#2291: Gagaku and Beyond

There’s music inspired by the courts and gardens of imperial Japan on this edition of New Sounds. Multi-talented violinist Eyvind Kang’s latest is a record called Virginal Co-ordinates, where he oversees a 22 piece orchestra making siren-like wails, not unlike the sustained static feeling of gagaku. Hear selections from Kang's CD along with selections from Herbie Mann’s import-only release from 1976, called “Gagaku and Beyond.” This effort, pairing a traditional Japanese ensemble (samisen, koto, riu teki, kakko, shoko, shakuhachi, and big taiko drums, occasionally with chanting Zen monks) together with Mann’s band, was a great success long before the “world fusion” term had ever been coined. Melodic and contemplative, the two ensembles engage each other and have hauntingly similar intentions: to articulate inner spaces, and dwell on the stately stasis inherent in Japanese court music. Also, there’s more beautifully scarce movement, and emptiness intensified, as heard in John Cage’s work Ryoanji, after the Japanese rock garden of the same name.

PROGRAM #2291 Gagaku & Beyond (First aired Wed. 6/2/2004)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Tokyo Gakuso	Gagaku: Gems From Foreign Lands	Kangen: Konju, excerpt [1:30]	Celestial Harmonies #13217** www.harmonies.com*
Herbie Mann	Gagaku & Beyond	Shomyo [12:00]	Finnadar #9014. 1976 LP, reissued in 2001. vailable at Amazon.com*
Eyvind Kang	Virginal Coordinates	Doorway To The Sun [19:30]	Ipecac #IPC-50 www.ipecac.com *
John Cage	Pro Musica Nipponia, Music From Japan, live concert, 3/6/88	Ryoanji [9:00]	Not commercially available. Versions of this piece are on Mode Records, #041, and #104. www.mode.com
Tokyo Gakuso	Gagaku: Gems From Foreign Lands	Kangen: Konju, excerpt [7:00]	See above.

*, ** - Find the recordings you've heard - go to the New Sounds Recordings Information page