Asian Roots - Takedake with Neptune

"TakeDake means "Bamboo Only" which aptly describes John Neptune's new band. All of the instruments on this incredible album are made of bamboo. Most of them were made by Neptune himself."

John Kaizan Neptune
Nippon Columbia (Denon) - COCY-80766
1998

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	Ocean Motion	オーシャン・モーション	06'04	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	A Japanese five-tone folk scale (yosempu) is used, but the 12/8 rhythmic groove is commonly found in West Africa. The sounds at the beginning were created with bamboo rain-sticks and bamhoo shakers. The shakuhachi introduction is accompanied hy the torung from Vietnam.
2	In the Hollow	イン・ザ・ホロウ	05'53	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	One of the challenges of writing and arranging for this group is that except for the shakuhachi, bird whistles (heard on this tune), and the jaw's harp, all of the instruments are percussion instruments without much sustain. The longer 2.4 "bass" shakuhachi is used here.
3	Jegoging	ジェコギング	03'58	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	When I was in Bali, I had a chance to see many bamboo instrument ensembles from all over Indonesia. There was even a complete (Western) marching hand with all of the instruments, even the tuba(!), made out of bamboo. Among the most interesting groups was the jegog ensemble and this piece is influenced by that wonderful music.
4	Java	ジャワ	05'59	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	One of the great traditions in the world's music is the gamelan gong orchestra of Java. The first part of this tune uses rhythmic and melodic (pelog) ideas from gamelan music.
5	Korea Idea	コリア・アイディア	04'48	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The Korean horizontal bamboo flute, taegum, has a large hole that is covered with a thin reed membrane and gives the instrument a distinctive buzzing sound. I put a hole on a shakuhachi to get a buzzing sound, and tried about 15 different materials to cover it before settling on the cover of a popcorn bag. The triple meter used in this tune is characteristic of Korean music.
6	Japanese Roots	ジャバニーズ・ルーツ	07'37	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	Lots of space. One of the beautiful things about Japauese music is the use of silence, and deliberately simplifying things.
7	Five Nodes	五節 ( いつふし )	07'43	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The introduction features an origiual bamboo paper frame drum, and a bamboo jaw's harp from the Philippines and one from Cambodia. The meter is in five throughout the piece.
8	Uduboo	ウドゥブー	05'48	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The udu drum from Africa is a ceramic drum with a distinctive bass tone, similar to the clay pot ghatam of India. I used some giant moso {more than 20cm diameter) bamboo from Kyushu to create a drum based on that idea, and call it an "uduboo".
9	Parting Paths	別れ道	02'28	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	There is almost no over-dubbing on this recording. This tune by baliphone player Hitoshi Hamada is one exception as there are two shakuhachi parts, and the baliphone part is also over-dubbed.
10	Sky and Sand Way	スカイ・アンド・サンド・ウェイ	04'11	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	About the silk road, a Chinese historian has written: "You see nothing in any direction but the sky and the sands, without the slightest trace of a road, and travelers find nothing to guide them but the bones of men and the droppings of camels."
11	Angklung Journey	アンクルン・ジャーニー	01'56	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	Heard here are the last two parts of a four-part piece (Japan, China, India, Indonesia) written and arranged for the fixed pitch rattles called angklung. Popular especially in Indonesia and the Philippines, I got this 48-piece chromatic set in Malaysia. For this arrangement, each of the six TakeDake members play two notes, one rattle for each hand.
12	Angklung Journey	アンクルン・ジャーニー	02'01	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	Angklung Part 2.