Asia Beauty

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       August 10, 2015

 

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Ron Korb has a deep and intrinsic love of Asia which is reflected in each of the pieces created and presented in such a delicate and timeless manner. Each piece reaches out softly to touch the listener with the mysterious, joyful and intermingling sounds which has and always will be Asia in its glorious, ancient mystery.

Using an interesting collection of instruments, such as the dizi, flute, guitar, violin, erhu and piano to name just a few, blended together he has created a sound as timeless as the culture he so enjoys and loves.

The first track ‘Hanoi Café is a wonderful potpourri of sounds and flavours which are descriptive of the very many influences which, over the years of various cultures living, trekking or sailing to any one of the many ports, created in its day, a wonderful, romantic overlay to the old way of life and culture.

The journey begins, as does the rest of the album which uses a tale written by Ron Korb some years ago to tell the story of good and bad, richness and poverty, joy and the triumph of good over evil, symbolic of so much in Asian folkloric.

The up-tempo piece ‘Children’s Jig’ will have you tapping your foot and wanting to join in with the dancers celebrating the joy of being able to while away the time with music and dance.

Each of the pieces conveys a segment of the tale such as ‘Magic Sleep’ which weaves the spell with the blending of five different instruments to create a space or place of suspended animation.

The haunting tones of the dadi present themselves in ‘The Reed Cave’, an ancient and beautiful cave in Guangxi Province in China. In the little booklet which accompanies the album Korb explains the significance of the cave which in turn is reflective of the piece written to express this beauty.

Each of the compositions, while individual, combines to bring a rich and intimate window that draws the traveller into the wonderful kaleidoscopic world that is Asia.

A bonus to the album is a booklet telling the tale of the ‘Jade Dragon Flute and The House of Five Beauties’, which he originally wrote in Shanghai. The photography accompanying the words adds a visual dimension which takes you one step further into the realms which show the diversity and romance that can still be found wherever you may travel throughout Asia.

Beautiful, delicate and intriguing you will find yourself listening to ‘Asia Beauty’ over and over again, being transported into the mystic that somehow never seems to leave the orient; it simply beckons you to return again and again.