Moon On the Water

The two-CD set Moon on the Water consists of Stan Richardson's solo compositions for the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute whose distinctively woody, breathy tone will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever heard Japanese traditional music. This is not Japanese music, however; Richardson's compositions place the instrument in the usual tradition of solo instrumental new age performances, focusing on musical texture in place of structure, and long, free-flowing notes in place of melodies. The only difference between the two discs is that disc two unobtrusively works in nature sounds, mostly of rushing water and twittering birds, underneath Richardson's solos. Those who like this sort of thing will undoubtedly find Moon on the Water to be the sort of thing they like, but those who flinch at the idea of nearly two hours' worth of amorphous bamboo flute solos will not likely change their minds.