Junko Handa
Biwa・Handa Junko No Sekai
Teichiku Records (Japan) 1982
GM-6056 (LP) w/obi, insert.
sleeve : EX+(very slightly collapse on corner)
media : EX-/EX-(some slightly noise. some small and slightly wear that does not affect to sounds)
A superb first album released in 1982 by biwa player Junko Handa, an artist whose activities extend far beyond the traditional sphere of Japanese music. Handa first came to prominence through her performance of Toru Takemitsu’s November Steps, a work long associated with her teacher Kinshi Tsuruta. She later appeared at a jazz festival held at Carnegie Hall in New York alongside jazz pianist Masahiko Sato, and also released a duo recording with German free-jazz bassist Peter Kowald on FMP. This remarkable album includes A1, composed and performed by Handa herself, selecting four waka poems written by women from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu; A2, a freely arranged performance of biwa song from The Tale of the Heike; and B1, an ensemble piece composed by Katsutoshi Nagasawa of the Ensemble Nipponia, featuring fue, shakuhachi, 20-string koto, and 17-string koto. While rooted in the classical form and vocal expression of biwa song, the music is never bound by old melodic patterns or fixed structures, instead opening up a fresh and deeply expressive world for the biwa. A truly excellent recording, both in voice and performance.
A1: 歌曲「四つの恋歌」
A2: 弾き語り「敦盛の最期」
B1: 器楽合奏曲「かぐわしき琵琶の音によせて-香」