Nakatani, Tatsuya

Primal Communication

Label: H&H Production Country: USA

Alongside NY percussion improviser Sean Meehan, Tatsuya Nakatani's approach to percussion uses alternative methods of interacting with traditional percussive instruments. This recordings is of a single improvisation recorded in one take without overdubs. It's a building set that starts with a long bowing of a Chines gong, which develops into a fascinating dialog with various cymbals, bowls and drums which are struck, rubbed and bowed to create different voices in a monolog of great variety. Primal doesn't mean agressive, and the sounds here are subtle, resonant, introspective, and always interesting.

"Primal Communication, a single, 57-minute solo improvisation, would seem to be an important work for Nakatani. His liner notes are a quick autobiography of his experiences moving from Japan to the U.S. and his development and interests as a musician; the packaging includes two painted portraits and one formal photograph. The presentation strongly implies that this isnÕt just a session he was happy with but a summation of where heÕs come so far. And the music stands up to the projected significance. From the sonic booms of the opening to the cymbals scraped across drumheads, screeching like a violin with distemper, the overall effect suggests a thunderstorm waking up in the morning."-Kurt Gottschalk, The Squid's Ear

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