Pearl of May
Satsuki Odamura and her Koto Ensemble return with new Australian works for koto by Sandy Evans and Ian Cleworth, and a solo bass-koto piece by Mark Isaacs. The title marks her thirtieth anniversary in Australia.
Satsuki Odamura Koto Ensemble ensemble
Sandy Evans tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Evans’s four ensemble pieces sit beside Isaacs’s Chinkon and Cleworth’s The Silver Pavilion. The programme continues a long immersion in Australian musical culture that began with Like a Bird (TP044) in 1994.
Different composers answer the Asian stringed instrument in strikingly different ways, from Evans’s pearl-anniversary cycles and saxophone–koto dances to Cleworth’s pavilion soundscape.
Artists
Satsuki Odamura
Satsuki Odamura brings koto and bass koto into contemporary music with playing that is dramatic, lyrical and fiercely adaptable, from Japanese repertoire and folksong colour to free improvisation, jazz and film score.
Tracks
- Gogatsu no Shinju Sandy Evans 8:48
- Her Wild Spirit Sandy Evans 9:35
- Chinkon Mark Isaacs 13:59
- Rain Has Passed Sandy Evans 3:45
- The Moon in the Water Sandy Evans 11:59
- The Silver Pavilion Ian Cleworth 15:02
Performers
- Satsuki Odamura · koto, bass koto
- Satsuki Odamura Koto Ensemble · ensemble · all except track 3
- Sandy Evans · tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone · tracks 2 and 5
Composers
Ian Cleworth
Ian Cleworth is an Australian percussionist, composer and teacher. After two decades as Principal Percussionist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra he became full-time Artistic Director of Taikoz, the Sydney taiko ensemble he co-founded in 1997.
Sandy Evans
Sandy Evans brings soprano and tenor saxophone into free improvisation, contemporary jazz and intercultural writing where koto, tabla and electronics sit beside the horn. Her lines can turn flute-like, almost vocal, or push hard against the group.
Mark Isaacs
Mark Isaacs writes chamber music that lets jazz breathe inside contemporary classical form. So It Does moves from sprightly rhythm to slow expressiveness and back; his Cantilena and solo bass-koto Chinkon keep that same lyrical, open ear.
Where to listen
Pearl of May is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Pearl of May is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- TP273
- Total playing time
- 63 minutes 8 seconds
- Release date
- 2 Jan 2024
- Label
- Tall Poppies
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2024 Satsuki Odamura Koto Ensemble
- Category
- Australian Classics
- Genres
- Contemporary Classical, World & Cross-cultural
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