Ganryu Island is an album by John Zorn

John Zorn

John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...

 featuring improvisations with Sato Michihiro. The album was first released on vinyl LP on Yukon Records in 1984 and later re-released on Tzadik Records

Tzadik Records

Tzadik Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by the eclectic composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995; Zorn is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases...

 as a CD with five additional tracks in 1998.

The album is titled after Ganryujima

Ganryujima

' is an island in Japan located between Honshū and Kyūshū, and accessible via ferry from Shimonoseki Harbor . It is famous for the duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō...

, a small island off the coast of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 where legendary samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 warriors Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age...

 and Sasaki Kojiro

Sasaki Kojiro

was a prominent Japanese swordsman widely considered as a Kensei, born in Fukui Prefecture. He lived during the Sengoku and early Edo periods and is most remembered for his death while battling Miyamoto Musashi in 1612.-History:...

 engaged in battle.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Joslyn Layne awarded the album 4 stars stating "The great, no-holds-barred improvisation is by no means an inchoate whirl -- indeed, the shamisen's rhythmic presence often provides a steady, but flexible structure for the duo's truly imaginative interaction".

Track listing

1. "Ryukyu Heishi" - 6:12
2. "Haguregumo" - 14:14
3. "Two Ronin" - 3:53
4. "Kagemusha" - 10:37
5. "Odori Dayu" - 5:31
6. "Ganryu Island" - 11:11
7. "Yoshiwara Kaidan" - 3:27
8. "Natsu Matsuri" - 5:31 Bonus track on CD
9. "Giri" - 5:29 Bonus track on CD
10. "Yonaka No Hatashiai" - 2:07 Bonus track on CD
11. "Uma No Koku" - 2:39 Bonus track on CD
12. "Tsugaru Bushido" - 4:33 Bonus track on CD

All compositions by John Zorn and Satoh Michihiro

• Recorded in New York City on November 23, 1984

Personnel

• John Zorn
  John Zorn
  John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
  
  : Alto And Soprano Saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  s, Bb Clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  , Game Calls, E-flat Clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  
• Sato Michihiro: Shamisen
  Shamisen
  The , also called is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually "shamisen" but sometimes "jamisen" when used as a suffix . -Construction:The shamisen is a plucked stringed instrument...