My first live KODO concert experience started with a pleasant surprise. By being at the right place at the right time, my son and I got to go backstage at Symphony Hall before the concert and meet some of the KODO people. One performer was practicing shime-daiko with bachi that were tapered [...]

It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been on a blind date – afterall, what would Mr. Lau say? Yet that’s exactly what meeting Kodo today feels like! Not only do I get to meet members of Kodo, I’ll be driving some of them to our reception after their Boston concert.
Yesterday, [...]

It may have been the first time anyone has participated in a jam-session Miyake with Kodo while wearing an LBD (Little Black Dress). It was certainly the first time I observed such a thing. For sure, a Kodo drummer pounding out a wild, macho Miyake on one side of the drum, with a poised, elegant [...]

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 [...]

I just had a whirlwind weekend full of rhythm, attending a concert each day for the past three days.
Friday Night: San Jose Taiko in Keene, NH
Wow!
One of the early numbers was a piece involving passing accented rhythms back and forth between two pairs of drummers.  I hope I can develop timing like that one day!  [...]

Several members of ONE trekked to Keene, NH, to witness the cyclone known as San Jose Taiko rock the Colonial Theater. ONE has a direct connection to SJT in the person of Meg Suzuki; before she left ONE to join SJT’s artistic staff, Meg-sensei taught the classic taiko song Yatai Bayashi and more to me [...]

Now I’ve seen it all!
Odaiko New England just concluded an awesome week hanging out with Shoji, Maz, Kris and Kelvin from On Ensemble, one of the most cutting-edge and dynamic taiko fusion groups out there. I was blown away by their speed, technique, musicality, complexity, precision– but most of all by their interpretation of what [...]