Kifu Mihashi
Shakuhachi - The Ballad of the Mountain
Nippon Columbia (Japan) 2022
HMJY-170 (LP) Promotional copy. w/obi, insert.
sleeve : NM(DJS)
media : NM/NM
This album was released in 1976 by Kifu Mitsuhashi, a shakuhachi player who studied both the Koto Kokuryu school and the Fuka shakuhachi classical music, and joined the Japanese Music Group formed by shakuhachi player Katsuya Yokoyama and composer Minoru Miki. Arranged by Kiyoshi Yamaya, who led his own orchestra and produced numerous mood music works since the 1960s, this is the third installment in a series of seven works released between 1976 and 1979. It features folk songs such as "Aizu Bandaisan" and "Kariboshikiri-uta" arranged in jazz, rock, bossa nova, and pop styles, led by the shakuhachi. This was a project by record companies at the time that involved having traditional Japanese instrumentalists like Kuniyama Yamamoto and Tadao Sawai perform in different genres. The content is exceptionally silky and groovy, making it an outstanding piece that can be appreciated as contemporary ethnic jazz. This was reissued in 2022.
A1: 小諸馬子唄
A5: ホーハイ節