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ensō ~ shakuhachi, violin, viola, vox

by Anne Norman and Emily Sheppard

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1.
Far Below Me 10:00
Far below me, sooty-oyster-catchers wheel across the shallows, orange beaks and black backs stark against a sea of foam. Like sheets of living lace, white waves advance, dissolving, dispersing, retreating… endlessly inundated by the next fizzing bolt of intricate lacework, rolled out for inspection. I’m captivated... mesmerized by wrinkles of translucent filigree. 骨 hone, 葉 happa, 石 ishi, 響 hibiki, 買 kai, 種 tane, 羽 hane, 小枝 koeda. I found a bone, a leaf, a stone, an echo and a shell, a seed, a twig, a bone, a feather. Faraway people walk to the golden sky, their footprints — stitches tacked around a scalloped hem of blinding silver. Only spindly-legged shadows remain as briny tongues lick the shore clean. 骨、葉、石、響、買、種、羽、小枝。 Bone, leaf, stone, shell, seed, twig, bone, feather, echo. Shadow!
2.
For most of my existence, I've not followed conversations or read books. Most of my time I've been scattered in the elements of the cosmos. The time for reading or conversation is only brief... It's a peaceful letting go, this time of life. A preparation.
3.
4.
Aftermath 08:56
takayna ashes - on the sand two speckled eggs one cracked open inside a tiny, wet mass shivers

about

—click on the song name for info about individual tracks—

This "album" is a place to put tracks by ensō - the duo of Emily Sheppard and Anne Norman — and associate artists... a place to put new songs as we write and record them.

ensō is a collaboration that began in a cave on Mt Wellington in Tassie in 2015 and took off in a tunnel under Darwin; and then again in 2016 in the Tarkine wilderness in Tassie. We also camped in northern Tassie later in 2016 singing our lungs out to the ocean and breaching humpbacks, and exploring extended techniques with only birds and stars to witness our fumblings. Many more adventures ahead. A fun collaboration in which we are encouraging each other's explorations of the use of voice with our instruments, and the use of music and poetry to express our experience of the natural world - especially wilderness areas.

ensō - the name of our collaboration - is a Japanese word for a circle drawn in one fluid brushstroke: an expression of the moment in an act of creation. ● 円相 ● ENSOU

We represent our duo with an incomplete circle... indicating an openness to collaboration and inspiration...

円 (冂) [En] = circle, 相 (目) [Sou] = mutual, together
[ensou written using a different kanji 演奏 means to "perform"]

This album will only be slowly added to, as we live in different states. So until the next encounter... If you like any of the tracks please download for $1 (or more) to encourage us to meet up in a forest, cave or lighthouse somewhere and make more music. :) Thanks for your support.

credits

released January 13, 2017

Photo @ Dan Haley: Emily and Anne in the middle of a tree stump in a forest in the Tarkine.

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about

Anne M Norman Melbourne, Australia

Anne is a shakuhachi player performing in a wide range of music. Anne trained in Japan in 3 lineages with Nakamura Shindo, Tajima Tadashi and Yamaguchi Goro. She has played since 1986 (following 14 years of playing silver flute). Some of Anne's albums are available as Compact Disks.
CD orders: absurdpublications.com/products-in-shop/cds/
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