Bold as Light cover

Bold as Light

Released

Two transverse bamboo instruments, the Laotian raj naplaim and the Japanese nohkan, are this album’s binary star. The stories of both feel written in the sky, as fleeting as a cloud’s signature. As is often the case in the music of Stephan Micus, titles like “Rain” and “Spring Dance” are more suggestive than explicit. The clearest shadows come in the form of “Autumn Dance,” a lilting shakuhachi solo falling like a leaf from the “Golden Ginkgo Tree” that follows. Dedicated to master teacher and maker Kono Gyokusui (1930-2008), this is one of the most enchanting journeys Micus has ever documented.

Tyran Grillo

Recommended by

Suggestions
Winterreise cover

Winterreise

Ulrich Ingenbold, Hajo Weber
Atmosphères cover

Atmosphères

Eivind Aarset, Arve Henriksen, Tigran Hamasyan, Jan Bang
Slow Life cover

Slow Life

Theo Travis
What’s It All About cover

What’s It All About

Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny
The Sea cover

The Sea

Terje Rypdal, Ketil Bjørnstad, Jon Christensen, David Darling