Search - Explorer Series :: Explorer Series East Asia/Japan: Shakuhachi Music - A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky

The shakuhachi artist on this CD is Yamaguchi Goro

C. Moran | Claremont, CA USA | 04/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although the artist attribution on this page is Kochachiro Miyata, a great shakuhachi master musician, these recordings are actually by the late Yamaguchi Goro, a musician and master instrumentalist whose importance in traditional Japanese shakuhachi music in the 20th century cannot be overstated.



This is the first CD issue of the legendary recordings which comprised this LP version of Nonesuch's Explorer series of the late 1960/early 70s. For many Americans, A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky was their first exposure to authentic Japanses shakuhachi music. A portion of this recording of Sokaku-Reibo (Depicting The Cranes In Their Nest) flew out into the galaxy on Voyager-1 on that spacecraft's collection of electronic artifacts representing the cultures of humanity on Planet Earth.



To learn more about Yamaguchi Goro and shakuhachi music go to [...] or [...]



(Kochachiro Miyata's fine shakuhachi recordings are on Nonesuch, simply titled: Shakuhachi - The Japanese Flute.)"

The epitome of Zen Shakuhachi

Jesse F. Paxton | Norwalk, California USA | 08/31/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These two songs hold within them a universe of meaning. "Bell Ringing In The Empty Sky" plays like a Zen parable. "Depicting The Cranes In Their Nest" runs a gamut of phases of life and emotion. You can feel the fullness of life as the cranes build and fill their nest, and the hollow ache of the parents as the young fly away to build their own lives -- a reminder of the impermanence of our own lives. Masterfully performed. I have this on an old LP and have spent years anticipating its release on CD."