[Pet Health Admin]

Customer Review: Koto Pleasantries (and occasional surprises)
The last time John Zorn's Tzadik label released a solo koto album was back in 1998, with Yagi Michiyo's firey, avant-garde 'Shizuku'. Anyone expecting more of the same here, though, will be in for a disappointment - 'Jumping Rabbit' has to be one of the "nicest" albums Zorn and co have ever released. Almost too much so, in places: there's something just a little too New Age-ish about 'Fly Away' and 'Dreams', while the wide-eyed childlike vocals on 'Moon Park' and 'Paper Airplane' are, to put it mildly, a bit of an acquired taste. Fortunately, there's a bit of tension elsewhere: the jaunty, off-kilter blurts of 'Jumping Rabbit' and cyclical figures of 'Charm Music Box' are as musically adventurous as they are technically impressive. Ditto the likes of 'Midnight Forest' and 'Red + Balloon', although it's hard not to wish that they'd been fleshed-out a little beyond their meager running times.


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