On Ensemble : Masato Baba, Kristofer Bergstrom, Shoji Kameda and Kelvin Underwood » Kelvin’s Blog

Dancing With People

kelvin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:56:58 +0000

Last night was the last of two performances with the Dancing People Co. of Ashland, OR. These performances marked the end of their two week workshop residency at Crater High School in Central Point, OR. It’s always great working with these guys. I hope to post some photos as soon I get them.

MLK Celebration

kelvin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:33:02 +0000

Every January in Ashland, Oregon there’s a celebration for Martin Luther King and the ideals of civil rights, inclusion and social justice through non-violence, compassion and courage. For this event I’ll be peforming taiko with Sue Lundquist of Hand in Hand Drumming on West African and Afro-Cuban drums, and Brent Florendo and Dancing Spirit Ensemble on Native American percussion. We had our first rehearsal today and we had so much fun! We’ll only have to perform for about 15 minutes, but we’ve begun to develop way more than 15 minutes worth of music. This is going to be really great, these guys are really cool people and musicians, and I hope to collaborate more with them after the MLK celebration.

Terry and Todd at Stanford University

kelvin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:47:02 +0000

t-squared (Todd Barton and Terry Longshore) will present a performance of Mark Appleabaum’s “The Metaphysics of Notation” at Stanford University’s Cantor Art Center this Friday, Dec. 18, at noon. The performance will last one hour. If you’re in the Bay Area this weekend you should definitely try to check these guys out.

Kelvin

Dancing People Company

kelvin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:58:41 +0000

This week I had my first rehearsal with the Dancing People Company based here in Ashland, OR. On December 19th, ‘09 they will have their 4th annual winter solstice dance celebration and I’ll be collaborating with them on one piece with taiko. We met this Wednesday and had an improvisational session. This was a really great experience for me since I’ve never collaborated with dancers before. Check out their website for more information dancingpeople.com

Ondekoza CNBC Interview

kelvin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:02:44 +0000

My sister has unearthed an old CNBC interview of me and Ondekoza. I had totally forgotten about it. It’s funny how choppy my English was then due to speaking Japanese and broken English the whole time I was in that group. Here’s the link:

Special cymbal

kelvin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:56:10 +0000

I’m excited to begin using a new ride cymbal in my setup in On Ensemble. It’s a Zildjian K Custom 21″ Special Dry cymbal. What does that mean? Well, when one strikes the bow of the cymbal all of the articulations project really well. Also when you strike the edge of it you get a crashing response with a quick decay effect. Recently I’ve been making a switch from bright, sibilant cymbals to those with darker, earthier tones that compliment the sound of taiko. This particular cymbal has deep undertones and I believe it’s perfect for the music that On Ensemble produces.

Horseman closes

kelvin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:36:29 +0000

Death and the King’s Horseman closed on Sunday July 5th. I had a really good time working with the other musicians and actors in the play. It was a great way to have been introduced to the Yoruban culture in Nigeria. Thanks to those who came out to see the play.

Taiko in Ashland

kelvin — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:19:32 +0000

For the last three months I’ve been offering taiko classes in Ashland, Oregon. Currently classes are being held on Monday afternoons 12:30-2PM and Friday evenings 7PM-8:30PM. All levels are welcomed. A variety of traditional rhythms and really useful techniques are covered. If you happen to be in the area and you’re interested in lessons just contact me at kdrumlab@hotmail.com or give me a call at (541) 488-5503 for more details.

What’s new with Kelvin?

kelvin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:05:05 +0000

It was my pleasure to present a taiko demonstration for the Oregon Reads 2009 program last Tuesday in Medford, Oregon. Oregon Reads 2009 is a community reads program that is encouraging Oregonians to read certain books. This program will take place in nearly every public library and in every county in Oregon during the state’s sesquicentennial, January through April of 2009. One of the selected books is Stubborn Twig by Eugene, Oregon author Lauren Kessler. It’s the true story of three generations of a Japanese-American family, spanning across the 20th century in Hood River, Portland and Eugene.

The pieces that I performed were “Miyake”, “Kaitoryu” and “Yataibayashi”. It was an interesting experience performing all of these ensemble pieces solo. This Friday I’ll offer a taiko class here in Ashland, Oregon. This will be the start of regular taiko classes that will be held once a week at the InnerSpace studio located at 280 East Hersey St. Bldg. #1 Ashland, OR. For more information contact me at: kdrumlab@hotmail.com

Taiko to Yoruba

kelvin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:48:05 +0000

The tour to the east coast was awesome. I especially had a lot of fun playing “Miyake” with Kaoru at the Drom show and at Kinokuniya. It had been a long time since we both had played the piece and man am I sore. It was also great to share our experiences with Kodo and Ondekoza. Now I’m back in Ashland, Oregon and today I’ll begin rehearsals for the Wole Soyinka play “Death and the King’s Horseman“. It’s a Nigerian play that features Yoruban drumming and I’m one of the percussionists. I’ll be performing with the Nigerian master drummer Bisi Adeleke. This will be a lot of fun and an awesome learning experience. The play opens on February 21st and closes on July 5th. If you can, come check it out.