Improvised Music from Japan / Discography

Kazue Sawai

17-stringed Koto Contemporary Japanese Music

(Japan Traditional Cultures Foundation/Victor Entertainment, VZCG 734) (Japan) (CD)

  1. Drifting Island--for Koto (17-chord) and Percussion, op. 38 [1979] (11:56)
    Composed by Maki Ishii

    Two Fantasies--for 21-stringed koto and 17-stringed Koto [1969]
    Composed by Yoshiro Irino
  2. I. (4:26)
  3. II. (5:32)

  4. Isurugi--for Solo 17-stringed Koto [1974] (8:49)
    Composed by Seiho Kineya

  5. Homura--for Solo 17-stringed Koto and Koto Ensemble [1979] (16:33)
    Composed by Tadao Sawai

  6. Nocturne--for 17-stringed Koto [1982] (11:14)
    Composed by Toshio Hosokawa

    Toward the Sea--for Alto Flute and 17-stringed Koto [1981/rev. 1983]
    Composed by Toru Takemitsu
    Revised by Kazue Sawai
  7. I. The Night (4:24)
  8. II. Moby Dick (4:51)
  9. III. Cape Cod (4:12)

Sawai Kazue: 17-stringed koto
Sumire Yoshihara: percussion (1)
Keiko Nosaka: 21-stringed koto (2, 3)
Junko Ihara: 13-stringed koto (5)
Kiyomi Ishigaki: 13-stringed koto (5)
Chieko Fukunaga: 13-stringed koto (5)
Masako Kawamura: 13-stringed koto (5)
Machiko Higuchi: 13-stringed koto (5)
Masami Nakagawa: alto flute (7-9)

Tracks 1-5: recorded by Fumio Hattori at Victor Studio, November 6, 1979 (1), November 19, 1979 (2, 3), and November 14, 1979 (4, 5)
Tracks 6-9: recorded by Isao Ikeda at Columbia Akasaka No. 1 Studio, August 6, 1983
Reissue mastered by Kazushige Yamazaki
Original design by Akira Saito
Reissue design by Kiyomi Hashimoto
Includes a 16-page booklet with Japanese liner notes by Akira Ueno, Maki Ishii, Yoshiro Irino, Seiho Kineya, Tadao Sawai, Toshio Hosokawa, Toru Takemitsu, and Kazue Sawai; a biography of Kazue Sawai in Japanese and English; and photos

Released in April 2010
Originally released in January 1980 as an LP on Victor (SJL-224), except tracks 6-9
Track 6 originally released in September 1983 on Kazue Sawai's LP 17-stringed Koto 1983 ACT.1 on Nippon Columbia (WF-7008-ND)
Tracks 7-9 originally released in September 1983 on Kazue Sawai's LP 17-stringed Koto 1983 ACT.2 on Nippon Columbia (WF-7009-ND)