first steps of a long journey with long flutes - European Shakuhachi ...

Japan’s resumption of confidence in its own traditional culture. The
Tokyo Olympics were in 1964; around 1976 my own teacher, Kohachiro
Miyata, went onstage solo at the Carnegie Hall.
There’s no question that Yamaguchi was one among a generation of
marvellous shakuhachi performers, and it’s fascinating to see how they
differ from one another. Another version of “Koku”, played by Katsuya
Yokoyama, is on the excellent The Art Of The Shakuhachi on Ocora.
One year younger than Yamaguchi, Yokoyama was 63 when he made
this record. He continued studying with the Zen master Watazumi until
the latter’s death; this must have kept Yokoyama in touch with the down
to earth Fuke monk tradition, and its concerns with matters other than
music. Yokoyama retains an unpredictable exuberance in his playing.
His crane piece (“Tsuru No Sugomori”) attacks the famous passages of
flutter tonguing and tremolos with an animated, improvisational attitude.
Thirty years earlier, Yamaguchi sounds correct and formal, a musician
on his best behaviour, as if slightly in awe of the future status of his
recording.
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“When you hear some music or hear a sound if, for some reason, you
like it very well the reason is because that sound is in balance, or in
harmony, with your pulse. And so, when making a sound yourself, you
try to imitate the various different sounds of the universe; but what you
are finally making is your own sound - the sound of yourself.”
WATAZUMI
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