Shakuhachi Dreams By Russ Jones

 

Shakuhachi Dreams

By

Russ Jones

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

There is something incredibly special about a Shakuhachi flute, ever since I heard the great flute master Deuter use it on his Buddha Nature album I would continuously seek its sound and meditative solace throughout the years, so to be blessed with this wonderful album to review is something utterly pleasurable indeed, as I gaze eternally on the latest musical masterpiece from Russ Jones called Shakuhachi Dreams.

The first footfall of this zen pathway through the forest of tone and timbre starts with the lush and atmospheric opening called Rebel. Here indeed is a composition that offered up much, gifting blissful moments of serenity and calm, and indeed reminding me of that aforementioned Deuter album.

My Heart is our following musical narrative, here is a slightly more elevated track, and one that lifts the listener on its resonance and embraces a more fluent manifestation, once more its ambience flows like a spring river in mid-April, capturing the elements of a tranquil moment brilliantly.

The album itself is 7 tracks of some of the most soothing music you are ever likely to hear, like this next offering entitled Running. The flute here seemed almost dream-like in its presentation. The shakuhachi is not just a musical instrument but a spiritual practice tool. Its sound is associated with mindfulness, meditation, and inner calm, and on this very piece one can hear that in abundance.

We are well within the weave of the album now as we come across another haunting reverie called See Me.  Russ Jones is a sublime flute performer, and on this piece he seems to build upon a gentle start and ends up manifesting something quite vast at the conclusion of the creation. Traditional solo pieces, called honkyoku, were played by monks as a form of meditation rather than performance; this could easily fit into that category.

We now find ourselves at the longest piece from the release called Telling. The meditative qualities of this track are amazing, I listened to this album in its entirety twice before writing, and on both times this very track pulled me into the darkness of an ancient forest, of which an old temple resided covered in vines, this for me was the most powerful piece off the album, one that I’ll never tire of.

So from the longest track, to a short form narrative now called Edo, the word Edo literally means “estuary” or “bay entrance”, reflecting its geographic location at the mouth of rivers flowing into Tokyo Bay, if one has ever had the privilege to view this bay, I am sure that its arrangement would be most redolent of the subject matter.

The final piece from the album is one of the deepest and called Soothing Neptune. An extremely clever way with which to leave the album, if you were unaware of the reasoning behind the name, it’s the title used for various ambient and meditative music projects, often inspired by the calming imagery of the planet Neptune. I must admit I adore them and especially this offering, what a crafted way with which to leave an album of such high quality.

Shakuhachi Dreams by Russ Jones is an album that everyone should have in their collections, it’s not just a superior flute release, it is an offering of great calm and serenity, and a must have for any meditational regimes too. I could listen to this album for hours and I’d never get bored with it, Shakuhachi Dreams by Russ Jones is a timeless work of art, manifested into this world by a musical artist who has a clever mind, and an open heart and therefore should easily be a top 5 album in the charts with consummate ease.