DAIKO & MASAHIKO SATO, OSUWA - Suwa Ikazuchi

"A fantastic percussive album performed by the Osuwa Daiko Preservation Society and veteran jazz pianist Masahiko Sato. A great blend of avant garde and traditional music recorded at Osuwa Daiko's dojo in Okaya City, Nagano, Japan. The Suwa Daiko is a tradition of Kagura (sacred music and dance) and drums of the Suwa Taisha Shrine that enshrines the life of the Takeminakata (one of god in Japanese mythology). It is a folk performing art that is recorded in an ancient document of the "Koshin-etsu-Senroku" (Koshin-etsu War Record). The document says that it is also medieval military music. Shingen Takeda (1521-1573), who was a great warlord in 16th-century known for his equestrian corps said to be the strongest in Sengoku period, formed 21 people of Suwa Daiko and raised the spirit and willingness of the Takeda army soldiers by Suwa Daiko at the battle of Kawanakajima (1553-1564). Mr. Daihachi Oguchi has collected traditional drums with different tones of various sizes and created an ori