Crescent Moon Blues

Nishimatsu Fuei, shamisen and vocals

Produced for highmoonoon by Nishimatsu Fuei.

This CD includes seventeen songs from Edo (1600-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) Japan, and Fuei's original songs in a classical mode.

CD and pamphlet designed by artist Yamaguchi Kenjiro. Inside photograph of Nishimatsu Fuei by Joachim Hiltmann; back cover mylar photo by Ira Cohen. According to Professor Sumie Jones, a leading scholar of Japanese literature, Fuei's world is "subtle, moist, and mesmerizing." Pamphlet includes "shunga" (erotic prints) of the same time period as the songs.

Bilingual (Japanese and English) translations and explanations by John Solt.

Made in Japan (1999).

Click "additional info" for an audio sample.