Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I thought this CD would be of interest to many forum members so I am just writing a little review of it. The new CD (out Nov. 1, 2007) by Izumi Takeo is entitled "Bridge of Sound: Dokyoku Performed on Jinashi Shakuhachi" and is available through Mejiro and the Hogaku journal site too I think.
Izumi Takeo himself has a junshihan in the Tozan ryu and then became a student of Yokoyama Katsuya receiving his shihan. Later he both passed the NHK auditions and performed along side of Yokoyama. He is currently a professor of Japanese art history at Tohoku Univ., in the northern part of Japan.
A nice feature about the CD is that all of the liner notes are in both Japanese and English and for each song he describes the maker of the flute and the size etc. Without getting into the whole debate about the definition of 'jinashi' or 'jimori', all I can say is that he states that all of the pieces on the CD were performed on contemporary jinashi kan.
Here are the songs:

1) Koku - 2.6.2 - Shugetsu
2) Tamuke - 2.4 - Shoumei 
3) Sanya (three valleys) - 2.4 - Neptune
4) Shi (Temple Ruins) - 2.2.2 - Shoumei
5) Sanan (Safe Childbirth) - 2.6.2 - Shugetsu
6) Shin no kyorei (Formal-style performance of Spirit of Emptiness) - 2.9 - Neptune
7) Daha (Pounding Wave) - 2.2.2 - Shoumei
8) Rinsen Chosho (Hearing the Pines in Forests and Streams) - 2.9 - Neptune

All of these songs are Dokyoku except for tracks 4 and 8. These two pieces are his own compositions, I personally like track #8 better than #4, but that's just my preference. Included are also pictures of the flutes, dare I say shakuhachi fluff
I like the album because he has definately put a lot of thought into the pieces and how to perform them, meaning that it is not merely a copy of Yokoyama's playing style using jinashi kan.  Likewise, contrary to some people's opinion, he nicely performs honkyoku on Neptune's jinashi, showing that makers are capable of producing various styles of flutes and that how a player uses the flute very much determines what kind of sound will be displayed. 
This is his 3rd CD, with the previous CDs using jiari. I haven't heard them so I can't comment on his progression but reviews in the Hogaku Journal and other places highly recommend this CD. If you have the opportunity, you should pick up this CD.
Althougn Neptune is in there, I think an interesting marketing strategy would be a CD of contemporary foreign jinashi kan makers such as Mujitsu, Tom Deaver, Perry Young, Jon Shingetsu etc.      Any takers?

Last edited by Josh (2008-02-13 22:19:48)