Dance for the One in Six

"Classic Neptune fusion using Japanese and Indian instruments."

ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
Kosei Publishing Company - KJKN-9100
1992

トラック番号	タイトル	漢字	長さ	アーティスト
1	Dance for the ONE in Six		06'43	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	The Japanese title, Horaku, literally means "entertainment for the gods"-sacred entertainment. I thought "Dance for the [Universal] One" would be a nice translation, and the title became Dance for the ONE in Six, since the piece is in 6/4 meter. This is an interesting meter to work with because it can be divided so many ways.
2	No Clouds		03'15	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	Originally I wrote this piece as an experimental work for shakuhachi of many lengths. I spent many hours in the studio overdubbing all the parts and filled all twenty-four tracks available. The result? It sounded like a pipe organ! I prefer the present arrangement.
3	Under the Tree		04'40	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	I studied South Indian singing at the University of Hawaii, and this tune reflects my interest in and love of traditional Indian music.
4	Evening Waves		04'01	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	I worked a long time to come up with other movements to this piece, but eventually decided the simple melody in 3/4 meter, the simple repeated harmonic structure, and one repeated break (plus some improvisation, of course) were enough!
5	Traveling Together		04'50	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	“Piests traveling and studying together" is the literal translation of the Japanese title. I thought the piece should have a "walking" tempo, with various scenes along the way.
6	Gentle Face		05'22	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	“Peaceful Face" is an alternative title. Quite often I write music without a title in mind, but in this case I wrote the music to fit the title.
7	East of Everywhere		04'18	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	This is one of a series of four "directionless" pieces, the others being North of Noplace, South of Someplace, and West of Somewhere. It is often impossible to categorize my music. I don't have any conscious plan to use different cultural influences or instruments. I simply write and arrange sounds I like.
8	Mountain Echo		03'06	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	The repeated phrases in this piece are not echoes in the literal sense, but the title captures the flavor of the music.
9	Joy		05'51	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	The inspiration for this melody is the old and venerated South Indian classical music tradition. However, the instrumentation and musical textures are different here. My idea was to create something light and joyful.
10	West of Somewhere		08'48	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	The "somewhere" in the title, like the "everywhere" in East of Everywhere, is intentionally vague, because although the piece has Indian-sounding aspects, it is difficult to "place" in any given country's tradition. Curiously, I first conceived the piece with a somewhat Indonesian motif.
11	Playground		04'04	尺八: ジョン・海山・ネプチューン
	Whose playground? Mine. The melody explores some of the ideas I've had while quite literally playing around during daily practice. The piece uses only the open fingering on the shakuhachi, producing the fundamental notes D, F, G, A, and C. The idea of the duet (achieved on this recording by overdubbing) reflects the patterns and tonal colors I remember hearing on a recording of African pygmy yodeling- the way pygmies keep in touch with one another as they forage through the forests. The interlocking effect is fascinating to me.