Katsutoshi Nagasawa, Ensemble Nipponia
Doll Topography Suite / Suite for Children
RCA Red Seal (Japan) 1972
JRZ-2523 (LP) textured gatefold sleeve. w/obi.
sleeve : EX(some slightly dirts.)
media : EX/EX(some slightly surface noises.)
The Ensemble NIpponia was Formed in 1964, the group includes Katsuya Yokoyama (shakuhachi), Keiko Nosaka (koto), Naritoshi Tosha (percussion), Minoru Miki (composition), and other hogaku instrumentalists and contemporary musicians who have expanded beyond the framework of pure hogaku, and continues to pursue new possibilities in contemporary Japanese music in Japan and abroad. Released in 1972, this album features two suites composed by Katsutoshi Nagasawa, who joined the Puppet Theater Pook in the late 1940s, composed and performed music for puppet theater, and joined the group in 1964 when it was formed. The entire ensemble can be heard in a very Japanese-sounding yet cutting-edge arrangement of various Japanese instruments, including shinobue, nohkan, shakuhachi, biwa, koto, and taiko drums, in a very fine performance. This is a soundscape that looks beyond experimental/ambient.