Throaty, compelling, lit from within: the sound of bamboo. Elizabeth Reian Bennett, first woman Grand Master of the shakuhachi, plays the ancient anonymous pieces of wandering monks, a modern composition, and improvises.

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Contents

#		Title	Length	Sample
1		Honte Joshi (Song of the True Hand)	3:11
2		Tsuki no Kyoku (Song of the Moon)	12:35
3		Matsu Kaze I (Wind in the Pines)	1:56
4		Matsu Kaze II (Pine Wind)	4:50
5		Ajikan (Meditation on the Sound of 'A')	7:22
6		Koku (The Sky)	10:04
7		Henro (Pilgrimage)	8:46
8		Hawthorne in May	9:34

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Description

Elizabeth Reian Bennett is the first woman to be certified a Grand Master of the shakuhachi and one of only a handful of western players trained in traditional Japanese music. She has studied and performed with living National Treasure Aoki Reibo, recognized as Japan's foremost traditional shakuhachi instrumentalist, for 25 years.

"Song of the True Hand" consists of six of the ancient pieces of the wandering monks of the Fuke sect, a modern piece by Kineya Seiho (d. 1991) and an improvisation based on Reian Bennett's traditional training.

The monk solos belong to the Meian and Kinko schools, all handed down aurally except "Song of the Moon", a nineteenth century piece, and represent ideas or images the monks were familiar with. Because they were expected to be on the road begging, the monks spent much of their time outside, and many of the titles of their pieces reflect this the titles speak of wind in the pines, the moon and the sky. And there are many others yet to record: deer, cranes and rushes are a few that come to mind. This is why Elizabeth Reian chose to call her improvisation at the end of the CD after the hawthorne, a nature image of spring, when the piece was created.

Other pieces have to do with metaphysical ideas or activities related to Buddhism. The first track, after which the CD is named, "Song of the True Hand", is one of these it is a true hand that a player seeks, not just the accomplished hand of the musician, but a hand that expresses a changed mind and being. Even some of the nature pieces have deeper implications, such as "The Sky", for example, which can also be interpreted as the void. And the A of the first sound of the Buddha of Lights name, in "Meditation on A", is a pointer to breath itself and the human being as a conveyor of breath from one world to the next.

REVIEWS:

From The Hartford Advocate, November 30, 2006
A Burst of Creativity From Local Female-fronted Bands and Soloists
By Dan Barry
"The word "haunting" is easy to sling around in music reviews, but if one were to be haunted, the accomanpanying sound would probably be that of a shakuhachi. This traditional instrument is the instrument of wanderers and seekers...On "True Hand", Bennett wrings a dazzling variety of techniques from the bamboo; though the music is quite unlike jazz, her technical vocabulary is reminiscent of Coltrane in his prime."

From blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/24/141424.php
Music Review: Indie Round-Up for August 24 2006 - Bennett, Swann, Angelo
By Jon Sobel
"...Elizabeth Reian Bennett's mastery of the traditional Japanese bamboo flute is evident in every moment of this fascinating hour of music. No recording can replace the experience of sitting in a room...listening to a live shakuhachi performance, but Reian Bennett's haunting, sliding tones and seemingly infinite variations in attack, volume, and breathiness are quite capable of taking the liestener on a deep sonic and spiritual journey even through a pair of stereo speakers..."

If you would like to contact Elizabeth Reian, be sure to put CDBaby fan in the subject, and please send no attachments. Her email is elizabethreian@hotmail.com.