fisherman," "Seabreezes," and "As the Water Flows." A splendid choice as an audio backdrop for mediation or massage.
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Music for Zen Meditation - Riley Lee

Music for Zen Meditation by Riley Lee spins drifting melodies that fill a room with silence as much as sound. With titles like "Sea Breeze" and "Serenity Flows," the songs reflect nature's stillness, melodies mimicking the gentle rhythms of nature.

The soft tone, more glimpses than tune, is written to carry us towards our centers. A dai shihan, or grandmaster, of the ancient shakuhachi flute tradition, Lee guides us deeper and deeper into ourselves. He embraces the essence of zen, exploring it with only his flute for a guide. For centuries, the shakuhachi has been an instrument of zen, as much as seated meditation has. Both are tools to find the center. Playing this flute is a spiritual discipline, referred to as "blowing Zen," suizen. As the artist plays, he, his instrument, and his music all become one. Zen encompasses recognizing the oneness of everything, as it guides the listener into its depths.

For those of us with more secular interests, the music is soft and peaceful, unintrusive. For stretching or for background music, Music for Zen Meditation fills the room with its own serenity. The only sound present is Lee's solitary flute, a single instrument with only five finger holes. Yet it produces a wide range of sound, echoing mournfully and then whispering like wind song. These tones sound far more genuine than the synthesizers and artificial cries of gulls gyrating on today's relaxation tapes.

This double CD collection offers 25 mystical songs, full of soft tones, drawing the listener deeper and deeper into herself. From "In Time Suspended" to "Cascade," the music flows like a mountain stream, still and vibrant. It offers centeredness, oneness and mystery. For in the echo of its silence is music, while each tone contains an orchestra of meaning.

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