On Ensemble returned from a great weekend at the 2nd Annual Eastern Taiko Conference. It was quite a busy weekend. On Thursday I (Shoji) flew into New York and performed that night with Kaoru Watanabe and Patrick Graham at Zebulan. It was a great way to start the weekend. We performed an all improvised set and it’s always great to perform with musicians like Kaoru and Patrick. The next day we drove to Wesleyan and met up with Maz and Kris who were on tour with Taikoproject. The three of us spent the weekend leading workshops and getting a sense of the East Coast taiko community. Through our tours we’ve met quite a few of the East Coast groups but it’s still surprising how quickly groups are springing up.

On Saturday we performed a great concert with Kaoru Watanabe, Patrick Graham, Kenny Endo, Miles Endo, Isaku Kageyama and TAIKOPROJECT. In the first half we played an integrated set with Kenny, Kaoru and Patrick based on our ongoing TAIKO 2.0 collaboration. Isaku and Miles joined in for a couple of pieces and really added to the mix. In the second half Maz and Kris switched costumes and took the stage as TAIKOPROJECT. I joined them to perform “Omiyage” then Kenny led a rousing 8 person version of “Symmetrical Soundscapes” to end the concert. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some video of the concert soon in the meantime enjoy these photos from Ben Pachter’s flickr account.

All in all it was a great weekend of taiko. A huge thank you goes out to Cheryl Tan and the organizers of the 2nd annual Eastern Taiko Conference who did a great job organizing the conference. At each one of these taiko gatherings there are a ton of behind the scenes people who helped make all this happen. Stuart Paton and Burlington Taiko were carting drums around everywhere, David Cheetham came all the way from Vegas and was a life saver producing the concert, there were helpful volunteers everywhere and somebody made hundreds of warm musubi to greet the participants as they arrived. As a workshop leader and performer we have the easy job just show up teach a workshop and play but the real props should go to all the organizers and volunteers who make these events possible.

-Approximate miles driven in the van – 5,563 plus
-Shoji and Kelvin’s approximate time spent in the van – 49 plus
-Maz and Kris’ approximate time spent in the van – 90 plus
-States passed through – California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas
-Time zones passed through – 3 (Pacific, Mountain, and Central)
-Number of Lecture/Demonstrations – 7
-Number of Concerts – 3
-Times chains had to be used – 2
-Approximate cups of rice made – 30
-Approximate curry lunches (Punjab Choley from Trader Joe’s) consumed – 13
-Approximate tofu dinners consumed – 10
-Times our gas light went on – Once. There was a stretch of the 10 freeway in Texas where there were no gas stations for like 150 miles. Abunai!
-We actually had time to watch the 49ers vs Giants NFC Championship game! It was fun, but we wished for a different out come!
-Times I got asked if I was “that guy in the Hangover” – 4. Dang Ken Jeong. Is this a good compliment or a bad one? Maybe it’s time for a haircut.

-Times Kris got asked if he looked like Scott Hamilton – Once, but this was probably the 2nd or 3rd time someone asked him that. Other people Kris has been compared to: Chris Martin of Coldplay, Paul Bettany, Ari Shapiro (voice only), and… Arnold Schwarzenegger???
-I asked Shoji and Kelvin who they’ve been compared to. Shoji said Jake Shimabukuro. Kelvin said Saul Williams.
-Kris won the “Man Card” of the tour. He was the best at backing up the trailer. I had to give up being the driver and he had to take over.
-Kris and I stopped at “The Thing” off of the Interstate 10 Freeway. I can’t tell you what it is. You have to google it. Silly stuff… it was only a dollar, so why NOT? Gotta do at least one silly thing on tour right?

During our time in Pinedale we ended up eating at the Wind River Brewery three times in two days and even made friends with some of the regulars (shout out to Kenny!). Yesterday we drove from Pinedale to Gillette through terrible weather. It was slow going but we arrived in one piece. Tomorrow we’ll be going out to a local elementary school for a couple of lecture demos. Today we finish our tech early and are settling down to watch the Niners!

For those of you who don’t know, Paradise Lost is a production we did in Pasadena in 2007 that ran for about three months. It combines operatic singing (with seven leads), a choir (over 200 singers!), acting, choreographed fighting, electronica, cello, a DJ, and taiko (us, of course). The story is about children of angels who were locked in their angel city when their parents left to battle. The parents never came back and the children are forced to govern themselves. This results in internal conflict.

Last year, Shoji and I performed at Carnegie Hall in New York which was a blast! This year, we’re here in Chicago and are at Disney Hall in Los Angeles on June 25. Check it out!

Here is a picture of today’s rehearsal.  You can see Kris and the taiko all the way on the left side.

Miles driven: 7465
Workshops taught: 18
Performances: 9
Taiko players met: 252
Car issues: 1 bad coil, 6 bad spark plugs, 1 bad tire and rim
Coldest temp: 6F (near Denver, before wind-chill)
Babies born: 1

After Spearfish SD, we made our way to Ketchum ID, for a residency with Sun Valley Center for the Arts. In two, jam-packed days we did three school shows, a rehearsal and collaborative performance with Footlight Dance Company, and a final concert. The word “packed” is particularly apt because all the events were in different locations, so the days involved lots of moving drums. But Kristine, Albert, Britt, and the rest of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts gang were so overwhelmingly helpful and hospitable, that our time in Idaho was some of our best on tour. Thank you to Kristine and Hilarie and everyone who came to our final show!

Kids at one of the schools we visited made us sweet thank-you cards.

Footlight Dance Company choreographed a number of dances to On Ensemble’s music and we did a joint performance at a local high-school. It was a real treat to work with Hilarie and have our music realized in movement. Congratulations to the dancers! Here is Footlight’s interpretation of Shoji’s Watashi Watashitachi.

We then made our way to Ogden UT for two workshops with Ogden Buddhist Taiko. We taught Composition Step By Step and did a Master Class, giving feedback on the structure, playing form, and timing of one of the group’s pieces. It was a fun-filled six hours of taiko. Thank you Stan and Ogden Buddhist Taiko!

Our final workshop was in Las Vegas, with the great Kaminari Taiko. We taught Composition Step By Step and were able to pull together a pretty satisfying draft of a piece in our 2.5 hours, thanks to the 3/4-time base beat suggested by one of the members. There were lots of great ideas all around. Thank you Jen and Kaminari Taiko!

After Toronto, we made our way state-side to Bowling Green OH, where we visited the university-based Kaze no Daichi.  Here we debuted my new, Composition Step By Step workshop, with the ambitious goal of composing a whole piece in 2.5 hours.  My teaching and the workshop structure was a bit rough around the edges but the members of Kaze no Daichi were extremely creative and productive.  There is much good music to come from these guys.  Thanks to Jake and the gang for having us!

We then headed to Chicago to visit long-time taiko advocate, John Yost, and members of his groups.  John is a force for taiko, presenting groups like Kodo in years past, and now performing regularly, and providing access to taiko classes in the greater Chicago area.  John knows all about the rigours of touring and very graciously arranged a workshop and housed us for the night.  We had a great time with the Chicago taiko characters, teaching the 30 Days to Better Shime workshop for John and six of his students.  Thank you, John!

From friendly face to friendly face…  Long-time On Ensemble friend and supporter, Wendy Jedlicka, arranged a workshop for us in Minneapolis.  In planning the tour, I initially thought we’d travel south and would miss Minneapolis.  When our route changed, I contacted Mu Daiko but it was too late to arrange a formal workshop.  Many of the members were going to be in Sacramento for an odaiko intensive.  But Wendy invited available Mu members and taiko friends to join us for another round of Composition Step By Step.  I felt much better about how it went this time.  We were able to bang together a rough piece inspired by Renshuu and all the participants had great ideas and questions.  Thank you Wendy!

From Minneapolis, we made our way to Spearfish SD, for a performance arranged by the Spearfish Arts Center at the Matthews Opera House.  The organization of the concert was rather last-minute, and we had no idea what to expect.  None of us had ever performed in South Dakota and we had flashbacks of a concert in 2009, playing for a single audience member (John in Placerville, we love you!).  It turned out our fears were unfounded.  Michael at the Spearfish Arts Center went to great lengths to take care of us, the theater was the perfect size and sound for our music, and the concert was attended by a throng of enthusiastic, loving Spearfishians.  It was a wonderful experience, and one of the highlights of the tour!  Thank you Michael and the great folks of Spearfish!  Hope we’re able to return someday!