There’s a yellow suitcase marked ‘YA’ in the equipment closet.  During our practices, we regularly borrow equipment from the suitcase.  But more often, the yellow suitcase tags along as we help load equipment into and out of Juni‘s car before and after practices. ‘YA’ stands for ‘Young Audiences of Massachusetts’.   It also represents a major part of Odaiko [...]

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 [...]

For Juni: She will paint you a musical story, Of troops in all of their glory. But tales of daring Are not all she’s sharing. She’ll throw in some goofiness, too. On Yui, she’s totally groovin’ She’s got the whole audience movin’. With a flip of a stick, And her grin that’s so quick, She [...]

Shin-En Revisioned Doing fast triplets is hard Most of us couldn’t Colorful obi We debated at great length Finally, yellow I wait nervously When do I come in again? I think I missed it Cello, take, gong Hira, vocals, Thunder God It’s Kaminari Senryu stands waiting Sheilarae and Greg spaced out All’s well that ends [...]

reVISION concert a powerful performance Mark and Juni proud –Dave Buerger Lying on sofa Strong coffee, good book and cat. Nothing else to do. –Sheilarae Lau Counting my bruises Bags and circles under eyes When is my massage? –Kate Jurow Carry Odaiko on Saturday and Sunday Muscle pain Monday –Dave Buerger Full throttle weekend Ends [...]

As Mark said, “The Cool Factor was definitely on the high side!”   How often do you get to drum in the middle of Harvard Square amidst a laser light show with fog machines and a confetti storm - all while staring down a 2-3 story float shaped like a Harvard Prof???   That’s cool enough, but then add to that the reason why [...]

  Our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, is playing and I badly want to sit down.  It’s not my patriotism in question — I’m just dead tired!  I’m actually playing the anthem on taiko drums,  so that’s another reason to keep upright for a bit longer Backing up to the beginning:  Odaiko New England [...]

  For the second year in a row, ONE played for Northeastern University’s International Gala Night. From the general bounciness of Kokyo to the rock ‘n’ roll of Mahora, we were definitely setting off some good vibrations as evidenced by the enthusiastic response of the audience, not to mention the dust floating down from the [...]

Bachi flew everywhere. So did bananas and the chicken, making its plaintive cry as it flew through the air.

This past weekend was a whirlwind of taiko events, and has already been written about in one or two other blog posts. However, being the sort of person I am, who always has to insert her opinion into the conversation, I’m writing yet another. Enjoy! For me, the weekend stressed the importance of Attitude in [...]