***ALAN WATTS (1915-1973) is one of the most beloved interpreters of Eastern thought. For more than forty years, Watts introduced the Western world to the full range of Eastern philosophies and arts, all filtered through his buoyant personality and charm. His life and work reflect an astonishing adventure. There remain few treats as wonderful and lively as this, one of three records originally put out on the Sausalito based MEA label. Haiku and its companion release, Zen and Senryu, hold the truly unique position of documenting a poetic form (Haiku), philosophy (Zen) and Satire (Senryu) through both lecture and stunning performance. Both discs feature the instantaneous Japanese translations by Sumire Hasegawa Jacobs to the spare musical accompaniment of Vince Delgado, Robert Garfias and Henry Jacobs. This brilliant tension between Watts’ self assured delivery and Hasegawa's urgent cries, makes both Haiku and Zen and Senryu two essential documents for admirerers of Watts’ rich personality, Eastern thought, and the heavy ways of 1960s counterculture.