Riley Kōho Lee
皇保
Born 1951
Scholar - Shakuhachi
riley@rileylee.net
rileylee.net
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Riley Lee was born in Texas in 1951 of a Chinese father and Caucasian mother. He lived in Japan for over eight years, beginning his shakuhachi studies there in 1971. From 1973 through 1977, he toured internationally as a fulltime performer of taiko (festival drums) and shakuhachi with Ondekoza (now called Kodo), a group of traditional Japanese musicians. In 1980 he became the first non-Japanese to attain the rank of dai shihan (grand master) in the shakuhachi tradition. Riley Lee is a recipient of two of the most revered lineages of shakuhachi playing, descending from the original Zen Buddhist 'priests of nothingness' of Edo Japan. His teachers were Hoshida Ichizan II, Chikuho Sakai II, and Katsuya Yokoyama. Riley completed his BA and MA degrees at the University of Hawai'i, and his PhD degree in ethnomusicology (on the transmission of the Zen Buddhist repertoire of the shakuhachi) at the University of Sydney. He has recorded over 60 albums internationally, many featuring his own compositions. He is fortunate to make his living solely as a full-time professional shakuhachi player, teacher, and scholar. He and his family live on the eastern coast of the continent of Australia and in the islands of Hawai'i. Riley was seen internationally televised ushering in the new millennium on New Year's morning at dawn from the top of the majestic Sydney Opera House - quite an auspicious start for the next 1,000 years for shakuhachi enthusiasts worldwide.
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Teachers Students
Steven Kōchiku Casano Ian Evelyn Cullen 1944 -
Dr James Franklin 1959 - |
Albums
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Alone Solo shakuhachi for relaxation. |
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As the Water Flows Zen-inspired solo shakuhachi. |
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Autumn Field - Yearning for the Bell Volume 4 Volume 4 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Bamboo Grass - Yearning for the Bell Volume 2 Volume 2 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Bamboo Soup Small Defence with Riley Lee |
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Breath-Sight - Yearning for the Bell Volume 1 Volume 1 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Buddha's Dream Re-release of As the Water Flows |
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Bush Clover and the Moon Duets for shakuhachi & synthesizer. With Mike Ryan. |
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Deep Night - Yearning for the Bell Volume 5 Volume 5 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Dream within a Dream Shakuhachi layered with electric sound. Pieces composed by Riley Lee and Jim Franklin. Jim Franklin on synthesizers. |
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Eagle and the Ocean, The A gentle flowing collaboration of shakuhachi and guitar. The shakuhachi "eagle" soars above the guitar "ocean". |
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Empty Bells Traditional Honkyoku |
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Empty Sky - Yearning for the Bell Volume 3 Volume 3 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Evening Under the Sun, An Shakuhachi, bass and percussion combine in an intoxicating mix of original music… |
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Floating World Pieces by Faure, Satie, Debussy, Ravel, Boyd, etc., performed with classical harpist Marshall McGuire. |
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Fountain of Light The meditative voice of the shakuhachi intertwined with a myriad of delicate bell sounds. |
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Haiku (Lee) On the Hula label, a best seller in Hawai'i. New and classics all with great harmonies. Also featuring the slack key guitar of Jeff Peterson. |
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Japanese Music for Two Shakuhachi Duets and Solos by Riley Lee and Ralph Samuelson |
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Japanese Traditional Music For Two Shakuhachi |
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Lightning Man Matthew Doyle, didgeridoo, Riley Lee, shakuhachi and Michael Atherton, percussion. |
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Masters of Calm, The - Volume 1 Country-blues Guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, Colin Wilson, spent over seven months with Zen flute (shakuhachi) Grand Master, Dr Riley Lee in the production of the Masters of Calm, Volume 1. All pieces on this disk were composed by Colin Wilson and Riley Lee. |
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Maui Morning |
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Memories of Japan Folk melodies of old Japan. |
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Memories of My Home |
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Mixed Spice An upbeat Indian flavour with tabla and sitar. |
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Mountain Valley Traditional Zen solo pieces recorded in the Jenolan Caves. |
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Music for Zen Meditation - 1 |
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Music for Zen Meditation - 2 |
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Nalu Shakuhachi and folk harp interwoven with ocean sounds. |
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Nesting of the Cranes Classical duets for the shakuhachi recorded in the Jenolan Caves. Riley Lee with Andrew MacGregor and others. |
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Oriental Sunrise Improvisatory duets for shakuhachi & koto. |
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Phoenix Crying - Yearning for the Bell Volume 6 Volume 6 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Phoenix Crying - Yearning for the Bell Volume 6 Volume 6 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Picture Dreams Riley and Satsuki Odamura play their favourite shakuhachi and koto duets. |
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Postcards From Bundanon The best of Riley Lee with a new live recording with Matthew Doyle on digeridoo. |
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Rainforest Reverie Solo shakuhachi intertwined with the natural sounds of the rainforest. |
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Riley Lee Compilation Volume 1 A collection of Riley's favourite pieces taken from his New World Productions CDs. |
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Riley Lee Compilation Volume 2 Featuring Bird Wing by Frances White and Riley's piece Being Time plus more favourites from the New World CDs. |
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Sanctuary - Music From a Zen Garden Improvisatory duets for shakuhachi & koto. |
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Satori Shakuhachi & koto duets. |
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Sea Drift |
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Searching - Yearning for the Bell Volume 7 Volume 7 of the 7 volume "Yearning for the Bell" series. |
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Shakuhachi Honkyoku Special Smithsonian-Folkways reissue complete with liner notes. |
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Shoalhaven Rise Original compositions for shakuhachi and a wide variety of ethnic percussion, strings and wind instruments. |
| Smithsonian Folkways - Shakuhachi Honkyoku | |
| Songs of Hildegard : Divine Secrets Songs composed by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) performed as shakuhachi solo pieces. | |
| Songs of Hildegard : Noble Greenness Songs composed by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) performed as shakuhachi solo pieces. | |
| Songs of Hildegard : Wisdom Songs composed by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) performed as shakuhachi solo pieces. | |
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Spring Sea Beguiling melodies for shakuhachi and concert harp. |
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Taiko no Sekai A collection of live recordings from 1998-1999 |
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Train to Okinawa |
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Voices of the Night Shakuhachi accompanied by lutes, drums and other instruments. Recorded in the Jenolan Caves. |
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Waiting for the Angels |
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Water Music Solo shakuhachi recorded in the Sydney Centennial Park Reservoir. These meditations are traditional Zen in spirit. |
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Wild Honey Dreaming The shakuhachi and the didjeridu combine to create haunting images of the Centre of Australia and its people. |
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Yoga Tranquility |
Publications
| Title | Kanji | Publisher | Year | Pages | Language |
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| Blowing Zen: Aspects of Performance Practices of the Chikuho Ryu Honkyoku |
Master of Arts, University of Hawaii | 1986 | 342 | English | |
| Fu Ho U vs. Do Re Mi: The Technology of Notation Systems and Implications of Change in the Shakuhachi Tradition of Japan |
Asian Music 19, no. 2 | 1988 | 71-81 | ||
| Ondekoza de fuku [Playing with Ondekoza] |
Kikan Hogaku 8 | 1976 | 92-97 | ||
| Review of Die Shakuhachi der Kinko-Schule by Andreas Gutzwiller. (With Gerald Groemer) |
Ethnomusicology 30, no. 2 | 1986 | 353-355 | ||
| Review of The Shakuhachi: A Manual For Learning by Christopher Yohmei Blasdel and Yuko Kamisango |
Ethnomusicology 34, no. 1 | 1990 | 179-181 | ||
| Shakuhachi Honkyoku Notation: Written Sources in an Oral Tradition |
Musica Asiatica 6 | 1991 | 18-35 | ||
| Shakuhachi: Shaping the Soul of Bamboo |
Kansai Action, Sept. 27 | 1974 | pp. 1,5,14 | ||
| The Heike Monogatari, The Shakuhachi Honkyoku, and Theories of Orality. |
15 | English | |||
| Yearning For The Bell: A Study of Transmission in the Shakuhachi Honkyoku Tradition |
Doctorate Dissertation, University of Sydney | 1993 |