PREMESSA: LA SUPERIORITA' DELLA MUSICA SU VINILE E' ANCOR OGGI SANCITA, NOTORIA ED EVIDENTE. NON TANTO DA UN PUNTO DI VISTA DI RESA, QUALITA' E PULIZIA DEL SUONO, TANTOMENO DA QUELLO DEL RIMPIANTO RETROSPETTIVO E NOSTALGICO , MA SOPRATTUTTO DA QUELLO PIU' PALPABILE ED INOPPUGNABILE DELL' ESSENZA, DELL' ANIMA E DELLA SUBLIMAZIONE CREATIVA. IL DISCO IN VINILE HA PULSAZIONE ARTISTICA, PASSIONE ARMONICA E SPLENDORE GRAFICO , E' PIACEVOLE DA OSSERVARE E DA TENERE IN MANO, RISPLENDE, PROFUMA E VIBRA DI VITA, DI EMOZIONE E  DI SENSIBILITA'. E' TUTTO QUELLO CHE NON E' E NON POTRA' MAI ESSERE IL CD, CHE AL CONTRARIO E' SOLO UN OGGETTO MERAMENTE COMMERCIALE, POVERO, ARIDO, CINICO, STERILE ED ORWELLIANO,  UNA DEGENERAZIONE INDUSTRIALE SCHIZOFRENICA E NECROFILA, LA DESOLANTE SOLUZIONE FINALE DELL' AVIDITA' DEL MERCATO E DELL' ARROGANZA DEI DISCOGRAFICI .

RILEY LEE / GABRIEL LEE
satori
zen meditation music
SHAKUHACHI and KOTO


Disco LP 33 giri , 1983, Sona Gaia Productions, LP 101 , germany

ECCELLENTI CONDIZIONI, vinyl ex++/NM , cover ex++/NM, sealed although open .

This is one of the deepest, most spiritual pieces of music you may ever hear. The title track, Satori, is beyond words.
True Zen. It is about nothing and about everything. There is the repeated, plaintive cry of a mist-shourded horn and a deep sense of melancholic loss. The stillness resonates and builds to a feeling of resolution, light, color and the after-life.
Guaranteed to transport the mind.
One can only hope such a place truly exists.

The CD's liner notes define satori as "the indescribable experience of sudden, intuitive spiritual realization." That may be, yet unless you are a serious student of yoga or a fan of its ancient musical traditions, you may struggle to reach such a state while listening to these improvisations for shakuhachi flute (Riley Lee) and koto (Gabriel Lee, no relation). The recording's mood is almost somber and contrasts noticeably with Oriental Sunrise and Sanctuary, two splendid Riley Lee discs that offer a broader, more expressive tonal range. Here a stronger Oriental mood is conveyed, and the notion of stillness is pursued with such earnestness that the final result (to Occidental ears) is ultimately a state of inertia. While composers sometimes refer to the use of silence as an overt creative element in their works, Satori relies so heavily on the approach that it seems as though Lee's flute is being filtered through a dense fog, and from a substantial distance. Satori, this is the originally LP recorded in 1983, seems best suited to serious-minded yoga practitioners and those who prefer to adorn their meditative states with only the most minimal of audio embellishments. For such people, this disc could be the answer to prayers. For others interested in shakuhachi music, the two aforementioned discs are likely to be more satisfying choices.

Track Listings


SIDE 1
Satori 15.40
Kazue 5.26
Nightingale 8.58

SIDE 2
Spring Rain 8.50
Temple Steps 6.41
Wanderer 5.15
Searching 4.42
Dreams 2.51

Riley Lee on Shakuhacki

Gabriel Lee on Koto


The KOTO is a 13-string plucked zither imported to Japan from China around the 7th century. Long associated with aristocratic traditions, such as gagaku (court courtesan music), the instrument is played with ivory plectra. Like the shakuhachi, the koto is used increasingly by modern composers.

The SHAKUHACHI is made from the root section of the species of bamboo, madake. It has four holes in front and one in back. Its origins pre-date historical documentation. Legends tell us that it was originally used solely as a religious toll in meditation. From the middle of the 17th century, it has been used with the secular music of Japan, most notably with koto and shamisen in ensemble, and as part of the folksong tradition. However, today the shakuhachi is being used successfully in contemporary forms of music, as well as in the originai Buddhist meditative pieces, the honkyoku.