Kazu Matsui - 'The Stone Monkey'

Usually a performer on soundtracks and a producer on wife Keiko Matsui's albums, Kazu Matsui is an able shakuhachi player in his own right. On The Stone Monkey he plays with the genres a bit, mixing his shakuhachi with breakbeats and electronic keyboards. The result is on the order of tribal beats, with some new age aspects and some worldbeat aspects. The music can verge on the trippy from time to time, but the mix is held pretty tight by Matsui, making this an interesting addition to the collection of anyone listening to worldbeat (or a Keiko Matsui fan looking for an original context for her playing). Adam Greenberg [AMG]