Ito, Teiji – “Tenno” – [Tzadik]

abacus   7/5/2011   A Library, CD

Teiji Ito (’35-’82) was born of a theatrical family and is considered one of the first “downtown New York” composers. He started his career writing, performing and recording (in his NY studio) film scores for his first wife Maya Deren and later travelled with her to Haiti to study percussion in Haitian Vodoun rituals. Mix this with African rhythms, traditional Japanese instrumentation and structure and finally throw in some electronic overdubs and tape manipulations for a mystical, primitive, colorful drama that expertly blends tension and release.