BYRON AU YONG & CHRISTOPHER YOHMEI BLASDEL: BreathPlay

Byron Au Yong & Christopher Yohmei Blasdel

BreathPlay

© 2007 Byron Au Yong (700261228112)

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Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) with water, voice, er-hu (Chinese fiddle), piano, and an assortment of Asian percussion playfully explore breath.

notes

"Blasdel's shakuhachi performance is visionary and played from the heart." Hogaku no Tomo

Seattle composer Byron Au Yong and Tokyo musician Christopher Yohmei Blasdel's site-responsive performance at the Tokyo Art Museum designed by Tadao Ando was praised by audience members as "inventive and stimulating."

Au Yong creates ceremonial musical events scored for Asian, European and hand-made instruments. Blasdel received the professional name "Yohmei" from his teacher National Treasure Goro Yamaguchi. His book A Shakuhachi Odyssey, published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha won the Rennyo Award.

reviews

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  • breathplay
    author: Saya

    The perfect music for a quiet day at home. The music is soothing and evokes imagery of nature. I feel like I spent some time in the bamboo forest.

  • A Gorgeous album for entertaining, choreography and music geeks.
    author: Kristina Wong

    I don't listen to a lot of new music and never know where to start when looking for music that is avante-garde, Asian, and spiritual. But I lucked upon Breathplay and must say it is phenomenal! Even a musical cavewoman like me could appreciate and enjoy the sophistication in composition. The play between flute, piano and percussion is graceful, floats, doesn't put you to sleep but doesn't demand your attention. It's great mood music for a sophisticated house party. It would be a perfect CD for a modern dance choreographer to work with-- so much story and so much texture to play with. Bravo!!

  • breathplay
    author: Leigh Philips

    breathplay is ambient, transitional, melodic, calming, stirring and unexpected. Melodies weave in and out of pieces like smoky incense, rising, evoking memories and thoughts as the disc travels its 42 minutes. Standouts on the set are the title track BreahPlay – redolent in its beginning of a thriller, where the antagonist is still out of sight but gaining ground. Their breathing near, coming ever closer. Mist travels, building its sense of being as it goes. breathplay is meditative, provoking, and eminently listenable. This work is an enjoyable intake of sensory pleasure.

  • BreathPlay
    author: debby watt

    Hauntingly beautiful! With smoldering, woody sounds Au Yong & Blasdel create not only a sensorial sensation but offer an arena of images that simply stream through your mind. Conjured up for your reflection an "Elephant" storms past you with organic thundering. "San'ya's" rich woody residence bellows longingly for your listening ear while "BreathPlay’s" wistful harmonics gently whisper, patiently waiting their turn. "Cricket" pulls from an imaginative memory...where have I heard these sounds before? Ah, yes! Hidden deep within a hole where tone and air selfishly mingle competing for attention and conformity. Add tones atop and you are left with a deep listening experience that is mysteriously becoming. All-in-all, Hauntingly beautiful!

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