Live recordings of this intercultural ensemble consisting of the Sagami Traditional Music Trio and the Ron Hadley Quintet.
The Eloquent Fish Ensemble -- This unique ensemble came into being in Tokyo in the spring of 1990 when shakuhachi virtuoso Toshiya Mizukawa and jazz pianist Ron Hadley organized the group to perform Mr. Hadley's compositions and to continue intercultural projects on which they had been collaborating since the summer of 1989. The ensemble is an amalgamation of the Sagami Traditional Music Trio (koto, shamisen and shakuhachi) and the Ron Hadley Quintet (piano, bass, drums saxophones and voice). In addition to presenting original compositions and arrangements of traditional pieces, ensemble members perform authentic Hogaku as well as material drawn from the standard jazz repertoire. Workshops and lecture/demonstrations dealing with the two fields of Japanese music and jazz (as well as how these fields might be combined) are an important part of the group's schedule.
(All songs--except Kuro Kami, which is from the traditional Nagauta repertoire--are Copyright 1990 by Ron Hadley)
Personnel: Toshiya Mizukawa: shakuhachi; Mieko Noguchi: shamisen, kotsuzumi & voice; Nahoko Ohata: koto; Ron Hadley: piano & keyboards; Gail Heavilin: voice; Jim Cameron: saxophones; Bob Neale: bass; Ray Brunelle: drums & sound samples
