Kokuhaku

In the early 80s, Japanese flutist Tosha Suiho realized his recording project "Four Seasons in Kyoto", a series of solos recordings, performed around Kyoto over the course of 1 year. All recordings were done outdoors, at specially selected locations. To avoid unwanted human noise pollution, most of the recording sessions took place either late at night or in the early hours of the morning.
The pieces can be described as compositions with improvisational elements, each one having a special connection with the location of its performance. In his free-flowing play, Tosha is reacting to / in dialogue with the different ambiences, very much like a jazz-musician might, carefully weaving his music into the sonic textures of the elements(wind, water), nature (birds, plants) and the human world (in "Hieizan", represented by the bell of a nearby monastery, calling the monks to their morning prayers).
The music could be categorized as something like "contemporary traditional": elements from classic Japanese music reshaped and newly blended under the influence of different modern styles. Instruments are the Shinobue and Nokan bamboo flutes.