Kitaro - Essential Kitaro (Bonus Dvd)
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Artist: KitaroEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-11-07
Music Label: Domo Records
Music reviews of Essential Kitaro (Bonus Dvd)
Music Review: More than just another KITARO compilation. Die-hard fans should buy it for the DVD alone!
Rating: 5 Stars
When I first read that Kitaro was following his excellent new 2006 album, "Spiritual Garden", with yet another compilation album, I must admit, all I could think was..."why"? Think about it - there have already been two volumes titled "the Best of Kitaro", plus "The Best of Ten Years" (re-recordings of pieces from Kitaro's first decade in music), "The Best of the Grammy Awards" (a double-CD collection of Kitaro's Grammy winning works), "The Best of Silk Road" (a collection of pieces from the popular "Silk Road" album series), as well as several other compilations, of varying quality, that have been released specifically for the Japanese market...While you'd be hard-pressed to find a more devoted Kitaro fan than myself, even I have to wonder why yet ANOTHER compilation album is really needed at this point...Well, thankfully "The Essential Kitaro" is more than just another "Best of" compilation CD. It's actually a two disc set; one a CD, and one a DVD. Both dics are pretty impressive - although it's the DVD of (mostly) previously unreleased concert footage that will be of supreme interest to the die-hard Kitaro fan. The 60 minute DVD begins with "Silk Road Theme" & "Dance of Sarasvati", both recorded live in Spain during 1999's "Thinking of You" tour. Long-time fans will notice some familiar faces from the "Enchanted Evening" video among the master's backing band - namely guitarist Angus Clark, keyboardist Diana Dentino and percussionist Derek Zimmerman. The passion that these musicians bring to Kitaro's music is obvious, and they function like a well-oiled machine. The version of "Sarasvati" found here is particularly brilliant, featuring a beefed-up arrangement highlighted by some electric sitar playing from Clark, and a wailing, nimble-fingered synthesizer solo from Kitaro! Next up, "Estrella" is the one clip on the DVD that we have seen before, taken from 2002's "Live in Yakushiji" DVD. This is, however, an absolute CLASSIC take on this piece, featuring some spontanious & inspired synth leads from Kitaro, beautiful violin work from Yavoi Sakiyama, and a longer running-length than the studio version. Next comes a majestic, moving version of "Koi", taken from a 2004 concert in China. Among the 6-piece backing band I spotted keyboardist Shinji Ebihara and Kitaro's wife, Kieko Takahashi (both of whom were also featured on the earlier "Yakushiji" concert), but it is the uncredited young Asian guitarist who really steals the show during the song's dramatic climax! Although it is also credited as being from "China 2004", the DVD's closing track, "Mercury", is obviously taken from a completely different show/venue. In fact, this one appears to have been filmed inside a Buddhist Temple, with no audience to speak of save for some monks that can occassionally be seen walking about in the background! For this one Kitaro puts aside the synthesizers and solos on a Native American wood flute, joined only by Keiko on keyboards and Tu Shan Xiang on a Pipa (a rather unusual-sounding Asian stringed-instrument) It's a beautiful take on this piece (first heard on Kitaro's exceptional Grammy-winning CD "Thinking of You"), and helps to give the DVD to a meditative, eligiac ending...My hope is that Domo Records will eventually release the Spanish and Chinese concerts in their entirety. It's great having these few isolated tracks. But with sound, picture, and performance quality this fantasic, it's sad to think that there are several more hours of GREAT live Kitaro footage sitting in a vault somewhere, unreleased!...As for CD, the track listing is a bit surprizing in that some of Kitaro's most well-known works are missing (i.e. - "Caravansary", "Heaven & Earth", "Kokoro".) Aside from a few familiar 80s/90s "classics", the track listing is weighed more heavily towards recent album tracks (taken from "The Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai", "An Ancient Journey", "Cirque Imaginuex", etc.) Personally, I find this to be a positive thing. At a time when far too many veteran artists are resting on their laurels and living off of past glories, it's nice to see that Kitaro believes strongly in his new work. (This also helps to keep the track listing here different from all the previous compilations I've already mentioned.) I was also glad to see the inclusion of at least one track that I had not heard before; "Nagare No Naka De", a dreamy, melodic piece taken from a recent Japanses-only compilation album - as a Kitaro collector, this alone adds a bit more value for the money spent...I think the title of this collection is quite appropriate - "The ESSENTIAL Kitaro". It is not labeled as a "Greatest Hits", or even as a "Best of" (always a very innapropriate way of titling compilations, in my opinion, as what constitutes the "best" work of ANY artist is subjective and open to debate.) While I might have chosen one or two tracks a little differently myself (Why nothing from the classic "Light of the Spirit"? Or the underrated new album, "Spiritual Garden"?), I do think that this collection lives up to its name in that it captures the very ESSENCE of Kitaro's artistry, and aptly displays the many sides of his creative, compelling music. All in all, whether you are a long-time fan or a newcomer, this is a highly reccommended purchase!
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