Various Artists – Moon over City Ruins (Rhymoi Music, 2019)
Chinese producer Ye Yunchuan brought together some of the finest musicians from China and Japan to present the strong connections between Chinese and Japanese music. The Tang Dynasty (618–907) Chinese music had a deep influence on Japanese Music and this album continues that experience with an extraordinary set of performances.
The musical director of the project is guzheng maestro Mao Ya. He selected a captivating collection of melodic Japanese and rustic Chinese folk songs peppered with improvisation. It is a remarkable encounter of Chinese minyue (music for Chinese instruments) and Japanese hogaku (traditional Japanese music).
The lineup includes Hasegawa Shozan on shakuhachi; Jin Ray on shakuhachi; Sato Koki on shakuhachi; Yamaguchi Hiroshi on tsugaru shamisen; Fujitaka Rieko on chikuzen biwa; Hihara Yoko on koto; Itohara Masashi on taiko; Sakura Mari on shinobue; Yang Xue on erhu; Di Lin on ruan; and Mao Ya on guzheng.
Ye Yunchuan, the producer of Moon over City Ruins in also a composer, arranger, graphic designer, and founder of Rhymoi Music, a renowned Chinese audiophile record label.
If you have the opportunity, get the CD version of this album. It comes in a fabulous hard book format with beautifully illustrated liner notes in Chinese and English.
Buy the digital edition via amazon or the CD from Enmusic
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.