Search - Kim Suk Chul :: Shamans of the Eastern Seaboard

The Republic of Korea is a country where shamanism continues to play a completely natural part in everyday life. Shamans perform a wide variety of rites all year round in the context of seasonal functions, festivities, and religious ceremonies. Kim Suk Chul is the leader of a group of performing artists of shamanist background active all along the eastern seaboard of South Korea, from the cities of Gangneung in the north to Pusan in the south. The Korean government has recognized him as an Important Intangible Cultural Property (No. 82). Korean shamans are by no means the mystical beings one might envisage. They serve as mediums between the gods, liberating people's conscious awareness and spirits through their vocal and instrumental performance. The shamans of the eastern seaboard present performances with unparalleled polyrhythmic qualities using instruments such as the gwaengwari and jing gongs, the jegum cymbals, the double-headed hourglass drum janggu, and the double-reed woodwind hojuk. At shamanistic ceremonies, the musicians may be called on to play and dance for several days on end; this means that they have to master more than one hundred rhythm patterns, both individually and as an ensemble. This disc presents three sprawling, epic songs containing the essence of the shamanist music of Korea's eastern seaboard.