North American Taiko Conference ’09
Beginning last Thursday, Cassi, Emma, Murray and I were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend NATC in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles. Hosted by regional taiko groups, of which there are MANY in So Cal, the conference included opportunities to network, information sessions, taiko and related instrumental technique workshops, multimedia presentations on the history and evolution of taiko in the United States, open jam sessions and performances by groups representing the spectrum of style and ability.
My experience began at the welcome dinner hosted by the taiko group of Centenary Methodist Church (I didn’t know there were church taiko groups either, until I met them on this trip. They are numerous in California’s Japanese American communities). Besides lots to eat there was a taiko jam offering people the opportunity to groove with their peers-literally. Players were encouraged to join groups of others within about 5 years of experience, until the “classics” came up. These were our taiko ‘elders’ who have been pioneers and founders. Check out my Youtube site for a video documenting this evening and other events: http://www.youtube.com/user/backofbehind. Did we have fun? Heck yeah!!
On Friday morning there was another welcoming session at which taiko community parent-child pairs discussed how their relationships and generational issues shaped their own taiko experiences. This was followed by a memorial for kumi daiko’s founding father, Daihachi Oguchi, who died last summer. It included the recounting of personal stories by Tanaka Sensei of San Francisco Taiko dojo who is credited with bringing taiko to the States, as well as others in the taiko community who had had personal encounters with him. A common thread in all of their stories was his desire to share taiko drumming with the world, “spreading it on the wind,” as he had said. If necessary he even sent gifts of taiko drums across the Pacific to help groups get started. Please check out the video I posted at my Youtube site of the conference performance of his two songs Hiryu Sandan Gaeshi and Isami Goma.
Friday afternoon I took a beginning fue workshop with Kaoru Watanabe, who includes in his resume being a member of Kodo, studying traditional Japanese flute music with various masters and currently playing with the On Ensemble. His class was wonderful. He introduced us to various types of fue and the musical genres in which they were developed and then helped us learn not only how to obtain a strong and sustained sound, but how to finger the fue properly, play basic scales and breathe. He allowed recording of his entire workshop and gave me permission to post my recordings on my Youtube site. Look for them soon.
Friday evening, I joined Murray and Fushicho Daiko members Esther, Eileen, Marsha and Ken, in opening the Taiko Ten performance. We were well received and pleased with our run, also posted on my Youtube site. There were nine other groups respresenting various styles of taiko, mostly playing on slant stands and appearing to be strongly influenced by Oedo Sukeroku Daiko, who claim to have originated this style. It was a relaxed crowd, who despite being taiko-knowledgable was also very ready to offer lots of praise.
Saturday I attended an odaiko workshop taught by Sensei Kenny Endo, of the Taiko Center of the Pacific in Honolulu. We learned about various uses of odaiko in traditional Japanese theatre and court presentations, as well as how drum size and height determine a forward or sideways stance, nuances of large and small bachi as well as loud and soft sounds, several drills for improving technique, a song for us to share and the opportunity to solo. It was fun and just the right amount of drum time. Each person had an odaiko and we played almost the entire time.
After lunch I went to a panel presentation about how to and why or why not to study taiko in Japan. Some of the presenters included Charles and Shohei who had been Kodo apprentices, a woman who had studied on her own while living there, Megan who is currently living and studying with Shidara, Masato Baba who has studied with various teachers, Kenny Endo who had lived and studied with Oguchi Sensei, Yuta who had studied with various teachers and groups, and Kelvin Underwood and Marco Lienhard who had both been recriuted as members of Ondekoza. Lots of interesting things were discussed. The take-home messages included: you don’t have to study in Japan to be validated as a taiko player or improve your confidence but these are some of the positive outcomes of doing so, if you really want to do it talk to people who have been there to make connections and learn how to do it, if you really want to study in Japan make it happen, regardless of your age and ability, but don’t expect that studying there will lead to a career as a taiko player.
My last workshop was about how to play a lateral drum, such as an okedo, led by Patrick Graham, a percussionist with training in many Eastern types of drumming. I learned a lot in that 2 1/2 hour session and could have kept on going it was so much fun!! Most importantly for me, I received pointers on holding the bachi appropriately, which meant for the first time I could snap my wrists with power, play faster, and not bleed!!
In between all of the learning sessions were many opportunities to shop in the taiko market place (I found a very reasonably priced pair of take bachi) , eat great and not-so-great food in the many little restaurants, shop in the Japanese supermarkets and bookstores and hang out with new taiko buddies who included my mentor, Amazin’ Grace Kurushima, Tsugio and his associates from BC, Tetsuo from San Luis Obispo and Anita from Albuquerque. I had so much fun I really didn’t want to leave.
Next conference will be in August of 2011 at Stanford. Hope to play with you there!