Wu Man & Kojiro Umezaki: Flow
In a Circle Records

Wu Man's lute-like pipa and Kojiro Umezaki's shakuhachi make a mesmerizing pair on the duo's collaborative release Flow, its five pieces designed to evoke seasonal changes in a traditional Eastern garden. Recorded in February 2020, the material was originally created for Fragrant Rhythms: The Seasons of Liu Fang Yuan, a forty-minute video installation by Beijing-born artist Tang Qingnian created to commemorate the fifteen-acre garden's latest phase of development. If the musicians' connection appears strong on the recording, it's no accident: the two have long performed together as Silkroad Ensemble bandmates.

In restricting the instrumentation to two instruments only, Flow allows for an enhanced appreciation of both the artistry of the musicians and the beauty of the sounds the Chinese pipa and Japanese shakuhachi are capable of producing. Man and Umezaki are ambassadors for their respective instruments who have shown they have as much a place in contemporary music as traditional—even if both carry with them thousands of years of history. A founding member of the Silkroad Ensemble, the California-based Man has premiered countless new works for the pipa, whereas Umezaki has performed with artists such as Brooklyn Rider, Nicole Mitchell, and Kei Akagi and appeared earlier on his own In a Circle Records release Cycles in 2014.

With songs structured to allow for improvisatory expression, the five acoustic settings feature Man and Umezaki in both solo and duo capacities. Up first, Man's “Winter (Night Thoughts II)” attracts the ear with seductive tremolos and an overall ruminative air, and her command of tempo and space make the performance as entrancing as the sound of the instrument itself. The timeless character of the music is, in part, explained by the fact that the tune's primary theme derives from notation found in the Buddhist caves at Dunhuang dating back to the Tang Dynasty. With Umezaki's bamboo flute joining Man's pipa, “Spring” proves, if anything, even more hypnotizing in its lilting folk phrases. While shaker accents augment the pipa to memorable effect during Man's “Summer,” the addition never detracts from her enticing pipa playing. The instruments flutter like wind-blown leaves throughout “Autumn,” after which Umezaki's solo turn in “Bamboo” amplifies the haunting sonorities of the shakuhachi. Peaceful and animates episodes appear throughout the recording in turn, which helps make the music never less than engaging.

At thirty-three minutes, Flow might seem more mini-album or even extended EP than full-length, but it nevertheless registers as a rich and satisfying statement. The artistry of the two players alone is enough to warrant the recommendation, and it's easy to picture listeners held spellbound by a concert performance featuring the duo.

April 2021