FRANCO IMPERIAL workshop at KWTC

Hello friends,

This coming Sunday the 10th, a friend Franco Imperial from San Jose Taiko will be teaching a workshop at the KWTC from 4 to 6 pm.  San Jose Taiko is one of the oldest and most established taiko groups (est 1973) in North America.  Franco is one of the leading figures in the group and has offered to work on anything "from relaxation to grooving to chops exercises on small or large drum". Please visit SJT's website to see what they are about at www.taiko.org

If you would like to come, please RSVP with "Franco workshop" as the subject and please write if you have requests for what kind of workshop.  The fee for this workshop will be $35 for everyone.

Bella Gaia as part of APAP January 9th

As part of Earthsync's presence at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference (APAP) taking over New York, BELLA GAIA will be performed in its Ensemble version, with the following world class artists:

Kenji Williams - Violin Kaoru Watanabe - Fue, Flute, Taiko Lale Sayoko - Oriental Dance Tamango Vancayseele - Spoken Word Yumi Kurosawa - Koto Brahim Fribgane - Oud & Percussion Patrick Graham - Percussion

BELLA GAIA starts at 7pm , followed by shows by Katrick & Gotam, Smadar Levi Saturday 9th January 2010 Drom, 85 Ave A (b/w 5th & 6th). Lower East Side, NYC Tel.: (212) 777 1157 www.dromnyc.com 6:00PM Doors open Entry $10 in advance, $15 at the door Free entry with APAP badge

Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center Update

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Happy New Year!

Kotoshi mo Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu. Here's to another year of working together!

2009 brought us many wonderful things: a couple ha-pyoukai, a new children's class, many great guest workshop leaders- Yoshikazu and Yoko Fujimoto (from Kodo), Ryouta Kataoka (a blind professional taiko player), Takumi Kato (All Japan Odaiko champion), Tetsuro Naito (formerly of Kodo), Kenny Endo, Shoji Kameda (On Ensemble), Tamango (tap dancer) as well as great insight and dedication by drill leaders Barbara, Alice and Malika. Over the year we've had many new students and friends as well as the occasional out-of-towner or upper-west-sider who can't make it out to Brooklyn on a regular basis.

I also saw great growth in many students- people really developing stronger form, power and conviction, a deeper understanding of rhythm and understanding of the music and culture where the music is from. For 2010, we plan on: having even more guest instructors, more focus on repertoire and performance technique, get more drums, improve on equipment and the facilities, offer more types of classes. Also, we now have fiscal sponsorship, meaning we will be able to apply for grants and receive tax deductible donations. In other words, as the school grows, the potential for the students to grow increases and vice versa.

In order to support these new activities, starting February 1st 2010, there will be an annual $20 fee to be a member of KWTC. Members are offered discounted rates to take taiko classes/guest workshops, admission to various performances, to receive the weekly e-update with new rhythms, class reviews, video links and clips, etc as well as receive a KWTC t-shirt. College student discount available.

Fee list KWTC member annual fee $20 first time trial class (for non-members) $20 single class (for member) $30 single class (non member) $35 10 class package adult $250 10 class package children $130 guest workshop fee for members $30 guest workshop for non members $40 t-shirt (adult and children) $15 bachi $10

KWTC SCHEDULE Jan 3rd (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 6th (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 10 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 13 (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 17 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 20 (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 24 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 27 (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 31 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class)

Where: Renate Albertsen-Marton Gallery - The Village@Gureje (enter through the clothing boutique) 886 Pacific Street Brooklyn, NY 11238 (Btw. Underhill Ave and Washington Aves in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) C or G to Clinton Washington, or 2,3,4,5,B,D,N,Q,R,W to Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. To call for directions: 718 857 2522 $30 per class, $250 for 10 classes $15 for one children's class, $130 for 10 classes $20 for 1st trial class Please note: these fees apply whether I am teaching or not.

Greetings from San Francisco

I've been spending wonderful quality time with family and friends and doing lots of holiday eating. A belated thank you so much for those of you who came to my two Bo-NenKai last week- Bella Gaia at Drom, where Shanir, Lale, Bala, Tomas, Yumi and Kenji amazing, as well as the party we had at the KW Taiko Center, where everybody contributed greatly with food, drinks, their drumming and their energy. Please click here for a slide show of photos taken by Dan Ichimoto.

DECEMBER ACTIVITIES

I hope everyone is staying warm and dry as we head into that joyously unpleasant New York winter. First of all, thanks to so many of you out there who helped me in my search for a new place. Just moved in to a new place in Prospect Heights. Expect a housewarming party in the coming months. In the meantime, I have a few performances coming up. It would be wonderful to see you all before the year's end! Please scroll down to see more info about each.

TONIGHT! Dec 5th 8 pm Alicia Hall Moran + Gordon Voidwell The Kitchen 512 W 19th st (btwn 10th and 11th ave) http://www.thekitchen.org

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Dec 6th Special taiko workshop in Manhattan! 2 to 4 pm @DROM $20 per person (for first time participants) $5 pair of bachi (sticks) $15 Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center t-shirt

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Dec 9th 10:30 pm NakaNaka presenst: Sanble* DROM 85 Avenue A New York, NY 10009 www.dromnyc.com $10 in advance, $12 at the door

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Dec 12th 8:00pm with On Ensemble in Los Angeles December 12, 2009, The Miles Memorial Playhouse 1130 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Tickets: $25 available online at: Brown Paper Tickets or by phone at: 1-800-838-3006

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Dec 18th (fri) NakaNaka presents: BoNenKai! performance / Bella Gaia Live ensemble DROM (see above) 7:00 doors open 7:30 pm BoNenKai Performance! featuring Kaoru Watanabe, Tomas Fujiwara and members of the Bella Gaia Ensemble 8:00 pm BELLA GAIA Live Ensemble - "A Poetic Vision of Earth from Space"

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Dec 20 (sun) 6 pm Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center: BO-NENKAI FREE!! but please RSVP Renate Albertsen-Marton Gallery - The Village@Gureje (enter through the clothing boutique) 886 Pacific Street Brooklyn, NY 11238 (Btw. Underhill Ave and Washington Aves in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) C or G to Clinton Washington, or 2,3,4,5,B,D,N,Q,R,W to Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. To call for directions: 718 857 2522

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ROOMMATE SEARCH finally, I'm looking for someone to move into my old room in Williamsburg: Withers St., 2nd floor walkup (there is 1 apartment on each floor), a 6 minute walk from the Graham stop off the L (3rd stop into Brooklyn). It takes about half an hour to get to midtown from here, 15 to the east village 2 roommates two female, non-smokers $750 rent (with $750 deposit) Utilities are gas & electric and high speed internet, and come out to around $50-$60 a month The kitchen, living room, and bathroom are all very clean There is a dry cleaner/laundromat on one corner and a cute new cafe on the other one. Grocery stores, video rental, and lots of restaurants, vintage stores, and a boutique are all a few blocks away Available Dec 15th (1/2 month's rent for December), but we are also open to a new roommate moving in January 1 Showing now!

last minute appearance as part of On Ensemble Presents: Works In Progress ’09

On Ensemble Presents: Works In Progress ’09 A concert of all new works featuring Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer

Witness the debut of On Ensemble music! New instruments join the On Ensemble mix, including gamelan gongs and home-made electronic drums, in never-before-seen compositions by each of the group’s members. Artistic risk-taking and experimentation lead the way in On Ensemble’s most important performance of the year. With special guests Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer (Maz and Shoji’s first teachers) of Shasta Taiko and David Wells!

December 12, 2009, 8:00pm The Miles Memorial Playhouse 1130 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Tickets: $25 available online at: Brown Paper Tickets or by phone at: 1-800-838-3006

NakaNaka presents: BoNenKai! performance / Bella Gaia Live ensemble

Dec 18th (fri)DROM 7:00 doors open 7:30 pm BoNenKai Performance! featuring Kaoru Watanabe, Tomas Fujiwara and members of the Bella Gaia Ensemble 8:00 pm BELLA GAIA Live Ensemble - "A Poetic Vision of Earth from Space"

Come celebrate the closing of 2009, NakaNaka style. Kaoru will be leading an ensemble of musician friends in a joyous celebration of a year's worth of laughter and pain, love and hate, and the spiraling nosedive of the world's economy, featuring the sounds of taiko drums, the koto, and a wide assortment of western and other eastern instruments.

Following BoNenKai! will be a special screening of BELLA GAIA (Beautiful Earth). This extraordinary film successfully simulates space flight, is a 'Living Atlas' multimedia journey of our world, and expresses the deeply moving beauty of planet Earth as seen through the eyes of astronauts. Created by award winning director and classically trained violinist Kenji Williams, and in collaboration with NASA, BELLA GAIA(TM) features live performances by Williams and such musicians as Kaoru (flutes and taiko), Yumi Kurosawa (koto), Shanir Blumenkrantz (bass, oud), Lale Sayoko (belly dance) and A.R. Balaskandan (mridangam, kanjira and violin) against a large-screen backdrop of orbiting visualizations of Earth from space.

more info and clips of this amazing film here: bellagaia.com

Special taiko workshop in Manhattan!

Dec 6th 2 to 4 pm @DROM For this one day only, I will bringing my taiko (Japanese drumming) class from Brooklyn to the East Village. Expect to be moving your body in ways you never have before, engaging muscles you didn't think you had, and getting a taste of the discipline, joy and energizing group spirit that comes with playing taiko. $20 per person (for first time participants) $5 pair of bachi (sticks) $15 Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center t-shirt

performance with Alicia Hall Moran

TONIGHT! (sorry for the last minute...)Dec 5th 8 pm Alicia Hall Moran + Gordon Voidwell We had a great first show last night. Alicia is an amazing singer who for this performance incorporates the emotional depths and dramatic narratives of both opera and Motown. With Tarus Mateen on bass, Thomas Flippin on classical guitar, Clare Bathe on additional vocals and myself on taiko. The Kitchen 512 W 19th st (btwn 10th and 11th ave) http://www.thekitchen.org

NakaNaka presents: Sanble* Dec 9th at 10:30 pm

I will be performing with Sanble again at Drom.  This is a fantastic group of dancers and musicans.

Nov 16th Princeton University Taiko/Fue workshop lecture

JAPANESE TAIKO DRUM WORKSHOP

Monday, November 16, at 1:30pm

McAlpin Rehearsal Hall, basement, Woolworth Center

In this workshop, you will learn about the training of a professional taiko ensemble and the role of the various drums; you will then try your own hands at playing in a taiko drum ensemble.

What is Taiko?

Taiko drums have been played since ancient times and are featured in traditional Japanese musics such as gagaku court music and noh theater.  However, the modern Japanese taiko drum ensemble emerged in postwar Japan when musicians began experimenting with taiko for performances outside the context of festivals and rituals. Over subsequent decades, taiko ensembles developed into a genre of "new" folk performance; they have gained popularity both in Japan and in Asian communities in North America and elsewhere.

One of the foremost taiko ensembles in the world is Kodo of Sado Island. Founded in 1981, the group has given over 3,100 performances on five continents and spends a third of the year touring overseas. Group members are selected following a competitive multi-stage audition and rigorous two-year apprenticeship.

Ensemble taiko drumming is distinguished by tight group choreography—with exaggerated arm movements, acrobatic leaps, and other physical movements—as well as the speed of the rhythm and the power of the sound the drumming produces.

The Instructor:

Kaoru Watanabe trained and performed with the Kodo taiko ensemble (1998–2006), with which he toured internationally and for which he acted as artistic director of the music festival Earth Celebration (2005) on Sado Island, Japan. With Kodo, he worked with masters of the Japanese arts, including the calligrapher Koji Kakinuma and the kabuki actor Tamasaburo, as well as international luminaries such as Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hildago, and Carlos Nunez.

Watanabe currently teaches Japanese and western flute; manages and teaches at the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center; curates NakaNaka, a performance series inspired by Japanese culture, at Drom in New York City; and performs in Adam Rudolph's Go: Organic Orchestra, RESONANCE, KATARU, EV, and the Khoomei-Taiko Ensemble, among other projects. Watanabe received his BA in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music and has performed and recorded with Stefon Harris and Jason Moran on Blue Note Records.

Space for participants is limited.

Please RSVP to Noriko Manabe at nmanabe@yahoo.com to reserve space.

Additional participants are welcome to observe.

Nov 14th (sat)DROM Reflections In Time- contemporary music for koto/fue/taiko

8 pm Kaoru Watanabe and Yumi Kurosawa will present new compositions and improvisations on the 21 string koto, the shinobue, noh kan, western flute and taiko.

www.watanabekaoru.com www.myspace.com/yumikurosawakoto

9 pm

Kaoru will be leading a taiko jam session- he will be teaching some very simple rhythms for people to try (beginners welcome!)- less dealing with technique, more drunken revelry!

$10 admission- free for students of the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center

photo by Anna Rozhdestvenskaya

Patrick Graham's Rheo voted top 13 for 2009

The CBC Radio II show 'the Signal' has voted Patrick Graham's Rheo as part of it's Top 13 picks for 2009!!  This CD culminated in a live performance in Montreal about a year ago that featured Patrick, the dancer Tomomi Morimoto, the incredible hurly gurdy player Ben Grossman and myself.  Look for it on iTunes and elsewhere... check out the post: http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/thesignal/2009/10/13/from_top_ten_to_bakers_dozen.html

TWO shows this weekend (LAST MINUTE)

Nov 7th (sat)

DROM

8 pm

$8 (free for students of the KWTC)

85 Ave A (between 5th and 6th st- below Takahachi)

For the 1st set, the wonderful koto player Yumi Kurosawa and I will be doing new music for koto, fue and taiko.  For the 2nd, taiko workshop/ jam session- I will be giving a workshop on simple taiko piece- not so much technique but just rhythm and lots of sweat!  Although there may be only one or two of us there, believe me, it will be a party!

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Nov 8th (sun)

Monkeytown

9:20 (second group out of four)

58 N 3rd st

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

$10 admission, $10 minimum

I will be performing in a very special presentation of Kenji Williams' Bella Gaia featuring the artistry of Dana Leong (cello/trombone), Yumi Kurosawa (20 string koto) and Deep Singh (tabla, percussion and electronics), Kenji (violin) and myself on Japanese and western flutes and taiko.

Kenji has created a stunning, state-of-the-art computer animated film which gives viewers a scientifically accurate (using actual data from NASA) depiction of what it's like to fly over the Earth while displaying natural and man-made phenomena (forest fires, the flight paths of satellites, the changing of the seasons, carbon levels, etc) using creative and beautiful graphics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMsJsePo6OI

Different regions of the world will be featured both visually and musically as the musicians interacting intimately with the film.

The venue Monkeytown- an intimate space with the four walls compromising of towering screens- will very literally engulf the audience in sound and moving images.  Although we plan on performing Bella Gaia in larger venues later, this may be one of the more interesting places to experience the show!

This performance will be a part of a long presentation of other bands both before and after.  With Bella Gaia going on second around 9:20pm.  I strongly recommend coming for dinner and drinks!

KTE tour finished!

Oct 28th, 2009 We finished the tour in Seattle with a triumphant concert at Town Hall last sunday.  Over the course of the four weeks, this group of musicians grew ever more cohesive as a musical ensemble and our rapport both on and off stage grew exponentially. While there were many pieces in the program that were set traditional pieces, much of the music consisted of songs that left plenty of room for improvisation.  Our abilities to react and inspire each other grew as we became increasingly familiar with the way each other played.  By the final concert. there was a lot more listening going on and the pieces really developed a wonderful ebb and flow to them.

One piece in particular, a rendition of the beloved Japanese melody "Haru No Umi" which we used as inspiration for improvisation, really developed a life of it's own by the final concert.  In the case of group improvisation part of the difficulty lays in the individual performers having to constantly shift between the roles of follower, leader, soloist and accompanist, and even having to decide when to stop playing altogether.  Although our rendition of Haru No Umi shifted and grew over the course of four weeks, I feel that the one in Seattle was the richest in depth, with the great range of dynamics and varying sonic density and the most free expressive feeling.

Later that night, after we all went out for dinner and drinks, Miki had to pack and leave at three am to catch a flight to Vancouver on her way back home to Tokyo.  The rest of us left the hotel a few hours later at around 6:30 am.  After checking in and getting passed security, I received a call from Miki because her flight had been cancelled due to mechanical issues.  Of course she didn't find this out until after she had to walk from the gate to the airport in the rain and sat onboard for about forty minutes.  It was a fitting end of a journey that from beginning, a month and a day earlier in Ulaanbaatar, was fraught with organizational problems and unforseeable complications.  Alls well that ends well and after that the rest of the journey seemed to finish without a hitch.  I just hope I make it back to NY in one piece!

A few interesting things that happened besides the scheduled performances include Shinetsog sitting in at a concert I had with Adam Rudolph and his Go: Organic Orchestra as well as a gig I did with Chris Dingman at Le Grand Dakar in Brooklyn.  The combination of instruments at that second one, with Chris on vibes, Tim Keiper on nguni, Mike Fisher on yidaki (or the didgeridoo), my good friend Sylvain LeRoux on fulani flutes, myself on Japanese shinobue and Shinetsog playing the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) and singing khoomei (throat-singing) was best described as magical.

Please enjoy these pictures:

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Back from Mongolia!

We're home!  The Khoomei-Taiko Ensemble was in DC for a lecture/dmonstration at the Japan Information and Culture Center and a performance at the Kennedy Center.  Both shows went well with warm responses from the audience.  In general, I would say that people are more exposed to Japanese culture and music- whether it be taiko, manga, sushi or cherry blossom festivals.  Perhaps not so much the morin khuur, aireg, or the Naadam festival- although perhaps if the KTE does well, things will change and elementary school kids in Brooklyn will learn throat singing during music class. I'd like to thank the members and families of Nen Daiko and Rev Kaz for housing KTE during our stay in DC.  We are running on a tight budget and have been surviving mainly through the help of so many loving friends and supporters.

The last few days we have spent getting over jet lag and preparing for some upcoming shows.  There will be a school show wed morning (the 13th) at Aaron Davis Hall, followed by a concert at Symphony Space on fri.  I threw together a last minute show for thursday night featuring the three taiko players of KTE, Tetsuro, Shoji and myself and Nominjin, a huge pop star in Mongolia who due to a strange turn in events ended up being the official KTE translator.

Here is a listing of upcoming stuff:

Thursday, October 15thNominjin, Tetsuro Naito, Shoji Kameda and Kaoru Watanabe Nakanaka@DROM $15 at the door/$10 in advance!! 85 Ave A (below Takahachi) NY, NY 10009

Friday. October 16

Peter Norton Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street, NY, NY

8:00 pm concert www.worldmusicinstitute.org

Tickets: 212-545-7536

Saturday, October 17

Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University, L.I.

MASTER TAIKO WORKSHOP WITH TETSURO NAITO, SHOJI

KAMEDA, KAORU WATANABE

12 noon-2pm.

Tickets: www.stonybrook.edu/wang

Information:  wangcenter@stonbrook.edu

Call 631-632-4400

Saturday, October 17

Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University, L.I.

8:00pm Concert

Tickets: www.stonybrook.edu/wang

Information:  wangcenter@stonbrook.edu

Call 631-632-4400

Sun., October 18

Japan Society, 333 E 47th Street.

TAIKO WORKSHOP WITH TETSURO NAITO,

12:30-2:30pm (SOLD OUT); 3:00-5:00pm. www.japansociety.org/performingarts

Box office: 212-715-1258

Mongolian Tour Report Day 10

[gallery] Today was one of the best days of my life!  We went out for a drive deep into the countryside for a picnic, saw the new towering Genghis Khan statue, rode a horse, pet some goat and sheep, ate lots of homemade food in a gher and went to a music shop where I bought limbe flute music, Mongolian music CDs and a mouth harp.  It was our last full day in Mongolia and it finally felt like we arrived in the country after being in Ulaanbaatar for two weeks.

We have Shinetsog and his parents to thank for the picnic.  We ate horse meat, potatoes, coleslaw, various types of tart cheese type foods and washed it down with shots of Genghis Khan Vodka.  His brother had brought a whole vat of airag (fermented mares milk) fresh from the countryside the day before and I fell in love with the stuff- ignore what I said about it in a previous post- and drank a decent quantity of it.  Later on, inside the gher, I was partaking in various milk teas, tart buttery, and cheese like dishes.  Even though I'm lactose intolerant, I couldn't help it: not only did I want to be polite in the face of such hospitality, but also the fact that I would rarely ever again have a chance to each such foods in such a location?

A few interesting things I saw: how they charged their cell phones, watched tv and listened to the radio all by solar electricity; the outhouse that consisted of four low wooden walls and a hole in the ground with many years worth of stuff piled high; the herd of sheep and goats that went into the gher when no one was looking at ravaged the table of food we had been eating; a sheep that drank from a goats teat- apparently the sheep had lost it's mother right around when the goat lost it's child and they just found each other; a lifestyle with close to no carbon footprint- burning animal dung for cooking, making butter by wrapping the cream in dried intestine skin, not bathing, killing and making your own meat, etc etc.; the generosity of people who are willing to open their homes to and literally share all they have in the world with complete strangers.

Mongolia Tour Report Day 9

A taiko school and ensemble is beginning here in Ulaanbaatar which will be lead by Mr. Huluguu and his compatriots.  The drums were donated by the Miyamoto Unosuke Co of Tokyo and the inaugural workshop was given by Tetsuro, Shoji and I.  We started off with Tetsuro leading a session in how to take care of the drums, putting together stands, tightening the drums, putting the drums on the stands, etc.  Shoji then lead them through SF Taiko Dojo's Seiichi Tanaka sensei's standard practice piece, Renshu Daiko.  The kids were all training to be percussionists so were very quick to pick things up and were absolute joys to work with. By the way, I had my first sip of fermented mare's milk.  I had heard so many stories about how incredibly bitter it was and how it gave everybody diarrhea.  Hearing all these horror stories, I somehow got it in my head that it was an incredibly potent alcoholic drink.  Anyways, before the workshop started, Huluguu was drinking something white out of a regular plastic bottle.  I asked what it was and to my surprise he was drinking the legendary stuff right in the afternoon.  Oh, so it wasn't alcoholic?  Not really was the answer.  I tried some and it WAS incredibly bitter and tart but I only had a sip to get the taste so I ended up fine on the other end.  Other than that, my first encounter with fermented mare's milk after all that giddy anticipation was stunningly anti-climatic.  Of course, I did drink it out of a plastic bottle so it was probably wasn't the best stuff and I hear that it's less tart the fresher it gets and that I probably should try some fresh.  Despite all I said, it was crazy to see Huluguu was just downing the stuff as if he'd just spent 50 days crossing the Gobi.

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In the evening, we were invited to Tserendorj's home outside the city.  He has recently opened a beautiful place where people can stay and experience Mongolian culture without having to deal with the dust, the animal dung and lack of flushing toilets.  In his multi-storied building there was an actual Ger inside the front room while the dining room was decorated to feel like the inside of one, with felt walls held up with colorfully painted latticework.  There were musical instruments, riding equipment, old tools lining the walls and the room was set up so Tserendorj and his son Soyol could entertain guests with their music.

Tserendorj, who is seventy year olds, is the only traditional Mongolian magtaal (praise song) singer living in Ulaanbaatar.  He is also recognized as Mongolia's official morin khuur (horse-head fiddle) player, an extremely distinguished title considering the morin khuur is Mongolia's official instrument.  Tonight, he spoke at length with passion, knowledge and pragmatism about his efforts to carry on traditional Mongolian music and culture.  In every sense of the word this man is a living embodiment of that tradition and he carries himself with the great dignity and esteem he holds for the art.  He is always either dressed in an impeccable suit and cowboy hat or in traditional garb, even when walking the streets of Manhattan as he did ten years ago and will do so again in a couple of weeks.  It is an honor to be performing with such an esteemed figure and it was beautiful to see him performing with his 28 year old son, a man who will continue the tradition for decades to come.

Among the many pieces Tserendorj performed for us, he improvised magtaal in commemoration of the evening, and for his new found friend "Miki san" the koto player.  It was an unforgettable evening and for that I heartfully thank Tserendorj and his beautiful family.

Mongolia Tour Report Day 8

Final concert in Ulaanbaatar was tonight.  Although attendance wasn't quite what we hoped it would be, the music and energy and flow of the performance was great.  Although there is still some work to do, the group has really grown into a cohesive unit in the last few days.  The pieces have developed their own personalities and feelings- something completely different from what they had been.  The Ode to Ulaanbaatar praise song has been augmented with koto to give it an even livelier bounce to it.  The sound of Miki's koto blends with that of the morin khuur in such an organic way that there is absolutely no culture clash- yet it retains it's distinctively Japanese sound- this I feel is due to Miki's wonderful interpretation and sensitivity. I really can't express enough thanks to all the people who made the concert possible- Huluguu, volunteer students from the Music and Dance School, Khaan Bank, Nomin, Asel, Byamba, and everyone at ACM and many others that I am remiss in not naming here.

Mongolian Tour Report Day 7

I haven't written in my journal in a few days due to a intense rehearsal schedule, compiled with a multitude of mini crises, much time spent traveling, loading and unloading instruments and LOTS of time waiting for Mongolians who among their many wonderful traits, do not list good punctuality as one of them.  Here is a listing of some of  what the last few days have consisted of: rehearsals, press conference, rampant tardiness, people disappearing inexplicably, someone making or accepting a phone call in the middle of rehearsal, the arrival of the Miyamoto Unosuke taiko (hooray), having to move all those extra taiko, the securing of more daytime rehearsal time, getting noise complaints due to the added daytime rehearsals, a press conference in a large room where I sat with diplomats and heads of cultural institutions being interviewed by maybe five reporters, consumption of large quantities of meat, beer, and vodka, offset by very healthy vegetarian food graciously donated by Nominjin's restaurant, a school concert, lots of dust, dry air, under-heated rooms, over-heated rooms, long walks in search for restaurants in subfreezing temperatures, witnessing almost daily alcohol-fueled altercations in front of the hotel, crossing of very busy streets with no traffic signals, a regrettable failure on my part of the imbibing of fermented mare's milk that will undoubtably be rectified presently.  Wish you were here!