Kazue Sawai
17-String Koto 1983 Act.2
Denon (Japan) 1983
WF-7009-ND (LP) Promotinal copy. w/obi, insert.
sleeve : NM(DJS)
media : EX+/EX+(some slightly noise)
Kazue Sawai is a seventeenth-string koto player who, while standing firmly in the orthodox tradition of classical Japanese music, continued to pursue avant-garde activities alongside her husband Tadao Sawai, opening up new possibilities for contemporary hōgaku. She is also known for the 1987 masterpiece Eye To Eye, produced by Ayuo Takahashi and featuring British rock musicians as well as Japanese shinger Hiromi Ohta. This album, released in 1983, features works for seventeen-string koto newly composed by Tadao Sawai, Masao Tsutsumi, Toru Takemitsu, and Yuji Takahashi. A1 by Tadao Sawai and A2 by Tsutsumi unfold as worlds of profound stillness, like gazing upon a dry landscape garden. Takemitsu’s piece, performed together with Masao Nakagawa on Afro flute, beautifully evokes gently rippling waves. B2 by Yuji Takahashi features Takahashi himself performing the rachi, a mouth organ passed down among the Akha hill tribe of Thailand, alongside a recitation by Mari Mori. Every piece here can be understood as a form of experimental environmental music approached through contemporary Japanese music. An absolutely outstanding album. Very highly recommended.
A1: 火垂る
B1: 海へ
B2: 夢