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This June we’re very excited to be performing in Eugene, OR at the Oregon Bach Festival!

Since 1970, the Oregon Bach Festival celebrates the music and legacy of J.S. Bach in an unequaled environment of performance, discovery, and community, in the refreshing early summer of the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps the most expansive and critically acclaimed platform for Bach’s music in America, the Festival forges connections between people through a love of great music.

I’m still not sure quite how we were picked to be a part of the OBF but it’ll be an absolute honor to be among the amazing artists at this year’s festival!

On Thursday June 25th, we’ll be performing at 6:00pm at the Jordon Schnitzer Museum of Art for the public reception of the World Harmony Project.

On Saturday June 27th we have a kids show “Taiko Together” at 11:00am and a full concert at 7:30pm at the Soreng Concert Hall.

Check out the Oregon Bach Festival website for the full schedule of events.

Okay I though 3.5/5 stars was bad but we just set a new record low for an On Ensemble album review.  1.5 stars from In Tune magazine a weekly entertainment tabloid, published each Friday by The Daily News in McKeesport, Pa.  According to the rating scale 1.5 stars means “Run for your life”.  Ouch.  Well at least it was honest and was an actual review as opposed to a descriptive definition and at least we got a strong reaction.  In the spirit of “no press is bad press” here is the full review:

The avant-garde musical stylings of On Ensemble, which fuse traditional Japanese drums (taiko) with modern elements of rock, hip-hop and electronica, probably will appeal to many listeners. Sadly, I’m not one of them, as I have no desire to revisit “Ume in the Middle”.

I found this nine-track mostly instrumental collection to be a challenge to get through and, despite my best efforts, couldn’t embrace the music of Masato Baba, Kristofer Bergstrom, Shoji Kameda and Kelvin Underwood.

Songs such as “Waiting” and “After Rain” - with the latter’s use of bamboo flute and bizarre, wordless throat singing - are intriguing, if not enjoyable, and I kind of liked “Butoh-bot Malfunction.” But for the most part, this is a record that is too out there for my taste. Perhaps I’m just not sophisticated enough.

Our next performance will be at Drom on Friday January 16th at 8pm.  We’ll be joined by frequent On Ensemble collaborator and amazing Japanese and Western flutist Kaoru Watanabe. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Drom website.

Our performance in Brattleboro was great fun and we have many people to thank. First of all a big thank you goes out to Todd Roach and the Loft for presenting us at the New England Youth Theater. I was blown away by the community of world percussionist that Todd has nurtured in Brattleboro. It’s great to see the arts thrive in smaller more rural communities. Another great big thank you goes out to Patrick Cooperman of Cooperman drums for letting us stay at his beautiful home in Grafton. Cooperman drums makes some of the best frame drums around and his house is full of great antique drums… a drummer’s paradise.

Finally a huge thank you goes out to Patrick Graham for coming down and playing with us. Patrick should be familiar to On Ensemble fans and he has a new solo CD coming out soon called “Rheō“. I got a chance to hear some of the tracks on “Rheō” and they sound amazing. Patrick has a series of CD release concerts coming up in Montreal so check them out if you are in the area:

“Rheō“ - A concert series marking the release of Patrick Graham’s first solo CD, featuring guests Ben Grossman (hurdu-gurdy & electronics), Kaoru Watanabe (fue & flute) & Tomomi Morimoto (contemporary dance)
January 22nd-23rd
8:00pm
MAI, Montreal arts interculturels
Montreal, Quebec

Our next performances will be on the East Coast. We’re heading to New York for the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference. We have two showcases:

Saturday Jan 10th, 6:55pm
Sunday Jan 11th, 11:05pm
Lincoln Suite, 4th Floor, NY Hilton

On our way out to New York we’ll be stopping in Brattleboro for a performance at the Loft on January 9th. After the conference we’re headed to Boston for workshops with Odaiko New England then back to New York for a performance with Kaoru Watanabe at Drom.

Patrick and Kaoru are two of our favorite musicians and collaborators. They are both featured on our live CD “Ukiyo” and on our new upcoming studio album “Ume in the Middle”. “Ume in the Middle” will be released 3/3/09 but we’ll have pre-release copies at both of our East Coast performances.

Just added a new performance date! We’ll be joined by New York based Western and Japanese flute specialist Kaoru Watanabe. On Ensemble fans will recognize Kaoru as a frequent collaborator and amazing musician. Should be a great performance. Tickets are $15 and are available now at: 212 777-1157 or at the Drom website.

This weekend we’ll be performing with Mu Daiko at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis from Friday November 21st through Sunday November 23rd.  Mu Daiko was one of the first On Ensemble supporters.  Back in December  of 2003 they brought us to Minneapolis as guest artists for their annual concert series.  Michelle was still with us we didn’t tour with a drum kit or a turntable and the koto was used for only one piece: Gengakki and even that has changed drastically since then.  We’re looking forward to hanging and performing with Mu Daiko again!

Mu Daiko with On Ensemble
November 21-23rd
Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm Sunday at 2:00pm
Tickets: $25 students/seniors, $27 general
Buy tickets by phone: 612 436-1129 or online

During the week Kris, Maz and Kelvin will be headed up to Winnipeg to lead workshops for our friends up in Winnipeg Hinode Taiko.  I’m unfortunately going to miss the Winnipeg trip and will miss Mr. Ono’s amazing butterfish sushi and famous tuna, avocado and grapefruit salad.

Today Maz and Kelvin hit the road with a van packed full of equipment to Minnesota! On November 15th we’ll be performing at the College of Saint Benedict Saint John’s University’s Humphrey Theater in Collegeville then we’ll be performing with Mu Daiko at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis November 21-23rd. In between the two performances we’ll be heading up to Winnipeg for workshops with Hinode Taiko. It should be a fun little tour provided we don’t get stuck in bad weather. We’ll be making posts from the road so keep checking back!