Composer Asuka Kakitani Tells A Story of Nature through Double-Bass
- R.A.G.
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
A breathtaking and immersive new record from Asuka Kakitani takes you on quite a beautiful musical journey, and it's all done with one instrument throughout the entire record, which is something that is most impressive and speaks volumes for the composer's ability to create transformative pieces of music without layers upon layers of orchestrated instrumentation.
Sometimes it takes something that feels a little bit more stripped down to stir the pot. This is a record that breeds a unique feel and sound, demonstrating how the instrument has a robust range, and when performed with elegance and technique, it can be quite enough for you to get engulfed by the tones and textures coming at you.
The album is called "The Garden", and it is completely performed by an upright bass, otherwise known as double-bass or, at times, contrabass.
It is a bit of a concept record in terms of the growth of nature. The titles and sentiments behind the songs represent different stages of creation and how nature all around us has been there long before we were and will be long after as well.
It all starts with the song called "Seeds", which demonstrates different elements of piccato and bowed approaches, starting with a lot more of the plucking approach, representing the planting of the seeds, or where everything really begins anyway.
By the end of the piece, it grows into a bowed performance with a light-hearted and bright melody, representing some of the growth that is happening or the knowledge of what's to come.
Throughout this release, you get a strange sense of peace, yet excitement all at once.
Songs like "Pollinators" come through with this sort of warm intensity. For this, the double bass is bowed, but it is performed with deeper notes, giving it a sort of edgy overtone. It's got teeth. I love how this is used to represent the flurrying and almost aggressive elements of nature.
"Fly, Fly, Fly Away Seeds" is an elegantly performed piece that gives you a bit of thickness in terms of its tone, and has what feels like layers to it that almost overlap each other, and the cool thing about instruments that are bowed like the double bass come up is that the overlapping notes can be performed all at once.
To me, the most beautiful piece on the record is its closing one called "Beneath Our Feet", as its gorgeous performance and melodies are absolutely breathtaking. There's something about this piece in particular that puts you right in the moment with it.
You find yourself swimming through these outstanding melodic pushes, all with a graceful touch, and really just entrancing, in a sense.
This closing of the record completes the cycle, but also represents how the cycle begins again.
Now, a lot of what I'm talking about is how I'm interpreting the record. Others may take it in slightly differently or incredibly differently, for that matter, but I love the concept of how this goes through a particular kind of life cycle and brings in all these outside elements, because that's what nature is like.
This was a record that represented how erratic, beautiful, immense, harsh, and delicate nature can be, and the performances are really what make this so incredible.
Asuka was really able to deliver something that does tell an incredible story, and in doing so, you get wrapped up in everything.
The performances themselves are from Mark Urness, who's obviously a master of his craft and had a unique way of bringing these pieces to life.
This is not one to be missed. Take this record in one shot because then you're really taking that journey and following the story in such a beautiful sense.
So, take a swim through this record and you absolutely won't regret it.
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