Ganryu Island is an collaborative album by

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

and

Michihiro Sato Michihiro Sato (wikt:佐藤, 佐藤wikt:通弘, 通弘, ''Satō Michihiro''; surname Sato; name sometimes listed as Sato Michihiro; (born 1957), is a prominent Japanese player of the ''Tsugaru-jamisen''. Born in Machida, Tokyo, Japan, his mother ...

. The album was first released on vinyl LP on Yukon Records in 1984 and later re-released on

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

as a CD with five additional tracks in 1998.Tzadik catalogue
/ref> The album is titled after Ganryujima, a small island in the Strait of Shimonoseki where legendary

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

warriors

Miyamoto Musashi , also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer and rōnin, who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship a ...

and

Sasaki Kojiro Sasaki () is the 13th most common Japanese surname. Less common variants are 佐咲, 佐佐木 and 笹木. Notable people with the surname include: Overview *, Japanese figure skater *, Japanese alpine skier *, Japanese idol and singer *, Japane ...

engaged in battle.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Joslyn Layne awarded the album 4 stars stating "The great, no-holds-barred improvisation is by no means an inchoate whirl -- indeed, the shamisen's rhythmic presence often provides a steady, but flexible structure for the duo's truly imaginative interaction".Layne, J. Almusic Reviewaccessed July 22, 2011 The Penguin Guide to Jazz observed "listening to ''Ganryu Island'' is like panning for gold: seeming eternities spent lodging through muddy dross in order to turn up a few moments of pure gold. By the oddest perversity, the very best tracks seem to be those which were excluded from the venial release".

Track listing

''All compositions by John Zorn and Satoh Michihiro''

Personnel

- alto and soprano

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

s, Bb

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, game calls, E-flat

* Sato Michihiro -

shamisen The , also known as the or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...

References

{{Authority control John Zorn albums Tzadik Records albums 1984 albums 1984 collaborative albums albums produced by John Zorn