Riley Lee: Shakuhachi Water Meditations
(Sounds True, 2010)
I haven't stopped listening to this CD since I first popped it into my player. Recognized as a grand master of the Zen bamboo flute ”called the shakuhachi” Riley and his instrument are conduits for healing sound. Each composition seems to rise directly out of water in one of its many incarnations: rain, the sea, or some faraway deep, still lake. The inside of the CD includes liner notes explaining the lineage of the shakuhachi flute, and how the act of playing it was once the principal form of meditative expression practiced by a sect of Zen Buddhism known as the komuso, who were called the 'priests of nothingness.' My personal favorites among the eight selections are Raftsong at Sunrise and Being Time. All of them are haunting in their raw beauty, and deeply relaxing.
—Debra Bokur
