** News from Japan **
I recently learned that, in January, Teichiku re-released, on CD,
a set of six albums of Jin Nyodo they originally released on LP in
1980.
In addition to the LP recordings from 1980, they have included 10
additional songs that were "recently discovered".
As many of you will already know, Jin Nyodo was one of the great
shakuhachi masters of the 20th century.
As I understand it (and perhaps Ronnie Seldin can be more accurate
here), a student of Jin Nyodo recorded him (Jin) playing in his
house in about 1958. In 1980 (if I remember him correctly), Masakazu
Yoshizawa mastered the tapes and they were pressed into LPs by
Teichiku. The set included a really nice, large book with photos
and a number of articles, including a commentary on the tunes in
the set - all in Japanese.
The commentary on the songs from the book that came with the LPs,
and which comes with the CD set as well (still in Japanese), was
translated into English and published in *Hogaku* (New York:
Traditional Japanese Music Society, Winter 1989 Vol.3/No.2) as "The
Shakuhachi of Jin Nyodo: A Collection of Classical Honkyoku," by
Kamisango Yuko (John Tedford, trans.). A copy of that article is
worth a trip to the library, even if one doesn't have the recordings.
I have some experience with this music. A year or so ago, I borrowed
the set of 6 LPs of Jin Nyodo from my teacher. The records were
old, tired - had been played a lot - and dirty. Nevertheless,
cleaned up a bit, they sounded pretty good and offered a wonderful
opportunity to hear someone whose music (in the sense of his
caligraphy) I had been playing (practicing? :-).
The CDs are better than albums. Although the recording "studio"
leaves a bit to be desired (you can hear a dog barking in the
background in one tune on the LPs), the sounds on all but a couple
of tunes is clean and clear.
I should say here that these are unlike more modern, commercial
shakuhachi recordings. They were recorded in a fairly dead space
and are unadorned with any kind of electronically added enhancements
like reverb or echo. As Masa said, when he remastered the tapes,
he just tried to clean up (out?) the exteraneous noise and preserve
what Jin Nyodo had played. That goal was clearly met.
The recordings are the sound of a man, who, despite his age, has
a master's control of his instrument and who is playing in what I
imagine the style of the komuso might have been.
The CDs are not inexpensive, however, for the serious student, the
opportunity to study the playing of one of the great masters of
the shakuhachi is an opportunity not to be missed.
bj
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