My snow driving skills put to good use… So much fun to be in a show with such other wonderful musicians… Attack of the curtain!.. Thank goodness for the extra help, or we would have never made it to the next appointment!.. I was certain she’d said “Last time!”… Bananas and a rubber chicken… Testing my new camera by taking pictures of Tiger Okoshi… Good thing I carry my own hachijo bachi… Amazing to see the girls so enthusiastic… MC’ing because I’m loud and the mic is broken… A night sky filled with confetti… 4 shows in 4 days is my taiko limit and when someone offers you nuts, take them!… Great fun to jump into a piece I hadn’t played in 6 months… Improvising on stage as people file in… Too many things to mention… Temporary tattoo for Sheilarae… My first parade and being very colorful… Playing Reimei at dawn… I can’t help but thank my closest taiko friends for letting me drag them to a mountain and order them around… Playing in the back of a pick-up truck and dancing in the street… Manny, the world’s largest athlete introducing us and waiting for Martin Short before we can set the stage… Forgot a drum stand, time to improvise!.. Made our own hachimaki in the time between shows… The ONE family bond is stronger than my personal fears… Canceled due to tornado warning!… Solidified the relationship of performer to audience… This street isn’t big enough for all the noise we make!.. Many amazing taiko groups under the apple trees… So many of us were sick, but we still gave it our all… Even sick, you can’t stop me from fue!.. Almost everything that was said about their dojo, we could echo about ONE. It was amazing to see their strength of community and what it had built… My first MC’ing where I got to think about it ahead of time… ONE working towards its own street fair! Plus I made a new shime stand.

A few of the year's taiko moments.

I feel exceptionally blessed by taiko in 2009. I can only hope for what 2010 might bring.

And so it was that I left my taiko widower and orphans at home to take part in our 2009 Winter Extravaganza on Sunday the 13th at our dojo in Woburn.  And extravagant it was!  We had performances by six taiko groups and guest violinist Yael Bat-Shimon; plus a crafts bazaar, bake sale, auction and reception.

But first, there was a lot of work to be done to get ready.  ONE members and students began arriving as early as 10:00 am to begin decorating and setting up for the event.  I arrived around noon to help set up the reception snacks and bake sale.  It was an unfortunate task for someone who’d forgotten to eat lunch!  Our savior, former Community member Junko Kargula, arrived with sushi, crackers and hot tea.  She was soon followed by Wasna with a batch of her Aussie Lamingtons — not for the bake sale, but for us!  We truly and unanimously adore Junko and Wasna!

Before long our dojo was festooned with holiday cheer.  Christmas trees, garland swags, lights and wreaths transformed our minimalist practice space.   Jasmine’s snow-dusted cherry blossom mural and last year’s wrapping-paper cranes formed a beautiful backdrop for the coming performances.  Karen’s origami and orange tulle pom-pom garlands hung from the lobby ceiling.  We were ready for our guests.

The first group to play was ONE’s Recreational Taiko class.  They played Raku, which Karen and Shane brought back from a visit to Shidara in Japan earlier this year.  As a mom, it’s hard to watch.  I marvel that no one put an eye out or lost a tooth playing this wildly dangerous song on a crowded stage.  But anyone could see that they were having a blast, and the audience loved it.

Recreational Taiko Class playing Raku (Photo Courtesy Wasna Nark-Kasem)

Next up was Wellesley College’s collegiate taiko group, Aiko.  Their song — also called Aiko — was a peaceful and complex exchange of rhythms.

Aiko from Wellesley College playing Aiko (Photo Courtesy Wasna Nark-Kasem)

The third number, Yatai Bayashi, played by ONE’s Taiko Styles class (and yours truly) was a grueling  event for a number of reasons.   Firstly, well, it’s Yatai — a taiko song played in a stomach-burning half-sit up.  Second, we had so many masochists — er, taiko players — who wanted to play, the song took nearly 20 minutes to get through.  And third, I missed six weeks of rehearsal time in the months leading up to the Extravaganza so I played like a buffoon.  My apologies to those who put in a much better effort.  Yatai was mercifully followed by a break for auction- and craft-browsing and bake sale goodies.

Taiko Styles Class: Shime players keeping the ji for Yatai Bayashi (Photo Courtesy Wasna Nark-Kasem)

Taiko Styles Class playing Yatai Bayashi (Photo Courtesy Wasna Nark-Kasem)

ONE Ensemble members returned with Kaminari, in which the thunder god playfully dances and beats his drum against a background of vocals, strings and more percussion.  This is my absolute favorite ONE piece!

The Odaiko New England Ensemble playing Kaminari (Photo Courtesy Hiroshi Hasegawa)

An adult community ed class taught by our own Mark H Rooney at Concord-Carlisle High School played next.  Joining them was Mark’s student from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, jazz musician Tyshawn Sorey.  Their thunderous performance piece, Kiyohime Daiko, did not actually loosen dust and debris from the rafters, nor shake loose any light gels, as is typical in other venues, but it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of power!

Next up was Kashmir, again with yours truly.  Many members of ONE’s Community group had only just started learning Kashmir four short weeks ago.  Well done!

Dave Buerger is ready for Kashmir (Photo Courtesy Wasna Nark-Kasem)

In all, 49 taiko players performed together for a finale piece, Kokyo.  No stage could contain the enormity that was Kokyo, as it was more party than performance.  Hilda and Rita wore jingle bells as they played our big hiras out in front of the stage.  Others played accessories as they danced among our guests in the audience.

Kokyo! (Photo Courtesy Wasna Nark-Kasem)

In the end, I only missed my family a little bit.  As I congratulated David’s daughter on her impressive tennis season, asked Jasmine’s son about his chorale performance earlier in the week, and chatted with Lauren’s mom and Mark’s parents, I realized that I was with my taiko family, after all.

ONE in the late 1990's: We didn't always have a dojo, but we had each other.

It made me remember our roots and our 15-year history as a taiko group– the days where we didn’t have a dojo, the days when we didn’t have drums and we drummed on tires wrapped with duct tape. It’s incredible to realize just how much people can get done when our goals are in line and we work together.

As the martial artists told stories of what Aikido meant to them, I thought of the many times I had tried and failed or tried and succeeded to get through difficult pieces. I find playing taiko to be extremely difficult.  In fact, it continues to be one of the most challenging things I do. Playing taiko requires so much concentration — whether it be the rhythm, timing, kata, kiai, emotion, or the connection you make with fellow players or the audience — each piece takes an enormous amount of effort to get right. Which means that you have to get it wrong a lot before you get it right. There is no way that I could persist in an activity where I failed so much if it weren’t for the people and support I have felt through Odaiko New England. I understood exactly what the martial artists meant when they talked about love. When you watch someone persist and challenge themselves to do something difficult, you can’t help but love them.

One of our final songs was Mahora. It’s a physically demanding piece and I knew that as martial artists they would appreciate it. As I introduced it, I could hear them gulp when I said it was a endurance piece that required stamina and concentration and took ten minutes to play. At the end we got a standing ovation. If anyone understood what it took to play that song, they did.

Saturday night: A little disheveled and sweaty after our performance. (Beth, Cat, Joy, Karen, Shigeru, and Kristen) Photograph courtesy of Zenshinkan Dojo

Rockin' out on Shin-en

With festival pieces like “Matsuri” and “Shin-en” in our repertoire, it was only natural that Odaiko New England would be invited to perform for the Allston Village Street Fair. Dubbed an “urban Mardi Gras”, this event featured many different bands and performers, and we were thrilled to be adding taiko to the musical stew for everyone to enjoy.

Our presentation for the fair was a bit different than our concerts; we played right on Harvard Avenue, between Commonwealth and Brighton Avenues! We played mainly to passersby strolling up and down the street instead of a seated audience, so we opted to perform 4 pieces as a set which we could repeat as needed for the duration of our time slot.

Due to our limited space, we arranged a setup of three chu’s, an okejime set, and miscellaneous percussion. An advantage of the set rotation was that everyone got a chance to play different roles for each song. Thus, I sometimes played chappa, sometimes uchiwa, and other times a chu daiko.

We played two popular pieces from ONE’s repertoire on nanamedai, or slant-stands – Matsuri and Hachijo. Personally, I thought we rocked out pretty well on Hachijo, and the dramatic choreography of that song made it a crowd-pleaser even for casual observers, compelling them to pause, listen & watch. Another highlight for me was my first-ever opportunity to finally play Shin-en on a chu! For more than two years I’ve had “ji duty” when playing Shin-en, setting the groove with the swing ji rhythm at our concerts and other performances, so there was real satisfaction for me in finally playing the chu part.

After awhile, the two main stages began sound checks for the PA systems and bands, and the volume was just too much for our unamplified drums. We were all set to perform the next song, but how much of it would anyone really hear? Mark came up with a great solution to this impasse: we grabbed all our portable equipment (okedo’s, chappa, uchiwa, kane and fue) and took our brand of taiko on a mini-parade down the street and back again! This unexpected excursion was really fun and made for a fitting conclusion to our performance.

I must add that our merchandise table was staffed by the indefatigable Joy. Despite nursing a sore ankle, she played chappa from her chair for a few songs and efficiently managed our table. And while the rest of us were busy preparing for the next song, or supervising a youngster having a go at playing one of our chu’s, Joy handled inquiries from the passersby stopping to peruse our wares and sign up on our mailing list.

Due to the transient nature of the audience we played for, one of Kenny Endo’s pearls of wisdom came to mind - the notion that at a given concert there will be people hearing taiko for the first time as well as people hearing taiko for the last time, and we want them to have a good experience of taiko. On a warm, sunny, late summer Sunday in Allston, I think we left people in either of those categories with a positive  experience of taiko.

The Performance Tent

The expected email from Juni arrived shortly after noon. The gig was on! The forecast had been unsettled, with rain predicted for our evening outdoor performance in Leominster, MA. I had been checking regional satellite images all morning, and I wasn’t seeing a problem. Time to wrap up my work, print out some directions to the venue (to compensate for my flaky GPS), and start on the hour-plus drive.

The last gig I played was at our 15th anniversary concert, reVISION, at the end of May. I was hungry for another performance opportunity. I couldn’t ask for a better lineup: I would be playing two of my favorite songs, Mahora and Hamon; singing Kiyari for Miyake; and playing Shin-En for the first time outside of practice. It promised to satisfy that hunger, at least for a while.

Trying Out the Audience Seating

The venue, located at a senior housing development called Brooks Pond, consisted of a large tent over a stage of interlocking sheets of plywood placed on the grass. Rows of lawn chairs provided seating for the audience. Two massive vertical I-beams planted in concrete footings on either side of the tent hinted at the amphitheater they are planning to build.

Unloading the drums, spiking the stage, and running the cue-to-cue were all executed with characteristic ONE efficiency. After running through the transitions for Act I, I happened to walk past Mark as he was talking to our Brooks Pond organizers. I heard one of them say something about a tornado blowing the tent away. That can’t be good, I thought.

Storm Clouds Gathering

Minutes later, Mark called everyone over to the tent to announce that the set was being shortened considerably, specifically, to nothing. The show was cancelled. A tornado watch had been posted for the area, so continuing with the show was too risky. The show must not go on.

We prevailed on Mark to let us play one song, since everything was all set up and the weather hadn’t arrived yet. We played Shin-En. It was a free-for-all getting to a drum, and I wound up on a 60-gallon drum, which is quite a bit taller than the chudaiko I learned this song on. Shin-En involves some nontrivial choreography, and during the song I whacked my right index finger precisely on the knuckle no less than three times. It is now a nice shade of purple. Deja vu: earlier in the day, Tanya, another ONE member, told me that she also recently played Shin-En on a 60-gallon drum and whacked her thumb, which she never does. The hazards of being a taiko player. I’m still glad we played a song.

Afterward, the organizers graciously invited us inside for pizza and beer. (I drank water because I can’t stand the taste of beer. I realize this limits the fullness of my taiko experience, but I’m OK with that.) We chilled, swapped taiko stories, and sang Happy Birthday to Jasmine.

Am I disappointed? Sure. A lot of good still came of it, though. I practiced the songs, finally learned Shin-En, and spent some time with my taiko family. And with the time saved by not performing, I wrote this post! I know there will be many opportunities to play in the future. I’ll be plenty hungry for the next one.

It was a fun gig, rather like a combination of a Young Audiences show and concert. Mark started things off with some lively katsugi okedo playing, then the rest of us bounded into action for a joyous Shin-En. I had the opportunity to play chappa for it on this night, and I did my best to roam around the perimeter of the audience, jump, skip, frolic and generally look like I was having a grand old time. Actually I was enjoying the moment, so I didn’t have to act. That came later.

I should add that we rattled the rafters of the venue with one of our big-sounding, full-cast, all-hands-on-deck repertoire pieces – Mahora.

Mark, Juni & Kristen performed a chappa trio midway through the show, with delightful flourishes, crisp exchanges and inventive soloing. Usually Shigeru joins at the very end, adding to the comedic elements embedded in the arrangement. However, he wasn’t there this night… but I was.

Timing, goofy play-acting and a big pair of cymbals (trash can lids look great but don’t have much of a sound) are the prerequisites for the part. Since I’m already kind of goofy, big & ungainly I was halfway there. All I had to do was arrive at the right moment beaming a big, silly, eager smile. My countenance then morphed to perplexed when the others didn’t join me, then transitioned to sad. Just to add my own stamp on the performance, I gave the audience my best sad-puppy-dog-look and dejectedly ambled away. Kudos to Cat for suggesting I take the part in Shigeru’s absence, and to Mark for trusting I could make it happen. I think the audience got a real kick out of it.

After our spirited finale of Matsuri, we received a rousing standing ovation. Thank you, Chelmsford!

Just over a week has passed since ONE’s 15th anniversary concert, reVISION. Everyday life is flowing by so fast that I haven’t had much chance to reflect on the experience. It fades into the past so quickly…

reVISION was probably the most challenging performance I’ve done as a taiko player– in large part because I wasn’t just playing taiko.

I played 4 different instruments: electric cello, sanshin, chudaiko, and kane.

Electric Cello

(The Biggest Challenge)

Nowaki with Marshall Hughes. This was a richly layered song involving taiko, violin, voice, and cello. Photo by Joe Foley.

I played cello for 9 years (from age 9 to 18). At the time, I didn’t have the discipline to practice enough at home, though from 7th through 12th grades I played with the school orchestra for an hour 5 days a week. One reason I didn’t practice enough was that I didn’t believe that I could tell when I was in tune–I always felt like others could hear something that I couldn’t. I’ve since learned that I can hear, but that it takes training and practice to be able to hear and respond while playing.

In other respects I lacked confidence as a cellist– especially the longer I played, the more I noticed what I did wrong. I got more and more nervous about soloing, though I still really enjoyed playing with my high school orchestra. (Hmm, and now I prefer kumidaiko to soloing.)

I could go on about my past life as a cellist, but the main thing is that I stopped. I went to college and, for many years, I rarely touched my cello. Then one day Cat revealed that she wanted to learn to play her super cool electric cello. I agreed to teach her in exchange for the motivation to practice again.

Fast forward a year and a half, and Mark is putting together a couple of exciting new songs for our 15th anniversary concert, and the new songs involve cello! So, along with guest artist Marshall Hughes, I got to play cello in reVISION. It was great to be able to perform on a cello again, though remarkably after all these years, the same fears and anxieties resurfaced.

Sometimes It’s Okay to Stand Aside

Those fears were okay when it came to playing the relatively simple, but utterly cool cello parts in the Intro, Kaminari, and Nowaki. However, there was one song I wasn’t ready for. The ensemble played “To Fly” written by Ann Ishimaru of Portland Taiko, which has an absolutely gorgeous melody part originally written for fue and violin. We were going to play it as violin and cello.  On somewhat short notice, I was assigned the cello part, which could have harmonized beautifully with guest artist Yael Bat-Shimon’s violin.

I practiced on my own quite a lot, had some extra practice with Yael, and found that while I can play pretty nicely in tune and in tempo on my own, it becomes much more difficult to play with others… especially very loud drums. Even with an amped electric cello, it was very difficult to hear myself over the drums, match pitch with Yael, and keep up with the tempo. My old fears resurfaced. I needed to practice a lot, and due to the nature of my profession (landscape designer), this is the most challenging time of year to find the time.

I found some time, but not enough. In the end, I realized that I wasn’t quite ready and felt too much stress about it. So, I discussed it with Yael and then Mark, finally asking to be relieved of the job. The piece was lovely with Yael alone, and I was so relieved, it made everything else seem a lot easier afterward.

It was really difficult to face the fact that I didn’t feel ready, I was worried that I would be disappointing Mark and Juni, that I would be messing things up for the song… but I knew in my heart that this time, it would be better without me, and I would be better in everything else without it. I feel very fortunate that I could talk with Mark about my fear, and he made it easy on me.

Island Stroll with Diane. I hope the audience couldn't tell how exposed I felt. Photo by Joe Foley.

Sanshin

(My Newest Instrument)

I picked up sanshin in September 2008, while visiting the Kodo Apprentice Center. So, I’ve played sanshin for less than a year, and somehow it is much less stressful to play than the instrument I’ve played the longest. Strange, but true.

I was paired with Diane for “Island Stroll,” a somewhat improvised cheerful tune that was placed to cover the transition between two other songs. Diane played a swing beat on a sanban, and I played my own tune on my sanshin.

It’s not easy to be one of only 2 people onstage, but I had a lot of fun interacting with Diane. I did feel very exposed, so I think I may not have been as lively as I’d like, but I think we pulled it off! At least we look like we are enjoying ourselves in the pictures.

Chudaiko

(Finally Beginning to Relax)

I got to play chu in the opening of the second act. It was Hamon– Mark’s intricate and energetic composition, which we first began learning about a year ago.

I love playing Hamon. I love playing chudaiko on a tate stand. I feel really good when I do.

Mark wrote Hamon when he was living in Japan several years ago, and it is a remarkable composition. He used rhythms from rock songs (especially one in particular from Michael Jackson), and created a dynamic piece in four parts. The interplay between the parts works marvelously.

Because we’ve been rehearsing it for so long, I really feel like it has seeped into my body. I don’t have to think as hard now. I do still need to focus, and there are challenging parts that warrant frequent practice…. but I feel the song.

Kane

(The Finale)

The last song in the concert was a reprise of Shin-en, with all of the ONE community members participating. I got to dance through the audience playing kane.

Clang, clang!

Playing in the Taiko 10 will be particularly meaningful for me, as it’s somewhat of a personal homecoming– I left the warm sunny skies of Los Angeles almost 8 years ago, before I had the chance to learn how to play taiko. In my six years with Odaiko New England since then, I’ve probably performed close to a hundred shows. Yet most of my family and friends have never seen me perform, including my 92-year old grandmother, who has been an avid taiko fan for the past several years.

Me and Grandma at the 2005 Taiko Conference

She has macular degeneration and can now only distinguish shadows and shapes, but somehow she still gets a great thrill out of watching taiko. I guess that just goes to show the universal power of taiko to reach out and inspire people of all ages, cultures, and abilities– that, I think, is the true spirit of the Taiko 10, and it’s why WE’RE TOTALLY GOING TO ROCK THE JACCC PLAZA ON FRIDAY AUGUST 7!!! There’s no room for nerves, intimidation, or anything less than 110% when you realize it’s not about you or how many mistakes you make or whether you’re as good as all those West coast groups– it’s really about the 92-year old blind woman in the front row who is counting on you to awaken that raw, visceral, exuberant piece of her soul that’s still there somewhere inside, even after 92 years. So rest assured, we’re not flying 3,000 miles across the country to deliver anything less than 10 minutes of raw, visceral exuberance!

Want a sneak peek? Check out the audition clip that earned us a spot:

http://www.youtube.com/odaikonewengland#play/uploads/1/HgUEertBgvQ.

‘YA’ stands for ‘Young Audiences of Massachusetts’.   It also represents a major part of Odaiko New England’s mission – to teach the art and culture of taiko drumming to children.  Through Young Audiences, ONE performs at many schools throughout the region.  In addition, many schools/groups book workshops directly from ONE for more hands-on lessons.

This spring, I had the opportunity to assist Juni while she visited at two local elementary schools.  While we taught workshops to the 2nd graders at both schools, the second school included the YA performance.  The performance was lots of fun, especially since I got to play the role of the Rain God which involved a Japanese mask and a squirt gun.

For these schools, ONE’s visit enriched their lessons about Japan.  During each workshop, the kids learned more about the art form and equipment, then got an opportunity to drum. They even got a chance to learn a song.  The kids had great fun banging on the big drums.  My most touching moment came as I watched one student help a fellow student with special needs experience drumming.  The sheer joy it brought to both kids was really fantastic to see.

The school visits have brought new meaning to my own taiko experience.  I look forward to following the yellow suitcase on its future journeys.

Loaded up and Ready to Go

So, here we are, coming out of our anniversary concert, and there isn’t much time to rest.

It’s my first chance to organize a gig.

I rashly volunteered to organize a performance for the Waltham Riverfest.  Megan Gleeson of the Waltham Cultural Council approached me about this performance some time ago, and since Waltham is my home community and this a new event, I volunteered to organize the performance from the ONE side.  I really want the Riverfest to succeed as an event, and I thought it would be fun to bring ONE to such a public performance in Waltham.

Now I’m learning exactly what it means to organize a gig.

So far, I’ve had to…

1. Find out all the general details (time, location, stage size, where we’ll unload, how long the set should last…).  This was the easy part, since Megan was super helpful.
2. Find out who would be willing to play.  We have a crew of six: Kate, Sheilarae, Joy, Matt, myself, and Tanya.  (Thank goodness I’ve got a good crew!)
3. Determine the set: Figure out what songs we can play well enough, what everyone wants to play, and then actually assign parts!  This was challenging.  I kept changing the song order, trying to balance things so that no one has to play too many songs…
4. Decide what we’ll be wearing.  (Our new black t-shirts, black pants, black tabi, and colorful hachimaki.)
5. Make a loading list with all the needed equipment.
6. Coordinate a little extra practice time.  (Thanks to Mark, and a fortunate rehearsal plan, we got to play 3 of the 5 songs as part of our regular Thursday night rehearsal.)
7. Communicate exactly what is needed and direct people as we gathered all the gear together at the end of rehearsal.
8. Fit all that stuff into 2 cars (in the middle of a heavy downpour).

And today I still need to plan out what I’m going to say in between songs!

Okay, somehow it looks simpler when I list it out like this.  Maybe I should have done that first!

I’m excited to see it all come together tomorrow!