Best of Kitaro

Watching the Grammy award winning New Age fave Kitaro noodle his away around repetitious one-finger triplet phrases (da-do-de, da-do-de, repeat) on the keyboard in this "best of" concert drawn from four different performances, I realized that I hadn't seen so much beatific intensity on the face of a minimalist composer since Philip Glass expanded his repertoire to include a fifth note. With a mere 39 albums under his belt, Kitaro, whose ethereal melodies are produced on a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional instruments, finds his inspiration in nature and the worldwide cultural melting pot (as we learn in an accompanying interview). Here, Kitaro and a versatile back-up band on violin, drums, guitar, harp, and more, play 13 instrumentals (with wordless ritualistic skits occasionally added resembling bad performance art). Highlights include the TV and motion picture soundtrack cuts from "Silk Road" and "Heaven and Earth," as well as "Koi" and "Kokoro." Presented in room-encompassing Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, Best of Kitaro should be a hit with fans of the K man, and is recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)