River Rhythm - The International Shakuhachi Society

River Rhythm

"Neptune's recent visit to India. Shakuhachi in ensemble with traditional Indian musicians and instruments."

John Kaizan Neptune
Kosei Publishing Company - KJKN-9300
1994

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	River Rhythm	リバー・リズム	05'48	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The tabla tharang, a set of tuned drums, is the first sound you hear. Tharang means "river," "wave," or "galloping rhythm." Tabla usually refers to a set of drums: the lower baya is played with the left hand, and the tuned tabla is played with the right. The tabla tharang tuning here is a Japanese pentatonic scale like that found on the shakuhachi.
2	Adyar Sunrise	アダヤルの日の出	05'13	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The Theosophical Society grounds in Adyar, one of the most beautiful places in Madras, face the Bay of Bengal, where the sun comes up.
3	Two Pockets	トゥー・ポケット	05'17	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	A typical South Indian group-flute, violin, mridangam, ghatam-is contrasted with a jazz group-shakuhachi, keyboard, bass, drums. Often we blend different ideas, but here we have highlighted the differences between a 9/8 Indian modal groove and a 4/4 swing blues groove.
4	Mayamalavagaula	マヤマラヴァガウラ	05'45	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The title is the name of the first raga a student works on in the South Indian tradition. 0' D F G~ A~ A C are the bare bones of the raga, but all the ornaments between the tones give it a unique flavor. Matsuda plays his keyboard solo on a small Indian harmonium.
5	High on Five	ハイ・オン・ファイブ	05'39	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The morsing (Indian jew's-harp) and the other Indian percussion help the rhythm section in defining the five-beat cycle. The veena is the older relative of the better-known sitar.
6	String Offering	弦の捧げもの	05'05	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	This tune features the santoor, an Indian hammer-dulcimer with movable bridges and tuning pegs for all the strings.
7	Rapids	急流	03'34	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	I like the energy of lots of people playing in fast unison, particularly lots of percussion. Some of the musicians said they thought playing the piece was like "shooting the rapids on a river."
8	Bring to Light	発見	04'14	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	Joy in the delight of discovery was the feeling I was looking for. I think the human voice is the only "instrument" more interesting than the shakuhachi.
9	Shades of Blue	青の色合い	05'09	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The "blues" comes in a lot of different flavors. The second section features a nagaswaram, a double-reed instrument that is probably the loudest wind instrument I have ever heard. The combination of nagaswaram and tavil, used during weddings and other ceremonies, has been described as "the village PA system."
10	Ripple	さざ波	04'01	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The jalatharangam is a rare (even in India) instrument that is basically a set of different-sized ceramic bowls tuned by putting water into them and struck with a stick.
11	Quiet Essence	和気	04'13	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	The Indian flute and the shakuhachi are contrasted here in a honkyoku (original shakuhachi solo) type of piece: Japanese pentatonic scale with free rhythm. I especially like the different approaches to the ornaments.
12	Piece in Our Time, A	アワー・タイム	08'37	Shakuhachi: John Kaizan Neptune
	Eight different percussionists, using all Indian percussion except for the drum set, come together here featuring composed and improvised sections. As an ex-drummer, I like working with the variety of percussion and various rhythmic patterns.