COMPOSERS: Kodo
LABELS: Sony
PERFORMER: Kodo (drums) Yoko Fujimoto (vocals)
CATALOGUE NO: SRCL 4670
Kodo does for Japanese taiko drumming what Kokuma and Adzido did for African dance when they made a spectacular stage show out of an impossibly diverse range of rituals and ceremonies.
The new albums go with KODO’s latest tours. On disc, a powerful momentum still carries all before it, even if you have to imagine the sight of the huge O-daiko being pummelled into action.
To the unaided ear, the items with smaller drums are more thunderously exciting. If you want a souvenir of the live event, go for Tsutsumi. Warabe includes a wider choice of melodic pieces with fiddle, voices and steel drum.