Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I have met many shakuhachi performers and teachers who credit the Nonesuch Explorer Series record "A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky" (Yamaguchi Goro) with awakening their interest in shakuhachi. I think this recording was responsible in a very large way for the spread of shakuhachi to the west.

The person responsible for this album was, ultimately, Teresa "Tracey" Sterne, the coordinator of the Nonesuch division of Elektra from 1964 to 1979. Under her leadership, Nonesuch put out records that woke up a large young audience to music they'd never otherwise have been able to hear, from contemporary classical to forgotten Americana to early European music to the ethnic recordings of the Explorer Series, started in 1967 with the help of Peter Siegel. Teresa Sterne was a classical pianist with an adventurous appreciation of all kinds of music. For many my age, she provided an education in the vast breadth of musical expression. You could pick up pretty much any Nonesuch album and know that it wouldn't be a dud. Unfortunately putting out so many albums that were daring for the times lost the company money, and she was fired in 1979. Many great musicians protested her firing, but the company stuck with their decision. She died in 2000.

Usually it's musicians we celebrate and record company executives we bemoan, but in this case I think we have a clear example of an executive who was instrumental in the spread of shakuhachi to the west.

Last edited by nyokai (2010-01-04 13:59:31)