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Tube of delight!

#1 2006-12-05 00:12:12

dstone
Member
From: Vancouver, Canada
Registered: 2006-01-11
Posts: 552
Website

"Taimu" by Brian Tairaku Ritchie

I was asked my opinion of Brian's CD in another forum here.  Figured I might as well start a thread on it.  Here's a mini-review... 

On the album, Brian uses a range of 2.3 to 3.0 flutes of mostly jinashi construction.  Besides being long, these are unusually wide flutes.  Photos of the instruments are included.  Thus, you can start throwing around adjectives like "hollow" or "windy" or "fat" or "earthy".  Ken LaCosse is the craftsman behind the flutes and this is clearly his forte, so adjectives you probably won't use are "unbalanced" or "out of tune" or "ugly".

The CD is packaged in a cardboard & plastic tri-fold case with some nice artwork and a few paragraphs of background info.

I've listened to the full album twice through.  I've listened to a few select, favorite tracks maybe half a dozen times.

My impressions of the tracks...
1. Tairaku No Cho.  Good intro, sets the tone.  Short & solo.  A honkyoku-like teaser on a 3.0.
2. Mujitsu Blues.  Great bass & drums.  I could play this track for friends with mainstream musical tastes to bridge the gap to shakuhachi.
3. Space Coconut.  The shakuhachi playing is fast and frantic.  The bass is strong and brooding and anchors it.  Had my head swinging and bobbing and smiling by the end.
4. Evidence.  Jazz track.  Solo and skillful across the scale.  I'm a jazz fan but apparently I'm not familiar with this track so I'll reserve judgement until I hear more of it or its heritage for comparison.
5. Change Has Come.  Possibly my favorite non-solo track.  Exploratory, pretty vast & long, and mostly stays on the rails.
6. John The Revelator.  A blues classic and well done.  The improv is great and breaks up the repetitiveness.  Incidentally, for another great rendition of this, check out Gov't Mule.
7. "L" Dance.  Starts slow, swells up, comes back down.  I like the gongs a lot in this one.  Both the flute and percussion get their turns at frenzy.  Sounds heartfelt and exhausting.  No idea what the "L" is, but this really would be excellent for setting a dance performance to.
8. Echigomeianji Hachikaeshi.  Same flute as track 5.  Honkyoku this time, so back down to earth.  Fantastic.
9. Banshiki.  I struggled with the multiple layers, synchronized -- thought they sounded muddy at first.  But it's compellingly thick and glacial so I kept listening and I enjoy it more now.
10. Horagai.  Conch shell, shakuhachi, and gongs.  Listening gives me the impression of walking in and out of a fog.  Not sure why but I'll keep listening.
11. Sogei No Kyoku.  Drums and gongs set the rhythm.  Shakuhachi obeys.  Would be very trance-inducing (in a good way) if it went on longer.
12. Reibo.  Sweet and sensitive, back to honkyoku roots for the end.  Same "little" 2.45 as tracks 5 and 8.

I bought the album mostly because it involved shakuhachi, and I am a very satisfied listener.  These are unique flutes and Brian is obviously really into wringing their voices out of them.  Thanks to Ken and Brian for raising the profile of long, fat, & windy flutes.

-Darren.


When it is rainy, I am in the rain. When it is windy, I am in the wind.  - Mitsuo Aida

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#2 2007-08-13 02:16:31

BrianP
Member
From: Ocala, FL
Registered: 2006-11-03
Posts: 289
Website

Re: "Taimu" by Brian Tairaku Ritchie

I just received my copy of this CD form CD Baby and it is a great CD.  I really enjoyed some of the non-traditional pieces.  I personally love honkyoku but the rest of my staff at work and my family at home don't particularly love it as much as me.  This is an album that even my wife remarked on how much she enjoyed it when we we were driving home last night.  I personally really enjoyed the whole album and I look forward to Brian's next release.

Thanks,
BrianP


The Florida Shakuhachi Camp
http://www.floridashakuhachi.com
Brian's Shakuhachi Blog
http://gaijinkomuso.blogspot.com

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