In the last few weeks since I last posted here, I have been in New York teaching lots, performing some and generally doing a lot of prep work for various upcoming short and long term projects. Notable performances was a show with Kenny Endo, Patrick Graham, On Ensemble and members of Taiko Project at the East Coast Taiko Conference. Besides my usual classes at The Village@Gureje in Brooklyn, my weekly 5 hour commute to and from Wesleyan University, my private lessons (both in person and via skype) and working with my interns Patty and Evan, I've been doing some post-production stuff on an upcoming duo album I recorded with Kenny. We recorded in the summer of 2011 but we are still working on some editing, deciding on titles, album design etc. In coming up with names for pieces which were primarily improvisations, I begin by trying to feel what sort of mood they evoked within me when I listened back. Pondering such things, I found myself looking up mentions of the fue in classical Japanese literature which in turn took me on a much different journey than I had originally set out for. I found myself revisiting such works as Sei Shonagon's Makura No Soushi (The Pillow Book) or Murasaki Shikubu's Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji). Reading the beautiful prose that fills the pages of these novels and imaging the daily lives of the characters that lived over a millennia ago, I try to imagine what THEIR fue sounded like, what sort of tone they were able to get when they played. The young Taira no Atsumori carried a fue onto the battlefield and even died with it on his person when he was beheaded by Kumagai Naozane. It is said that in the evening while all the warriors were resting from the days' fighting, both armies would find comfort in hearing the sound of his fue drifting in from the darkness.
Three things happened the more I read about the events and personalities from the past- one, I wanted to read more. Two, I hoped that through playing the fue, I could somehow channel their voices and keep their legacy alive no matter how seemingly abstracted or distant the connection. Three, thoughts of writing a book, a notion that has been somewhere in the back of my mind for quite some time, re-emerge. The book idea is in response to people who are seeking instruction and information on the fue written in English and people who feel I have a compelling story- a Japanese American kid from St. Louis, MO eventually joining and even acting as one of the leaders of the acclaimed Japanese taiko group Kodo. At the risk of coming across as egotistical in that I feel I have a story worth telling, my primary motivation for writing about my experience is so that I don't forget all the experiences and people that have brought me to where I am today- starting with my parents and continuing with such iconic figures as Tamasaburo and members of Kodo.
Whether this book ever comes about or not, I figure it doesn't hurt to start writing thoughts down, whether regarding my current life or recollections of past experiences. I have been doing some very intermittent writing about some tours I have taken but I haven't spent much time writing about experiences over a year in the past, much less about things that happened over a decade ago.
Mari, my wife suggested I start a blog and then I realized, my website is a blog! It's all right there ready for me to begin in ernest!
In some ways, I consider this the first entry although in many ways I started writing posts in the kodo blog over ten years ago...
Anyway, I always welcome comments and thoughts.
Upcoming Performances
April 16, 30
GO: ORGANIC ORCHESTRA “Murmuration”
MUSIC COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY ADAM RUDOLPH for 40 woodwind, brass, strings, percussion
@NEW Roulette in BROOKLYN
509 Atlantic Ave (at 3rd Ave.)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
$15 admission/Members, students, seniors: $10
Advance tickets: www.roulette.org
April 26th
Workshop/Demonstration@Julliard 8 pm
May 4th
Wesleyan University Taiko Concert
Crowell Concert Hall
7-9 pm
May 5th
Stony Brook Sakura Matsuri
Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center Ensemble
all day event- KWTC taiko performance approx 3:00 pm
http://matsuri.ryushukan.com/
May 10th, 12th
Whitney Bienniel: BLEED
Curated by Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran
Alicia Hall Moran "Motown Project" featuring my mother Ayako Watanabe
KW Ensemble performance
May 20th
2012 12 noon – 7 pm (performance time TBD)
Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble performance at 63rd Annual Satsuki Bazaar & Arts Festival
Kenny Endo (taiko),
Shoko Hikage (koto)
Kaoru Watanabe from New York (bamboo flutes, taiko)
Abe Lagrimas from Los Angeles (drumset, ukulele, percussion)
Chizuko Endo (taiko, percussion)
Berkeley Buddhist Church
2121 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA
June 1st
Imani Uzuri's Gypsy Diaries
Joe's Pub
http://www.joespub.com/component/option,com_artists/task,view/Itemid,40/id,318
June 12th
Chris Dingman/Matt Kilmer/Tim Keiper and me@Zinc Bar
