Following the 1982 dissolution of
Japan, the group's onetime frontman David Sylvian staked out a far-ranging and esoteric career that encompassed not only solo projects but also a series of fascinating collaborative efforts and forays into filmmaking, photography, and modern art. Born David Batt in Kent, England, on February 23, 1958, Sylvian formed
Japan in 1974 and served as primary singer/songwriter throughout the group's eight-year existence. Just prior to
Japan's breakup, Sylvian began working with composer
Ryuichi Sakamoto, with whom he released the single "Bamboo Houses" in 1982, marking the beginning of a longstanding musical relationship.
After 1983's "Forbidden Colours," another joint effort with
Sakamoto composed for the film
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Sylvian released his 1984 solo debut,
Brilliant Trees. The first step in his music's evolution from
Japan's post-glam synth pop into richly textured, poetic ambience, the album featured contributions from
Sakamoto as well as
Jon Hassell and
Can alumnus
Holger Czukay. That year, Sylvian also published his first book of photographs, Perspectives: Polaroids 82/84; in 1985, he released
Preparations for the Journey, a documentary filmed in and around Tokyo, as well as the EP
Words With the Shaman.
Gone to Earth, an ambitious double LP recorded with assistance from
Robert Fripp and
Bill Nelson, followed in 1986, while 1987 marked the release not only of the beautiful
Secrets of the Beehive album but also the book collection Trophies: The Lyrics of David Sylvian. At the same time, he began composing the score for modern dancer Gaby Abis' Kin, which premiered at London's Almeida Theater that September; another collaboration with Abis, Don't Trash My Altar, Don't Alter My Trash, bowed in November 1988. Also in 1988, Sylvian reunited with
Holger Czukay for the instrumental LP
Plight and Premonition; the duo re-teamed in 1989 for
Flux + Mutability.
Ember Glance: The Permanence of Memory, an installation of sculpture, sound, and light created by Sylvian and
Russell Mills, was staged in Tokyo Bay, Shinagawa, in 1990; a year later, he and the other members of
Japan, who had briefly reunited under the name
Rain Tree Crow, issued a self-titled album.
In 1994, Sylvian emerged in tandem with
Robert Fripp for both an album,
The First Day, and
Redemption, another sound-and-image installation exhibited in Japan. The superb
Dead Bees on a Cake followed in 1999;
Approaching Silence, a collection of instrumental material, appeared later that fall. In fall 2000 Sylvian returned with the double-disc
Everything and Nothing, which made for an excellent introduction to some of Sylvian's projects that had finally taken shape after composition completion, financial settlements, and time constraints throughout his solo career. He reappeared in 2003 with
Blemish, an unsettling disc of new material featuring appearances by avant guitar legend
Derek Bailey and electronica experimentalist
Christian Fennesz.
Proving once again that some of his most beautiful pieces come when he is paying tribute to someone, Redbird, a tribute to the artist Agnes Martin, is a work of ambient and minimalist grace. The album consists of two pieces: a shorter percussive piece called "Dark River," and a 41-minute work for harp, viola, cello and percussion called "Redbird." Each conveys a hypnotic quality that does justice to its subject. Martin is an incredibly spiritual artist, whose minimal gestures on canvas and paper exude auras of calm. Redbird captures that sense in music and, in its continuity, becomes one of Zorn's most effective tributes. As always, Zorn has managed to collect a group of extremely talented musicians, and their execution of this album makes it even more perfect.
