Ace Yamashita | Dhamma | NA1036

Dhamma Ace Yamashita, Guitar

Yamashita gives a solo guitar performance where he mixes his sensitive style of Western playing with aural images of the Orient. it is a totally improvised session that finds him in a reflective, introspective mood. No titles are provided, but each selection is an intricate investigation into the soul of the songs and the man. He alters the course by playing in either single tone fragments or full clusters of notes. You get the feeling that Yamashita is sinking deeply into the bowels of the tunes, caught in an eddy and swirling around with the notes that are spinning in his brain. The pace is not galloping, allowing Yamashita to be tender and emotive while he contemplates the direction of the tunes.

On the back glossy sleeve in almost indiscernable print is the statement, “It doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t exist because the humans couldn’t see it. It doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t exist because the humans couldn’t hear it.”That type of enlightened thinking seems to relate to how Yamashita approaches music, and probably life. There are subtleties in his playing that must be brought out by the listener, yet they are present just the same. There are also some very overt statments that require no translation. Yamashita appears to be tying the ancient with the modern with his meditative playing, relating his Japanese ancestry to the current times. Ignoring the deeper philosophical meaning and concentrating strictly on the music, this is a very fine solo guitar album with seductive sonic qualities. It has trance-inducing effects, but mostly it is a solid example of the improvisatory process by a very serious musician — Frank Rubolino

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