February 6th (Wed)
Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese flutes) and Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion) will be performing an evening of improvised duets at the Tenri Cultural Institute as a precursor to an upcoming performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Doors open at 8 pm, music begins at 8:30
$10 with reservations, $15 at the door
For information and to make reservations please call 646-624-9405 or e-mail Kaoru at kaoru@watanabekaoru.com
Tenri Cultural Institute is located in Greenwich Village on the ground floor of 43A West 13th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues (near the New School and Parsons School of Design).
http://www.tenri.org/
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ARTIST INFORMATION
Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese flutes) Originally from St. Louis, MO, Kaoru graduated from the Manhattan School of Music as a jazz flute major in ‘97. He then moved to Japan to join the acclaimed Japanese drum (taiko) ensemble KODO, where he spent 9 years as a performer- specializing in the various Japanese flutes (Shinobue, Noh Kan, and Ryuteki) and artistic director. He left Kodo in ‘06 and returned to New York to further explore music informed by Noh, Kabuki, Gagaku and Japanese folk songs as well as jazz, classical music and free improvisation.
Kaoru has performed with, among others Bando Tamasaburo, Jason Moran, Stefon Harris, and has acted as artistic director of Japan’s oldest world music festival, Earth Celebration- where he worked in collaboration with Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hildago, Tamango, Yosuke Yamashita and calligrapher Koji Kakinuma.
In order to be able to share the knowledge and experience from his time spent in Japan and from a lifetime of playing music, Kaoru also teaches and gives workshops in shinobue and taiko drums.
http://www.watanabekaoru.com/
Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion) is originally from Osaka, Japan. In 2006 he performed in 80 cities in 7 countries and collaborated with 163 artists worldwide. In the past 10 years he has released nearly 50 recordings on CD.
He has created his own instrumentation, effectively inventing many instruments and extended techniques. He utilizes drumset, bowed gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects, bells, and various sticks and bows to create an intense, organic music that defies category or genre. His music is based in improvised/ experimental music, jazz, free jazz, rock, and noise, yet retains the sense of space and beauty found in traditional Japanese folk music.
In addition to live solo and ensemble performances he works as a sound designer for film and television. He also teaches Masterclasses and Workshops at the University level. He also heads H&H Production, an independent record label and recording studio based in Easton, Pennsylvania. He was selected as a performing artist for the Pennsylvania Performing Artist on Tour (PennPat) roster as well as a Bronx Arts Council Individual Artist grant.
New in 2007, Nakatani has created a 9-piece Bowed-Gong performance, which includes 40″ and 35″ gongs.
http://www.hhproduction.org/TATSUYA_NAKATANI_WORKS.html
