Shakuhachi players of old followed the path of ichion-jobutsu, or "enlightenment in a single tone." the spiritual element of the simple bamboo flute with its notched mouthpiece and five fingerholes is essential to its existence, and part of what led Henry Cowell to refer to it as "the universal flute." Ralph Samuelson's album shares that name and presents remarkably evocative works for the shakuhachi by American composers. The shakuhachi first came to prominence in Japan in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was taken up by a sect of Zen Buddhist monks who used shakuhachi blowing as a core spiritual practice. Ralph Samuelson, who is among the first generation of non-Japanese musicians, was trained in the classical tradition of the Kinko School. He has played an important role in bringing the shakuhachi to the Western world.