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.

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!

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 inspires the whole taiko crew.

I’m sure that you’ve figured out now,
To whom I’m directing a bow.
To Juni, we toast,
With a bit of a roast,
And as much as my poor rhymes can do.

–Jasmine Hall

For Mark:

A taiko tale I’ll try to tell,
And what I can’t I’ll hum.
About a guy who brings cowbell
To the playing of the drum.

He’s a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll,
And a bit of Broadway musical.
With a sense of humor rather droll,
And rhythm rather Seussical.

Is his teaching interrogative?
Perhaps modeled on an old movie?
It’s much more than his prerogative,
His style is really groovy.

How groovy is it?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Bueller?

–Jasmine Hall

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 well

–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 with flowers and hugs
Then cozy napping

–Jasmine Hall

See, we DO watch other things besides the many gigabytes of rehearsal videos Karen has been posting on our private Youtube account!

Karen, Tanya, Jasmine and Sheilarae at Chili's