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I'll be playing with Tim Keiper (ngoni), Chris Dingman (vibraphone) and Matt Kilmer (percussion) at Zebulon Monday night at 9 pm-ish. I love the music we play- beautiful melodies, a very organic blend of "World" sounds- Mali, Japan, the US and beyond.
Check out at a great and pretty funny report on a recent performance I did... http://ozersky.tv/2010/11/the-gohan-societys-2010-benefit-dinner/
Last NYC appearance in 2010 34 musicians In concert GO:ORGANIC ORCHESTRA An Orchestral concept of world / improvisational music
“OSTINATOS OF CIRCULARITY”
MUSIC COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY ADAM RUDOLPH
Monday November 29, 2010 @ Roulette 20 Greene St. (between Canal and Grand) 2 blocks west of Broadway
8:30 PM $15 at the Door DTW members students, seniors: $10 Reservations: 212.219.8242 Roulette & Location One, members free www.roulette.org www.location1.org
Performing artists: Sylvain Leroux –Tambin Fulani Flute, C Flute Michel Gentile – C and Alto Flute, Bamboo Flute Kaoru Watanabe – Noh Kan, Fue, C Flute Ze Luis - C and Alto Flute, Bamboo Flute Peter Apfelbaum - C Flute, Bamboo Flutes, Melodica
Sara Schoenbeck – Bassoon Ivan Barenboim - B flat Clarinet Ned Rothenberg - Bass Clarinet
Graham Haynes – Cornet, Flugelhorn, Bamboo Horn Stephen Haynes – Trumpet, Bamboo Horn, Didjiridoo Peck Almond – Trumpet, Kalimbas, Bamboo Horn Peter Zummo – Trombone, Didjiridoo
Sarah Bernstein – Violin Trina Basu – Violin Mark Chung– Violin Jason Kao Hwang – Violin Charles Burnham – Violin Elektra Kurtis – Violin Curtis Stewart – Violin Midori Yamamoto – Violin Skye Steele – Violin Rosemarie Hertlein – Violin Stephanie Griffin – Viola Daniel Levin – Cello Marika Hughes - Cello Janie Cowan - Contrabass
Kenny Wessel – Electric Guitar, Banjo Marco Cappelli – Acoustic Guitar
Matt Kilmer – Frame Drums, Percussion James Hurt – Sogo, Kidi, Percussion Keita Ogawa – Percussion Tripp Dudley – Percussion
Stuart Popejoy - Acoustic Bass Guitar Alex Marcelo – Acoustic Piano
Web page: http://www.metarecords.com/go.html
Go: Organic Orchestra @ my space: http://www.myspace.com/goorganicorchestra
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/adamtabl
CONCERT REVIEWS:
" I caught a performance Go: Organic Orchestra down in SoHo last spring and was swept away by what they were doing. It was fascinating and ahead of its time, in the best possible way. I loved every minute of it. " - Marc Meyers, jazzwax.com
" I was fortunate to have attended two nights with Adam Rudolph's Go: Organic Orchestra at Roulette a few months back and was blown away by Adam's distinctive blend of jazz and world music as well as his conducting." - Bruce Lee Gallanter - Downtown Music Gallery
"The music, performed by a large ensemble of wind and percussion players, rose like vines from hand drummer Adam Rudolph's written instructions and hand signals. And it truly is organic -- a blend of gentle sustained dissonance, heaven-crashing rhythm jams, and individual improvisations. No joke: a startling and involving development in roots music, with more to follow." - Greg Burk, LA Weekly
“This mixture of planning and spontaneity is brought to life with such a high level of musicality that the “organic” part of the group’s name is always honored.” - Steve Holtje, The Big Takeover
“Extraordinary.... the audience was absolutely absorbed.” - Howard Mandel, Jazz beyond Jazz
FUE comprehensive intensive workshop- see detailed schedule below- open to all levels! Please e-mail me by the morning of November 11 - limited space left
Schedule: Dec 4th (sat) MORNING session: opening session, an introduction to fue types, styles, demonstration, listening and video session. AFTERNOON session: fingering, breathing exercises, warm up routines repertoire - Sakura, Takeda No Komoriuta, Kaigara Bushi, etc- deal with ornamentation, phrasing, vibrato, etc EVENING SESSION: composition - discussion of Japanese scales, taiko with fue combination, etc
Dec 5th (sun) MORNING session: improvisation, extended techniques, review AFTERNOON session: fue with taiko practices- dealing with rhythm, ensemble and BEING HEARD
fee: $250 full session, $200 for the saturday session only / $100 for the Sunday session only (includes meals)
free accommodation available on a limited basis (first come, first serve).
A MESSAGE from a student
Since becoming a student of Kaoru, my fue playing has improved in every way. From basic breathing exercises and fingering techniques to learning songs and improvising, Kaoru has a way of explaining fue playing that is clear and understandable, and also a lot of fun. With his background in music and extensive wealth of knowledge of both fue and taiko, a one hour lesson is never long enough. I've been waiting for a fue intensive weekend! I'm looking forward to many hours of learning and making music.
Oct 24th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, HAWAIIOct 27th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Atlanta, GA Oct 30th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Sewanee, TN Nov 2nd Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Oberlin OH Nov 4th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Kalamazoo MI Nov 6th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Pittsburgh, PA Nov 8th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Westminster, MD Nov 10th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Fredericksberg, VA Nov 14th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Stony Brook, NY
Nov 15th "Conversations in Japanese Taiko: lecture/demonstration -Princeton University Nov 16th Alicia Hall Moran "The Motown Project", Les Poissant Rouge, NY
Nov 19th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Philadelphia, PA Nov 20th Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, New York, NY
Nov 22nd Adam Rudolph's Go:Organic Orchestra, Roulette, NY Nov 29th Adam Rudolph's Go:Organic Orchestra, Roulette, NY
Sunday, October 24, 2010 4 pm
Kenny Endo “Gateway” Concert Tour KICK OFF performance
Pearl City Cultural Center
2100 Hookiekie Street, Pearl City
featuring
Kenny Endo (master taiko Artist)
Kaoru Watanabe (former principal flutist with KODO)
Hitoshi Hamada (Japan’s top Jazz vibraphonist)
Tadayoshi Yasuda (nagauta shamisen Artist)
Special guest TAIMANE GARDNER (amazing ukulele artist)
and The Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble
$15 Suggested Donation
October 27th, 7:30 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Atlanta, GA Atlanta Center for Asian Studies Kennesaw State University Social Science Building Room 1021 1000 Chastain Road Kennesaw GA 30144-5591
October 30th, 7:30 pm Tennessee Williams Performing Arts Center TECH: Michael Redman, Abram Jones Presenter: University of the South 735 University Ave. Sewanee TN 37383
November 2nd, 8 pm Finney Chapel Oberlin College Oberlin, OH
Nov 4th, 8:15 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Kalamazoo MI Dalton Recital Hall Western Michigan University Haenicke Institute for Global Education
Nov 6th, 8 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Pittsburgh, PA Manchester Craftsman's Guild of Pittsburgh 1815 Metropolitan St Pittsburgh PA 15233-2233
Nov 8th, 7:30 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Westminster, MD McDaniel College 2 College Hill Westminster MD 21157
Nov 10th, 7:30 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Fredericksberg, VA Dodd Auditorium Mary Washington University
Nov 14th, 8 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Stony Brook, NY Charles B. Wang Center Stony Brook University
Nov 19th, 8 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, Philadelphia, PA Irvine Auditorium University of Pennsylvania-Philadelphia
Nov 20th, 8 pm Kenny Endo "Gateway" Concert Tour, New York, NY Skirball Center for the Performing Arts NYU
Tue., November 16, 2010 / 10:00 PMLe Poisson Rouge $15
Alicia Hall Moran , the motown project featuring Steven Herring, baritone, Thomas Flippin, guitar , Adán Vásquez, harp , Tarus Mateen, bass and Kaoru Watanabe, taiko + fué
10:30 PM
The brainchild of Alicia Hall Moran, the motown project, with its unique chamber ensemble, engineers alchemy of Opera and Motown. And it achieves an utterly fresh take on the layered complexity of African-American music and American cultural identity vis-à-vis the world.
The motown project yields suprise for opera lovers as Dido laments “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” and Mimí’s last breaths intone “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The R&B aficionado will enjoy the grave plaints of Marvin Gaye and philosophical wisdom of Stevie Wonder released from pop’s rhythmic seduction and into the stoic classical heft that the lyrics fully support.
Where a resplendent and ravished diva is the ultimate icon, and where social/class politics dominate the subtext, Opera and Motown reveal their deepest symmetries. Indeed, the motown project’s heroine seeks Love, Respect and Understanding, and travels the eras to find it.
Bringing the concept to life is the voice of Alicia Hall Moran; a voluptuous voice with its American roots anchored in the twin legacy of her maternal great great uncle, Hall Johnson, preserver of the Negro Spiritual, and her paternal great uncle, pop/jazz balladeer Al Hibbler.
Seattle Town Hall DRUM! Friday, October 8th, 2010
Produced by Spider Kedelsky, this concert featured musics from Senegal, India, the United States and Japan.
First in the program was a group led by Thiom, his father Mbate and brother Gora and two dancers whose names I am remiss in not remembering. The performance was Senegalese sabar drumming at it's finest- full of call and response, subtle elusive cues that lead to metric and rhythmic shifts and complicated polyrhythmic improvisations, all so effortlessly executed that they seemed simple and profoundly grooving. The listener's body is compelled to dance while for those bothering to try to analyze the stuff, the brain is absolutely confounded.
The second part of the performance was a thirty minute tabla solo that was a virtuoso display of tonal variety, rhythmic complexity, odd meters and complicated forms, all executed with lyrical musicality and emotion by Samir Chatterjee. Samir is a masterful performer and teacher of great warmth and humility and these features shown during his surprisingly melodic performance.
Following the intermission was a performance of Steve Reichs Clapping, a piece featuring two musicians doing exactly that for about four minutes. One performer continuously repeated a certain rhythm the entire time, while the other clapped the same rhythm while incrementally displacing it one beat at a time. A rhythmic exercise as much as a piece of music, amusing and entrancing to the audience while imagine quite a feat of concentration and counting for the performers.
The "Japan" protion of the program was last. Kenny and I opened with his duet, Symmetrical Soundscapes. Ringtaro and his wife Asako then joined us for Ringtaro's piece Umi wo Koete (Over the Sea), featuring shamisen, taiko and fue. Ringtaro then played an Odaiko solo with Asako, followed by another Kenny/Kaoru duo, Kenny on Odaiko and myself doing a Miyake style solo. We finished with Kenny's piece Jugoya.
For the grand finale, we had a typical world music jam session blowout with the Senegalese drummers, Samir and the taiko people all on stage grooving out and trading solos - a crowd pleaser that, while perhaps not the most profound musical statement, was a fun and amicable way to indeed show that rhythm is universal.
After signing autographs and chatting with old and new friends in the lobby, taiko proved once again that among the musical instruments of the world load out time was the longest by far. Samir packed up his two tabla in a case and disappeared into the rain, the Senegalese drummers threw their drums into cloth bags or just slung them as they were over their shoulders and were out. The Japan team were there until all of the staff of the theater were gone except one, carefully packing the shime, okedo, nagado, uchiwa daiko, dismantling the various stands, sticks, flutes, the shamisen and other small percussion and then cramming it all, tetris-like into two cars while a soft Seattle rain fell.
Oct 4th@ performance at Rutgers UniversityOct 25~Nov 20th US tour with Kenny Endo www.kennyendo.com Nov 15 lecture/demonstration with Kenny Endo at Princeton University info Nov 16 with Alicia Hall Moran, The Motown Project@LPR Nov 22, 29 with Adam Rudolph's Go:Organic Orchestra@Roulette
Ten master musicians come together for the first time as an all-star ensemble to present “DRUMMING!” the “palooza of percussion” that opens the 10th anniversary season of Town Hall’s Global Rhythms series. Featured artists are virtuoso Indian tabla player Samir Chatterjee and legendary taiko drummer and percussionist Kenny Endo. Joining them is Kaoru Watanabe, formerly of Japan’s famed taiko group KODO, and husband/wife team Ringtaro and Asako Tateishi. The bravura and spellbinding rhythms of West Africa are offered by Senegal’s Thione Diop and Family, griots whose lineage descends from the royal court musicians and praise singers of the 13th century Mandinke Empire. Completing the program is Steve Reich’s Clapping Music, performed by Jacob Brady and Gregg Belisle-Chi. Tickets are $22/$19 Town Hall members, students & seniors at www.brownpapertickets.com or 800/838-3006. $24/$21 at the door. LEARN MORE www.kennyendo.com www.thionediop.com www.tabla.org Chatterjee on YouTube. Friday, October 8, 2010, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Great Hall, enter on Great Hall.
Also for you Japanese readers out there- please check out my interview that's posted on the Miyamoto website. Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten is one of the most respected taiko makers in Japan, with a history that goes back to 1861. http://www.miyamoto-unosuke.co.jp/taiko/artist/03/1.html
For those of you who read Japanese, please check out this article about myself and RESONANCE in Tokyo. http://www.47news.jp/EN/201009/EN2010093001000220.html
I just finished day two of a semester long taiko course at Princeton. I'm already astounded at the kids' quickness at learning, desire to improve and sheer enthusiasm. Another component of the class that I'm really enjoying is the time dedicated to talking about gagaku, noh, bunraku, the sankyoku, kumidaiko, taiko in America and many other taiko related issues in an academic way. This sort of knowledge gives any taiko player a deeper appreciation of the music and culture from which it comes. For my regular KWTC class I tend to devote as much time as possible to the physical training of taiko, but I will try to incorporate more of these teachings as well over time. Kenny and I will be doing a lecture/demonstration at Princeton on November 15th. Taplin Auditorium, 7 pm. More details to follow!
Gateway MA vs GROOVE Celebrating Kenny's 35 years of taiko playing!
Starting with performances in Hawaii Oct 25th, culminating at Skirball in NYC on the Nov 20th.
Other performances in Hawaii, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and New York. More details coming soon or check out kennyendo.com
Sept 7thNew York to Costa Rica The people at Continental Airlines are idiots. Yumi, Tomomi and I arrived at the Elite Access counter with our three suitcases, large taiko and koto cases to apathetic workers more interested in chatting with each other than helping customers. AFTER we had checked ourselves in and paid for our overweight baggages, one of the idiots walks over and asks if we paid for oversize as well. I say no because it wasn't an option at the self-check-in kiosk. The idiot tells me to try again. I do but of course there is still is no "oversize check-in" option. The idiot tries himself and gets the same results. After quite some time, with much scratching of their heads, the idiots finally figure everything out, we pay our fees and are on our way. Throughout all of this the idiots' acted as if somehow we were a burden to them and interrupting something important in their lives.
OK, this has nothing really to do with the trip. I was still too used to service in Japan and was taken aback by the ineptitude of Continental Airlines workers. Starting over...
Sept 7th We leave New York for Costa Rica and after circling over a fogged in San Jose, the pilot heads over to Liberia, where we land and without deplaning, refuel and wait the lifting of the fog. We take off after a little over an hour, head back to San Jose and circle for a couple more hours before giving up and heading back to Liberia, where we spend the night in the Hilton there.
Sept 8th We leave early and arrive in San Jose and are greeted at the airport by embassy officials. Although it was sunny when we landed, it was raining by the time arrived at the National Arts University, where we gave a workshop. Yamaguchi san from the Embassy did excellent work translating for us and the audience was very attentive and enthusiastic throughout. Many students and teachers came up afterwards to get a better look at the instruments and to ask questions. There was no problem with sound or lighting and everything went smoothly.
Sept 9th Early in the day we do a television appearance. The popular television personality host, a very charming woman in perhaps her sixties, asked about Japanese culture and music while occasional urging the viewers to call in to buy waffle makers and toasters. Later we head to the National Theater, a beautiful Renaissance building with marble statues and paintings on the ceilings. We received a standing ovation from the audience for our rendition of Patriotica Costaricacense. Afterwards, we enjoyed drinks and delicious food at the Consulate's house where we were joined by two professors from the Arts University. The people of Costa Rica were warm and generous throughout our time there.
Sept 10th We travel to Honduras. Through talking to Embassy people, we soon find out that although the city of Tegucigalpa was subject to frequent landslides due to rain that resulted in loss of traumatic loss of property and life, the people continued to build and live there. With rampant poverty, corruption in the government, drug wars and natural disasters the norm, the city was not the most idyllic place to live perhaps, but people seemed to make due with what they had and maintained a certain air of dignity and joy despite everything. We performed at the local television station and because it was Children's Day, there were many kids also being featured on the same show. A few sang karaoke, singing passionately and looking very cute in their suits and dresses while singing surprisingly off key.
Sept 11th In the morning we make an appearance at the National radio station. Yumi and I don't bring our koto or taiko but opt for playing her CDs and my playing only fue. Things go very smoothly for the forty minute long interview, until at the end I am asked for a final message to the people of Honduras and I blurt out "I love being here in Costa Rica!". A diplomatic disaster is narrowly avoided by much apologizing and laughter. Later, we perform at the National Theater, a grand old European style Opera house with a stage the was set at an angle towards the audience and that had bats living above the stage. At one point during the day I felt like taking a walk to the nearby public square where I saw throngs of people shopping and listening to live music being performed in front of the town cathedral. I was told by an embassy official that I most definitely should not go, that it was too dangerous and unequivocally a bad idea. I said okay and stayed in. A local Japanese restaurant, or more accurately, the only local Japanese restaurant, delivered some delicious onigiri for us before the concert. I left one on the table for after the concert and draped a paper towel over it. The concert went very well, the audience very receptive to each piece. We gave an impromptu autograph signing session in the lobby and we were swarmed with people, many teen agers and young adults. Many people came up speaking some Japanese and English. People were very warm and friendly- a stark contrast to the poverty and crime that I was repeatedly warned of. When I went back to the dressing room, I found a few flies buzzing around my onigiri and when I lifted the napkin I found a large cockroach had claimed the property for himself. After the concert we are taken to sample in the some of the local nightlife and saw that indeed Honduras folk love to have fun and dance as anyone in the world.
Sept 12th We expect to travel to Trinidad via Miami, however we end up stuck in Miami due to no fault of our own. American Airlines provides a hotel room and food vouchers for Holiday Inn, which in turns provides deplorable service in every conceivable aspect (shuttle service to and from the airport, luggage service, restaurant, etc).
Sept 13th We arrive in Trinidad and make our way to the theater, a brand new "modern" building that looks like a space ship from an alien movie from the nineties landed in the middle of a park. We meet Watanabe san, a recording engineer and world music scholar who is currently working on documenting and promoting Trinidadian steel pan players and who helped organize our concert. We set up and rehearse and in time, our collaborators, Mr. Earl Brooks, Ms. Sharda Patasar and a group of young musicians- box bass, percussion and guitar, show up to rehearse. The young musicians were very enthusiastic and passionate about studying and performing music and took every chance they could to ask questions and pick up on things. Earl Brooks is an acclaimed musician in Trinidad and his experience and mastery over his instrument was evident in every note he played. We worked out some simple arrangements of Sukiyaki Song and a song made popular by Mr. Brooks called Hammer.
Sept 14th Today is dedicated to the evening concert. During some down time in the afternoon, I visit a museum that happened to be next door to the theater. Within this Victorian style mansion was an art museum, a natural history museum, an anthropology museum, and rooms dedicated to athletes, musicians, political leaders of Trinidad Tobago. A friendly security guard approached me and asked many questions about Japan- particularly regarding karate and samurai. We ended up speaking for a good twenty minutes or so. The concert went very well, with many people coming up afterwards asking us to return again soon, including the ambassador himself, who enthusiastically introduced us to the head of the large Trinidad jazz festival. The two rehearsed songs were very well received, although an impromptu improvisational session that I led seemed to impress people the most. Afterwards, we partook in some of the Trinidad nightlife with our hosts from the embassy, who introduced us to some of the cuisine and local rum.
Sept 15th We have lunch with the Ambassador and his lovely wife at their residence. While eating fine Japanese food, we enjoy a lively conversation that ranged from Japanese music, our lives, Trinidadian culture, enka music, J-Pop, architecture, painting, to finding a piano tuner in Trinidad. Afterwards, we travel to Panama, the final country of this trip. We are taken to what is described to us as the New York of Central America- Panama City. Our hotel is located in the downtown area, one of the countless, brand new beachfront high-rises.
Sept 16th We start the day with a sightseeing trip to the Panama Canal. We are told of the nearby Lake Gatun, which becomes "Gatsunko" in Japanese. For the rest of our stay in Panama, "gatsunko" becomes the go-to word for anything that strong and impressionable. We set up and rehearse at the beautiful National Theater in the old part of Panama City. We have a fun and loose workshop/lecture demonstration for high school students studying music, after which I have the idea that we should perform an old Panamanian song while wearing the famous Panama hat. One of the directors of the theater escorts us to a nearby shop, a somewhat rundown place that has no sign in the front, but is inhabited by a shirtless elderly gentleman, a parrot, a blaring television and a couple stacks of Panama hats in the corner. Yumi and I select our hats and head back to the theater hatted and happy. The audience that evening reacts with incredible enthusiasm to the concert, especially to the old Panamanian song (which by the way has a title that roughly translates as "The Tears of an Unattractive Woman") despite Yumi and my best efforts to completely botch it's melody. Afterwards we were again inundated with requests for autographs and photographs. The Consulate of Japan and other embassy workers treat us to a late night of lively conversation, Cuban cigars, rum, food and drink while listening to Sonny Rollins. I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate our last concert of the journey.
Sept 17th After some late night packing and an hour of sleep, I am up and off to the airport to come home to New York. In the end, the trip was a whirlwind of plane travel, hanging out with diplomats and hearing about life at the embassy, sampling local food and drink, performing, teaching, paying for excess baggage weight and size, resigning to while resisting jet lag, television and radio appearances, buying souvenirs, changing clocks, packing, unpacking, taking pictures, having pictures taken and in general trying to create, as much as possible in the fleeting time, something of a connection with the people and places of the four countries we briefly had the privilege of touching down on as we leapfrogged from one city to another. It was an unforgettable experience and I thank all those at Japan Foundation, the Japanese Embassies of Costa Rica, Honduras, Trinidad Tobago and Panama and my patient wife Mari back home.[gallery]
American Airlines provided a hotel because they couldn't get us through to Trinidad on time, along food vouchers for dinner and breakfast. After waiting for the shuttle curbside for about forty five minutes, we finally arrive at the Holiday Inn Airport. An overly friendly Cuban man (who referred to us as a Chinese tour group in Spanish) attempted to help us carry our luggage and instruments to our room. The fact he didn't speak English very well was beside the point- he had a severe problem with retaining information. After I explained that I was taking our instruments to our rooms, he went over to get check-in tags and begin to tag the bags. He asked what rooms we were staying in. I explained again that we were taking our luggage to our rooms, not checking them in. He took off the tags. He asked us which rooms we were in. We went to the elevator and got in. He asked us which rooms we were in. Since I was on four and others were on five, I pushed four so I could get out first with my luggage. We get to four, I ask him to take the red suitcase off the cart while I'm taking the taiko. He asked us which rooms we were in. He starts taking the others' bags to my room. In his fumbling and our struggling to stop him from taking the wrong bags to my room, the elevator door closes (despite Yumi holding the button) with Yumi's koto still in it. He takes charge by going to the elevator door and inconceivably begins knocking on it. I start moving my own stuff and he asks us which rooms we were in. I tell him that only the taiko and red suitcase have to go to my room. Since he is still fumbling around, we take my belongings practically by force and I escape his vortex of confusion and ineptitude, with my own bags in tow. Later we meet at the only restaurant in the hotel, to find that there is Salsa music blaring from the dance floor. The price of room service makes that out of the question so despite being exhausted and wanting quiet we sit down in the restaurant, unable to hold a conversation without shouting and are treated to bad service and an air conditioner blasting cold air directly on us. The food is soggy and salty. The cheapest thing on the menu is 14.95 so we have to use both our dinner and breakfast coupons to pay for it and are told that additionally each of us has to pay an additional 4.75 for tax and 18% gratuity. There was beer in a store in the lobby being sold for $4.50 a bottle.
Appropriately, the next morning the shuttle driver wouldn't listen to my suggestions as to how to store the taiko and koto and basically had to unload and re-pack the shuttle according to my instructions. We check-in again at the AA counter and the woman courteously complied with my request for an emergency exit row seat so that I can stretch my legs out. Of course when we board the full flight, I find myself in a regular seat next to a man wearing a thick jacket with his arm extended well into my space. I'm writing this with the computer literally pressed again my belly and my arms folded in so that I'm typing like a praying mantis.
American Airlines and Holiday Inn Airport need to understand a few things. They need to learn that the best way to provide customer satisfaction, is to give a little something more then what is expected- not a whole lot less. I can survive regular cramped economy class, but NOT getting extra leg room when promised can be very aggravating. Not getting to a destination on time is something that happens to all of us, but when promised complimentary dinner, don't provide $10 for a dinner when the cheapest thing offered in the only restaurant we can use them in is $19. Don't offer help or services that you can't provide. So far on this trip, EVERY SINGLE PERSON that I've encountered working for American Airlines, Continental Airlines and Holiday Inn, whether friendly and (overly) "personal" or having that unpleasant, apathetic attitude ubiquitous to the American service industry, has been glaringly incompetent, inept and unprofessional. The people working in hotels, airports and theaters in Costa Rica and Honduras in contrast have been for the most part ernest, hard working and professional.
In general I don't consider myself a complainer and overly high-maintenance, but just writing this down has been very therapeutic. Sorry and thanks!
1st week TokyoSpent time with aunts, uncles and cousins, visiting my grandparents graves in Tokyo and Kamakura. One day, I had dinner on the beach, drinking wine and watching the windsurfers enjoying the effects of a distant typhoon. During the weekend, I performed with the great percussionist and hougaku master Semba Kiyohiko in Koenji, along with saxophonist Sakata Akira, Fuwa Daisuke from Shibusa Shirazu and others- some of the top improvisors in Tokyo. Semba san called the show "An Evening with Semba: Featuring a Flute Playing Friend From New York" (Semba hitoyo furu-to no furendo furomu nyu-yo-ku sesshon). The show was groundbreaking in that, Akira san lost a screw on his saxophone and one of the rods and pads simply fell off the horn. We spent about half an hour with the whole band and the front row of the audience on their hands and knees looking for it. The trumpet player, Matsuhide Takumi sent his girlfriend home on a bicycle to get a sax that he happened to have laying around. Akira san played that alto for a couple of songs then we took an intermission, during which time we discovered that the screw was still in place and had just loosened. His apology to the audience was hilarious. The music was equally as scattered, playful and lots of fun. I rounded out the weekend giving a couple of workshops in Japan, with the taiko group Bonten and at the Miyamoto Studios, as well as picked up some musical supplies from the Miyamoto store. It's always interesting to teach fue and taiko in Japan for me considering I'm teaching the culture of a place to people who are actually from there.
2nd week: Tokyo, Chiba and Sado I also visited the great fue maker, Ranjo at his new workshop. Ranjo is a very generous soul and has been a great supporter of my career. Recently he's not only been teaching fue to about twenty local children, he's been providing them fue as well- all for free. He handcrafts over two hundred fue a month, each made to perfection, each month's batch better than the last. He presented Mari a beautifully lacquered fue in celebration of our marriage and I asked him to write something on the fue in remembrance of that day. After much deliberation, we decided upon "mari sanjuhachi do" or "Mari 106 degrees", in reference to the scorching temperature of the day (while it was indeed hot that day, his thermometer seemed to be a exaggerating the facts a little - perhaps due to the heat!)
Midweek, Mari and traveled to Niigata where she has some relatives for a pleasant lunch of somen and tempura. We traveled that night to Sado, my home of close to nine years while I was with Kodo. We stayed at my good friend Melanie Taylor's house. Among the many things that happened this weekend: Tamango missed his flight from NY and we had to scramble to get him to Sado in time for our performance and workshop; I reconnected with my friends and family in Kodo and in Sado in general; ate about seven bowls of kakigori (shaved ice), favorite flavor being YUZU; saw three Kodo performances and the Corsican group La Filletta with them; danced and played fue with Ogi Okesa (bon odori); performed with, among others, Kojima Chieko, Fujimoto Yoshikazu, Saito Eichi, Tsuji Masaru, Shanir Blumenkranz, Marcus, Imaizumi Taka; did a guerilla type performance with the young star players of Kodo at 8 am to fans waiting since before the break of dawn for good tickets, all of us wearing black suits and sunglasses; had a evening picnic celebrating Mari and my one year wedding anniversary with many friends from Sado and Kodo; etc. During our Resonance improvisation workshop (singer Matsuda Mio, Tamango and I) we had participants running, stomping, jumping, singing/screaming at each other, barking like dogs and otherwise making fools of themselves. It was chaotic and wonderful.
3rd week: Sado, and Tokyo After Earth Celebration, played again with Kodo to say goodbye to the guests and the audience; took a tour of Sado with the great Johnny and Chieko Wales, hitting beautiful temples, stores, restaurants, the Wales' amazing house; the Kodo after party bar-b-que; a picnic celebrating Mari and my one year anniversary with friends from Sado, Kodo, NY, New Zealand, Canada, etc in attendance; travel back to Tokyo for a workshop with Tsumura sensei from Miyake; performance with great cellist Sakamoto Hiromichi, Samm Bennett and Tamango with ANDANI doing visuals (improvised madness); performance at SuperDeluxe with RESONANCE 2010- a packed house with great energy- one of the most memorable performances in my short musical career!
4th week: Hiroshima, Miyajima, Matsuyama and Kyoto After a final fue workshop in Tokyo, Mari and went to Hiroshima to visit her relatives down there. Ate some great Hiroshima beef, Okonomiyaki, Miyajima oysters, unagi, great sake from Mari's cousin; short trip to Miyajima for walking around the temple and shopping in the HOT sun- encountered a beautiful 96 year old man in a store who took the time to individually wrap each item with care while taking an incredible amount of time; traveled to the onsen town of Matsuyama where we went into the onsen three times in one day and had a delicious dinner (the onsen from Spirited Away was inspired by the Matsuyama Onsen); climbed and conquered Matsuyama Castle until the heat conquered us; then spent the rest of the time in Hiroshima. We traveled to Kyoto, stayed in a beautiful tea shop called Sankyuen; with an owner of an ochaya, went to a bar run by an elderly gentleman who was Kabuki and Kyogen expert; taught two fue workshops; had two shows at Urban Guild- both full houses with different casts and great energy both nights. The audience responded to the shows with great enthusiasm.
The next monday, we traveled from Kyoto to Narita and to New York the next day. We visited with friends Otsuka Chie and Toni Yamagami in Narita and the next day with Yamano san at the airport before taking off. I recently acquired an Ohira Okedo Daiko from Miyamoto and it was waiting at the airport. Between getting charged for overcharge and oversize fees for checking it in, having to open the box because it wouldn't fit through the x-ray machine, having to go to a different counter to pay the fees, then being told I would have to pay an extra $200 fee because the box was a mere 2 kilograms too heavy, my declaring I could lighten the load by opening it, then being told they would waive the extra fee- we barely had any time to chat with Yamano san. It was an appropriate end of the monthlong journey for us: hectic and harrowing, accompanied by loving friends and ending up perfectly.
BoomTapWhisper featuring Sam Bennett, Tamango, Sakamoto Hiromichi and myself!
In 2007, while still serving as the artistic director for the world renowned Japanese performing arts group KODO, fue/flute player Kaoru Watanabe called together a group of friends to form Resonance, a one-night multimedia celebration of sight and sound that astounded the audience.
8/21 Sado, Earth Celebration Special Fringe Event http://www.kodo.or.jp/ec/event/fringe_en.html 8/28 Tokyo, SuperDeluxe http://www.super-deluxe.com/2010/8/28/resonance-2010/ 9/3 and 9/4 Kyoto, Urban Guild http://www.urbanguild.net/
More detailed information at HERE (D.H.Rosen's HP)
