Tatsuya and I have met many times in various countries on our respective tours. He's one of the few people I know who travels as much as I do. We both make it work through a variety of solo concerts, long-term projects, free improvisation and teaching. This recording was made in his studio in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, a small town in the central part of the state known for its hot baths (as well as its name). I'm playing a Waldorf Blofeld and he is playing his incredible assortment of gongs, bells and percussion.
Tatsuya Nakatani is an avant-garde percussionist, composer, and artist of sound. Active internationally since the 1990’s Nakatani has released over 80 recordings and tours extensively, performing over 150 concerts a year. His primary focus is his solo work and his large ensemble project, the Nakatani Gong Orchestra. With his activity in the new music, improvisation and experimental music scenes, Nakatani has a long history of collaboration. He teaches master classes and lectures at universities and music conservatories around the world. Originally from Japan, he makes his home in the desert town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Nakatani creates his distinctive music centered around his adapted bowed gong, supported by an array of drums, cymbals, and singing bowls. In consort with his hand-carved Kobo Bows, it is an instrument he has spent decades developing. Nakatani approaches his orchestral project (NGO) as an arrangement of formations of vibrations, incorporated in shimmering layers of silence and texture. Within this contemporary work, one can still recognize the dramatic pacing, formal elegance and space (ma) felt in traditional Japanese music.
www.tatsuyanakatani.com
released December 4, 2020
Recorded at Tatsuya Nakatani’s Studio in Truth Or Consequences, NM
Mixed by Tatsuya
Edited by Thollem
Mastered by Drake Hardin Albuquerque, NM
Cover Art by ACVilla
Layout by Tiny Little Hammers