Tsugaru Jamisen [IMPORT]

Chikuzan Takahashi

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2003)
• Original Release Date: December 28, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: JVC Victor
• ASIN: B00001ZTY3
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #629,889 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Tracks In Japanese Characters

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great music!, September 19, 1999

By A Customer

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the Mood For My Trip to Japan, July 5, 2001

By	G. Bryan "Neal Fosdick" (Jeffersonville, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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!