TRACK LIST:
1. KOAN (24:00)
for shakuhachi and chamber ensemble
2. STILL (21:52)
for bass flute, viola and 6- & 12-string guitar
3. SATORI (9:41)
for solo harpsichord

all world-premiere recordings

Genre: modern & avant-garde

The three acoustic works presented on this CD all reflect Palmers profound engagement with Japanese spiritual and aesthetic tradition. Koan is a rare encounter between shakuhachi and chamber orchestra. In Still bass flute, viola and guitar create a meditative mood before the solo harpsichord of Satori brings the journey to an end. All this picturesque 'Japaneseness' might make it sound as though the listener to this CD is in for a comfortable session of 'New-age' easy listening. But be warned: someone who submits himself to the ascetic severities of Zen monastery life could hardly be expected to opt for facile and superficial artistic solutions, and the musical language of John Palmer's work is uncompromisingly Western and modernist. It demands of its listener, no less than of its creator, an attitude of disciplined seriousness. Deeply rewarding listening.

Credits:
KOAN (1999)
Live-Recording of the Final Concert of the ISCM 2001 World Music Days in Yokohama, Japan, Minato-Mirai Concert Hall, Yokohama, Japan, 10th October 2001.
Performers: ComeT, Teruhisa Fukuda (shakuhachi), Kunitaka Kokaji (conductor)

STILL (2000-01)
Commissioned by Hans Wilhelm Kaufmann for das Neue KammerTrio. Live-recording by Das Neue KammerTrio at Bad Brukenau, Germany, on 19th September 2001, and recorded by the Bayerischer Rundfunk, Germany.
Performers: Das Neue KammerTrio (Carsten Hustedt, flute; Andreas Gerhardus, viola; Hans Wilhelm Kaufmann, guitar).

SATORI (1999)
Recorded at the Old Castle, Stuttgart, on 3rd May 2003. Produced by Vision Studios.
Performer: John Palmer