Thanks everyone who came out to my last minute performance with two amazing musicians, Matt Garrison and Arto Tuncboyaciyan at the Shapeshifter Lab.
TONIGHT!!!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 8:00PM
Camille Brown & Dancers at Central Park Summerstage
Along with selections from her exciting repertoire, Camille A. Brown & Dancers will unite with vocalist and composer, Imani Uzuri, as they premiere a work set to music from Uzuri’s new album, The Gypsy Diaries, which will be performed live with Uzuri's band members, including Kaoru Watanabe (flute).
Rumsey Playfield, on E. 72nd St off 5th Ave, New York, NY. 6 train to 68th Street.
http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/calendar/camille-a-brown-dancers-with-special-musical-guest-imani-uzuri-malcolm-low-formal-structure-inc-special-guest-dancin-downtown-at-the-joyce-contest-winner/
THURSDAYS THROUGH SUNDAYS, 8:00 pm
BAAL by Bertolt Brecht - part of the 2012 underground zero festival. A Hoi Palloi production
@JACK
505 1/2 Waverly Ave between Fulton and Atlantic, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. (C or G train to Clinton-Washington)
Performances are pay-what-you-can at the door, with no advance reservations possible.
Adult content — not suitable for children under 17.
http://www.jackny.org/
nice writeup here: http://newyorktheatrereview.blogspot.com/2012/07/catherine-mueller-on-hoi-pollois-baal.html
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2nd, 8:00 pm
(sittin' in with*) Mathias Kunzli @ THE STONE
the corner of Avenue C and 2nd st
*I think this is a secret. Perhaps I shouldn't have posted this?
SUNDAY, AUGUST 5th, 5:30 pm
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Annual Memorial Interfaith Gathering
together with "Voices from Japan: Despair and Hope from Disaster"
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Ave at 112th St
Interfaith Ceremony (performances by Shinji Hirada and Kaoru Watanabe)
http://voices-from-japan.org
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10th, 7:00 pm TAIKO WORKSHOP/ 9:15 pm PERFORMANCE (with Patrick Graham and Barbara Merjan)
2525 Rachel East
Montreal, Canada
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11th, 4:30pm and 10:15pm
Patrick Graham Ensemble Avec Kaoru Watanabe
Festival des Traditions du Monde de Sherbrooke
with Barbara Merjan
http://ftms.ca/en/programme/patrick-graham-ensemble-avec-kaoru-watanabe/
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 10:00 pm
PROJECT FUKUSHIMA! NYC — A benefit for Japan
Kaoru Watanabe (fue, taiko) Shanir Blumenkranz (bass, oud) Yuka (voice, taishogoto, ukulele, electronics)
Pet Bottle Ningen: Dave Scanlon (guitar) Nonoko Yoshida (sax) Dave Miller (drums)
Aya Nishina + Miho Hatori’s NEW OPTIMISM: Miho Hatori (vocal) Timo Ellis (bass) Shoko Nagai (key) Ahmed Gallab (drums) Aya Nishina (piano)
The benefit marathon concert in NYC hosted by three bands (20 minutes each) dedicates all its proceeds to “Project FUKUSHIMA!” in Japan.
PROJECT FUKUSHIMA WEBSITE— http://www.pj-fukushima.jp/index.html
Special Notes from Otomo Yoshihide and Ryoichi Wago: On August 15 we will hold a festival in Fukushima. We will organize numerous events before and after the festival, and carry out projects in and out of Fukushima under the name Fukushima! for a continuous and long-term basis.
After the disaster, Japan was faced not just with the damage from the earthquake and the tsunami, but also with the accident at a nuclear power plant for which solutions are nowhere in sight. Some may feel that this is no time for holding a festival, given that many people are faced with the potential loss of their hometowns, schoolyards are unusable due to elevated radiations levels, and many evacuees are not allowed to go back to their own homes. But we have not given up on Fukushima by any means. Even if some places have been made uninhabitable, we want to believe in Fukushima’s rebirth. That is why we need a festival. We need music. We need a place where people can gather to converse. We need hope, a motivation to live. In order to prevent Fukushima from being forgotten, and to retain Fukushima’s connection with the outside world, we want to make the festival a stepping-stone for the future. —Otomo Yoshihide
We are Fukushima. We won’t give up on Fukushima. The light of Fukushima, the clouds of Tohoku, the history, the lives, the kindheartedness, the fathers and mothers, the Abukuma river, the twinkling of the stars, the smiles of children… we believe in all those “Fukushimas”. 3.11. In order to seize “Fukushima” back from that day, we shall come together in the middle of August to make a declaration to the world. We will not give up our dreams, we will not give up on ourselves, we will not give up on Fukushima, we will not give up on Japan. Let us look up to the blue skies of Fukushima. To the light and the clouds and the lives. To father sky. To mother earth. In the fields of Fukushima, in the grounds of Fukushima, for the heartbeat of Fukushima, for you, we will be waiting. —Ryoichi Wago
