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Koto Galore and More

Crazy Fox | Chicago, IL USA | 05/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here we have yet another fine CD of koto music from Lyrichord, like "Japanese Koto Consort" featuring the sound of multiple koto instruments along with the shamisen and the shakuhachi, plus some other instruments too. The blend of the different instruments works really well, each one complimenting the other. The seventeen-string koto especially adds a certain depth and substance to the music. And for those who find the traditional Japanese singing style abrasive or annoying, fear not...there are no vocals on this CD.



The three tracks on the CD are all interesting in their own way. Track One is by far the most complex, and is movingly beautiful in melody. Track Two is good as well, a modern piece composed in 1933 by Tsukushi Kazuko ("the most talented woman in Japan, who both composes and plays the koto" the liner notes inform us), while Track Three is a tried and true old classic of this sort of joint performance (otherwise known as Sankyoku). Altogether this is fine, elegant music.



Most of Lyrichord's CDs are digital remasters of older albums originally released as LPs, and one can kind of tell that this one is as well. The sound quality may very well not stand up to the exalted contemporary standards of digital refinement, but the digital remastering seems to be professionally done and the CD sounds good enough to me in any case. As I've found to be the case with most of Lyrichord's CD releases, the beauty of the music and the quality of the musical performance on this album more than make up for any minor technological deficiencies."