Search - Chikuzan Takahashi :: Tsugaru Shamisen

Great music!

09/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Takahashi Chikuzan, the great player of the shamisen (a Japanese three-string banjo-like instrument) died last year, but his energetic, virtuosic music lives on. As a young man Chikuzan was a beggar, traveling the back roads of his home area (Tsugaru, the far north of Japan), but after the war he became something of a star, symbolizing Japanese folk music as a whole. This CD gives a fair sampling of Chikuzan's art. If you want to know more about the music get Gerald Groemer's new book, "The Spirit of Tsugaru," which even contains a translation of Chikuzan's autobiography."

In the Mood For My Trip to Japan

G. Bryan | Jeffersonville, NY United States | 07/05/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am about to visit Japan for three weeks, so wanted to get in the right mood. After reading about Chikuzan Takahashi in Alan Booth's book, LOOKING FOR THE LOST, I decided to order this recording. I'm happy I did. Although it took some time for my Western ears to get use to the sound of the shamisen (a 3-stringed banjo-like instrument) it soon had me fascinated. Takahashi produced complex, spellbinding magic with those three strings. He was a virtuoso of this instrument. I'm glad I opened my mind and ears to this strange and beautiful music!"