Tone (CD)

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Japanese

PMR-0072 (CD)

TONE

01. The Sound Of The Sea
02. Flowing Water
03. The Mountain Pass
04. Forest
05. Tono II
06. Snowscape
07. Dark Red Clouds
08. Old Road
09. Prayer

A traveler's straw sandals tread the ground powerfully walking on the mountain path. "How many ri (equivalent of 2.44 miles) have I walked today?" The traveler finally reaches the mountain pass. Perspiration rises lightly on his forehead, and the flag advertising dumplings catches his eye. He looks up and there is Mt. Fuji rising before him...

Tone has an original world view and their music may vividly evoke a nostalgic scene like the above. It would be something right out of Ando HirohigeÕs wood block prints, "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road".

Each of the traveler's sturdy step on the mountain path translates as each sound woven by Tone.
Tone uses the traditional instruments of Japan, but the performers are not bound with the traditional playing techniques, as to make the instruments sound "just like a Shakuhachi or Sou should sound like". They have continued to create their music focused on each sound, rather than on the performance method. That is why, although the band is composed simply of Shakuhachi, Sou and guitar, there is a rich roundness to their sounds as if cells of sounds are propagating and a feeling of expansion evocative of an orchestra.

Mayuko Ueno