by Bruno DeschênesThis double album by the great Japanese shakuhachi master Katsuya Yokoyama was originally recorded in 1976 by RCA Records Japan, to be re-released in 1982 and again in 1998 by the German Wergo label. This is surely one of the most -- if not the most -- significant and impressive records by Yokoyama that has been distributed in the West. It is a collection of great masterworks for solo shakuhachi, except for the first piece on the first CD, "Shika No Tône," which is played in a duet with Katsuya's father (also a shakuhachi master and his first teacher) Ranpo Yokoyama. With this double album, listeners get a most authentic expression of the meditation music that is so typical of Japanese Zen thinking. It is probably the most appropriate music for meditation, all the more so if the playing is by Yokoyama.