Traditional 梁在平

Before the 17th century, traditional Japanese classical music was mostly sung or performed solo, in particular after the arrival of the biwa, the shakuhachi, and the koto (in versions quite different from the modern ones we know today) from China around the eighth century. The biwa accompanied singers while the two others were played solo. In the 17th century the shamisen also arrived in Japan from China and quickly became popular, taking from the biwa a place it had occupied for a long time. Chamber music in which the shakuhachi and koto joined the shamisen, with the shamisen player singing, was created at that time. Solo pieces were arranged for this trio…

The album follows the template set by Ruffins' earlier albums, featuring classic New Orleans tunes like "When the Saints Go Marching In" given a new coat of paint; a reverential cover of a Louis Armstrong (Ruffins' main influence, both as a player and as a singer) tune; "When It's Sleepy Time Down South"; fun second-line pieces like "Treme Second Line," and in what might be the biggest surprise here, a poignant version of the traditional ballad "Careless Love." It all adds up to a fun and varied album, with Ruffins doing pretty much what he does at his regular shows at New Orleans’ Bullet’s Sports Bar and with his recurring role on Treme, preserving and freshly annotating the unique music of New Orleans, making everything into a joyous party in the process.

This CD is indeed a strange mixed bag. There are plenty of authentic traditional pieces like "Sakura", "Autumn sorrow", but there are also a number of modernized vocal numbers (rather western operatic style singing), one good Okinawan folk song, and believe it ir not, one Korean traditional song (Arirang) sung in Korean accompanied by kayagum. For some reason this good old folklore caused "geisha" fantasies in the disc compilers minds :)