Japon

 

MUSIQUES DE L'ASIE TRADITIONNELLE VOL. 20

JAPON/JAPAN

 TRADITIONAL ASIAN MUSIC VOL. 20

Playa Sound, 1982, PS 33526

Another LP borrowed a long time ago from my local library. It is in fact an album first issued and recorded by Victor M.I. Japan which was included the same year to this nice series edited by Playa Sound for the French market.
There are five tracks only mixing old and new material for shakuhachi, koto and shamisen (sangen). On the old side shakuhachi master Reibo Aoki plays Shika nô Tone (18th century), Osyusashi (19th century) and Midare (17th century); the modern material is Meykio composed in 1975 and a Duo Concertante for shakuhachi and koto composed in 1969. 
Since I copied the English text you can find more information about these pieces as well as a short bio on all the performers. 
Master Aoki who plays on all tracks died in 2018; he plays two different types of shakuhachi on this record.

 download.wav

Jolie Brise

 

MUSIQUE ET CHANTS TRADITIONNELS 
DE HAUTE NORMANDIE
JOLIE BRISE

TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND SONGS
FROM UPPER NORMANDY
JOLIE BRISE 

Diskan,  1978, DK 009

 This second-hand album is the first album of the French band Jolie Brise (meaning ''lovely breeze'' which was the name of a sailing boat). They released their second and last album in 1980. 
This trio is typical of the period when during the seventies young people went visiting older people in their area for getting songs and tunes from the past. Since the first world war popular cutltures outside Paris were declining fast especially in regions near the capital and speaking dialects of French. This culture was almost gone in the seventies because the people from the country didn't want to hand it down as it was looked down upon.  However when the French revival started it was still possible to collect and record something. So Jolie Brise was very important in that part of Normandy, le Pays de Caux on the right bank or the river Seine where they collected many songs. 
As it is said on the back cover : ''It (this album) represents a tribute to a culture which must not be  a mere souvenir but enrich our present time.''
All tracks are songs about sailors, soldiers, forced marriage or funny songs.
The sound recording is not top and maybe the pressing either (on side B); Diskan was a Breton label which has disappeared since. 
Text in French

 

download.wav