Narada

RILEY LEE IS TREADING on hallowed ground by calling this new double-CD recording Music for Zen Meditation. The title is less generic than it seems; 40 years ago, jazz musician Tony Scott recorded a classic LP of the same name, improvising on clarinet in the company of shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) and koto players.

But even those familiar with Scott's landmark recording (which has been reissued on CD) will not confuse its beguiling sound and atmospheric intention with the deeper, contemplative nature of Lee's latest project. Like an ingenious stage designer, Scott set a splendidly evocative scene, but while you could slip into a contemplative mood to its soundtrack, it was hard to escape the flavor of exotica and forget that Scott was coming from a jazz direction.

On the other hand, the Texas-born Lee, the first non-Japanese grand master (dai shihan) of shakuhachi, immerses himself in a pure musical meditation, to which the listener can either bear witness or surrender without a sense of cultural distance or dislocation.

Disc 1 is a program of 11 solo performances in which Lee's velvet timbre and gentle melodic permutations embody the soothing spirit of titles such as "Divine Ecstasy," "Tranquil Resonations," and "Inner Quiet." On disc 2, he plays 11 elegantly overdubbed duets with himself on pieces with equally evocative titles-"Whispers of Eternity," "Echo of the Sacred," "Between the Stillness."

His exquisitely focused and even tone can be taken as a signal, like a meditation bell, to enter a selfless space of calm and quiet, a reminder that in the hearing there is only what is heard, or it can be appreciated more intellectually in subtly intriguing musical terms.

- Derk Richardson
Berkeley California

New World
****

"THE sensuous shakuhachi flute-playing of Riley Lee takes centre stage on Daichi, a collection of pieces by the members of TaikOz broadly taking inspiration from the idea of place (daichi translates as big earth).

This can be in a literal or metaphorical sense: in Kevin Man's Kaigan Sen he evokes the sound and feet of the coastline and Graham Hilgendorf's Daichi takes a walk through plains and hills; Kerryn Joyce's Recollection, on the other hand, is an exhilarating memory piece.

The joyous taiko ensemble plays its usual eclectic array of percussion instruments - tiny rin Buddhist bells, the giant Odaiko bell, all sorts of drums, cymbals and gongs -- with exquisite finesse.

That's not to say the music can't get loud and energetic - with this group the vibrations can be every bit as physical as cosmic - but the TaikOz sound is never brash or overbearing.

The contemplative and meditative side of the ensemble is always close to the surface, enhanced in Daichi by the foregrounding of Lee's deeply felt art, particularly beautiful in the disc's closing track, the traditional Japanese song Esashi Oiwake."

Deborah Jones

"In Japan, says TaikOz co-founder Ian Cleworth, people don't say they're going to hear a taiko concert; they're going to see one. Oh yes, indeed.

Not that hearing TaikOz is a problem, obviously, given that at any time up to seven players may be happily flinging themselves at Japanese drums - taiko - of awesome size and giving them what for. But it's the seeing that turns an exhilarating aural experience into something close to dance theatre with a spiritual bent.

It's worth pointing out, too, that rarely has a group of musicians looked quite so spunky (and this includes rock stars, thank you very much). Drumming is a highly physical art and all the TaikOz members show the benefits.

TaikOz Live at Angel Place was filmed in May this year and although nothing beats seeing and hearing TaikOz up close, the DVD is a pretty good substitute for being there. The group's art is multifaceted; from the contemplative (as with the breathy, ethereal emanations from shakuhachi flute grand master Riley Lee) through to big-bang muscularity.

TaiOz puts its stamp on the form with pieces by Cleworth and Graham Hilgendorf and, very beautifully, Shifting Sands by Cleworth, Lee and didgeridoo player Matthew Doyle. The virtuosity is thrilling but even better is the sense of pure joy the players transmit. Kerryn Joyce can't keep a smile off her face and neither can a TaikOz audience."

Deborah Jones

Hula Records International

ISLAND EXPATRIATE Riley Lee and Maui-based Jeff Peterson introduce a fresh note in island music as they blend the familiar sound of slack-key guitar with that of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). Lee (shakuhachi) and Peterson (guitar) play as equal partners in reinterpreting popular island melodies ranging from "Kawika" to "Ku'u Home O Kahalu'u".

The ambience is mellow enough to call the music "New Age" but the textures of the guitar and flute create a pleasant, natural organic sound that much "New Age" stuff lacks. The duo is clearly taking Hawaiian music in a fresh and imaginative new direction that has worldwide appeal.

Extensive annotation makes this a perfect introduction to the artists and the musical traditions they represent. Astute packaging ensures that even casual record store bin browsers can recognisze the uniqueness of this album.

- John Berger

From the Honolulu Advertiser (February 2001):

RILEY LEE IS Hawai'i's best-known shakuhachi artist; Jeff Peterson is a guitarist with a classical and jazz background. Together, the bamboo flute and the ki ho'alu guitar yield a very poetic, very resourceful sound, evoking romantic and rhapsodic images of the Island lifestyle.

The title tune is Peterson's composition, a subtle yet vibrant ear canvas of Maui images of sunrises over Haleakala, of rain forests in Hana, of lapping waves at Makena. It's a beaut.

- Wayne Harada

Being 100% Japanese isn't mandatory if you're a shakuhachi player. The instrument was actually invented in China, and occasionally, some Americans have played it on the side--jazzman Bobby King, for example, is a hard bop/post-bop saxophonist who has played the shakuhachi as a secondary instrument.

Nonetheless, Japan has dominated shakuhachi playing for centuries, and the instrument will always be closely identified with traditional Japanese music--which is what the Texas-born Riley Lee provides on Picture Dreams. Not many people who were born in Texas can honestly say that they play the shakuhachi as their main instrument, but Lee can--and he plays it in a traditionally Japanese way throughout this fine CD.

Some of Lee's other releases have demonstrated that he isn't a purist when it comes to Japanese music; a purist wouldn't combine the shakuhachi with Indian tabla drums or the Aboriginal didjeridoo (two non-Japanese instruments that have been heard on some of Riley's previous albums--although he didn't play either of them himself).

Picture Dreams, however, is traditionally Japanese (as opposed to multicultural) in its approach. This excellent disc finds Lee forming a duo with Satsuki Odamura, a female koto player who grew up in Japan but now lives in Australia (which is also Lee's adopted home). Although Lee has, at times, brought his shakuhachi to multicultural settings, Picture Dreams shouldn't scare away any Japanese purists; an album of instrumental shakuhachi/koto duets is exactly the sort of thing that one expects from traditional Japanese music.

Lee and Odamura enjoy a strong rapport on all of the material, which is as tranquil as it is haunting. Picture Dreams gives world music enthusiasts yet another reason to applaud Lee's mastery of the shakuhachi.

- Alex Henderson

"I think I'm turning Japanese - and loving it"

Riley Lee - an American playing Japanese-derived music - enriches our country by basing himself here.

Lee actually adds another dimension to our cultural landscape, like a unique plant in a rainforest, because of the singular aesthetic of the shakuhachi (bamboo flute) in Japanese traditional music.

The sound is so astonishingly pure: it aches with the sadness of loss and the sadness of wisdom, pulses with the joy of being alive and whispers of an elegance almost too exotic to be true.

With its range of settings and collaborations, this compilation album is a wonderful way to discover the mysterious delights of Lee's music.

Like many of the finest and most interesting musicians operating today, Lee uses a given tradition as a springboard rather than allowing it to become a prison.

He composes pieces for specific collaborations with such care that Matthew Doyle's didgeridoo sound just as natural and convincing beside the shakuhachi on Spirits Dance and Prayer for Children as Satsuki Odamura's koto does on Sacramental Christian Lullaby.

The latter is a remarkable piece of music.

The stately grace of the opening - akin to 17th-century European music - gives way to a shakuhachi cadenza alive with a sprightly defiance before the notes of the koto fall once more like sparse drops of water.

The Dream, on which Lee is joined by Andy Rigby's harp, shows the versatility of the shakuhachi in this man's hands.

The whole tonal quality shifts to sound sometimes like a conventional Western flute, sometimes pinched, almost like a reed instrument.

The cover, by the way, is illustrated with a specially commissioned painting by the late Arthur Boyd.

- John Shand

For centuries, it was almost unheard of for a white person to play the shakuhachi, an Asian bamboo flute that was brought to Japan by Chinese travelers in the eighth century and eventually became Japan's most famous wind instrument.

But technology made the world seem much smaller in the 20th century, and these days, it isn't impossible to find white musicians from North America, England, or Australia who can play the instrument well. A perfect example is the Texas-born Riley Lee, whose mastery of the shakuhachi is evident on this tranquil, peaceful CD. Offering a sample of recordings that he made in the 1990s, Postcards From Bundanon: The Very Best of Riley Lee isn't the last word on his shakuhachi playing but is still a good place for novices to get acquainted with it. Lee isn't a purist; some of the material favors a traditional Japanese approach, but much of it has a more global and multicultural outlook.

The musicians who join Lee are heard playing everything from Indian tabla drums to the didgeridoo, an instrument that was created by Australian aboriginals. Those aren't exactly traditional Japanese instruments, and hearing them alongside the shakuhachi only adds to the intrigue.

Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, Japanese Buddhist monks who mastered the shakuhachi were hardly known for their use of Indian or aboriginal instruments - and back then, shakuhachi players didn't have Anglo names like Riley Lee. But again, technology made the world feel a lot smaller, and it made it easier for Lee to take the sort of chances that he takes on this consistently interesting CD.
- Alex Henderson

From Amazon.com : Postcards from Bundanon: Very Best of Riley Lee
A great sampling of the shakuhachi stylings of Riley Lee! October 1, 2006 If music-making can be thought of as a living, breathing meditation, then it doesn't get any cleaner and purer than this. Calm, clean, clear and minimalistic, the shakuhachi playing of Riley Lee commands the attention with its simplicity, shedding the mundane cares of the day and refocusing the mind to another place and time, or--more appropriately for a Zen art--to nowhere. To nowhen. To nothing.

I'm used to a rougher, breathier edge to shakuhachi music but Riley Lee's technique, while still nuanced in tone and execution, sounds smooth, rich and polished--almost buttery. It's extraordinarily soothing to listen to, whether he's playing alone or with other musicians, as he does in some of the tracks here--with guest artists playing instruments ranging from koto and folk harp to didgeridoo, Indian tabla and electronica. After studying in Japan for nine years, in 1980 Lee became the first non-Japanese to attain the rank of grand master in the shakuhachi tradition. It shows.

"Postcards from Bundanon" offers a retrospective of Lee's recordings, featuring ten selections from nine previous albums, and providing written context for each.

- Brianna Neal

Riley Lee's Buddha's Dream reaffirms his position as one of the West's most gifted shakuhachi flute artists - not that it needed reaffirming.

The first non-Japanese shakuhachi dai shihan (grand master) returns with ten more caressing, reflective pieces, including "Bubbling Fountain", "Spring Shower", "Melting Snow", and "As the Water Flows." Ideal for meditation, studying, or just relaxing, Buddha's Dream is just as captivating to new listeners as it is to Lee's many fans.

- Heather Phares

Riley Lee is one of the most prolific and probably one of the best Western shakuhachi players, having recorded more than 30 CDs. This CD is the fourth of a series of seven dedicated to traditional Zen music for solo shakuhachi.

The most striking aspect of this album is the quality of the recording; it was recorded in the reverberation room of the National Acoustics Laboratory in Sydney, Australia, giving the performance a "grandeur" and a presence seldom heard from the recording studio. This is meditation music in its purest sense.

Highly recommended.

- Bruno Deschenes

Many musicians feel free to include the snarly sounds of the didgeridoo on their albums. Few, however, can claim to be a master of the instrument. Wild Honey Dreaming combines the efforts of two musical masters, Matthew Doyle on the didgeridoo and Riley Lee on the Japanese shakuhachi flute.

Lee began studying the difficult instrument in 1970 and in 1980 became the first non-Japanese to attain the rank of dai shihan (grand master). Doyle has also been similarly honored. In 1985, at the age of 15, he was invited to join Australia's Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre; he studied aboriginal music and dance throughout Australia and was awarded the position of Aboriginal Artist in Residence with the NSW Department of School Education. Both live in Sydney.

The didgeridoo is an ancient wind instrument known for its deep, snarling, primordial sounds; the shakuhachi flute is not as old and produces notes known for their meditative and mind-clearing qualities. Played together, the sounds can move body, mind, and soul.

The didg can create a resonant cavern for the cold wind of the shakuhachi. Doyle, with his circular breathing technique, can offer an endless drone for the melodies of the flute. The drone is emphasized and buzzed on the title cut; you'll swear you've become a bee. On "Spirit Dance: The Wind of Change", Lee is quite acrobatic with his melody; his "Traveller's Song" solo is the essence of tone purity. Lee can also create a drone (and bend notes as well), but the effect on "Ghost Gums and the Moon" is smoother and more haunting than the sound of the didgeridoo.

On "Desert Stars," the two trade musical phrases; a duet between an elephant and a nightingale. "Space Time Transformation" is the spaciest of the tracks and includes synthesizer tones by Michael Atherton. Here, the flute melody travels through a gauntlet of pulsing didg growls while synth organ tones slip around and bend time.

The album ends with an extended "aum" tone...and a snort for good luck. An extraordinary immersion in cosmic tones.

- Carol Wright

Previously released in 1991 on cassette-only under Evening Mist, Sanctuary: Music from a Zen Garden from multi-talented flutist Riley Lee is a stunning look at the musician's dazzling skill of playing the shakuhachi.

This flute, traditionally played by Japanese monks, bellows low and captures a deep mood throughout the release. It's enchanting, yet mysterious as Lee frolics with the ambience of sound itself. Pitches are light and flowing, soaring and brooding; an infinite calming presence.

The overall sonic quality on Sanctuary is enjoyable, certainly a splendid and solid look at Lee's impeccable and ever-changing mastery.

- MacKenzie Wilson

From amazon.com:

As peaceful and enchanting as a sunset's afterglow on a cloudless summer evening, the gentle music of Riley Lee (playing shakuhachi flute, an instrument traditionally used by Japanese monks) and Bert Moon (on koto, a 13-string zither) stirs a warm, caressing breeze that calms the spirit and stills the mind.

Lee's elegant, prolonged tones are gentle to the point of weightlessness, residing in comfortable low and middle ranges without sounding a shrill note. Moon, though not credited on the recording's front cover, admirably handles an egalitarian role throughout the disc's 61 minutes, handsomely complementing Lee's cerebral textures with dignified, unobtrusive accents.

Listeners raised on Occidental music will find little alien about Lee and Moon's graceful, unhurried duets, ideal for periods of restfulness or contemplation.

- Terry Wood