Performing with Koji Kakinuma at the ”Japan!Culture+Hyperculture"

Kaoru will perform with Koji Kakinuma(Japanese calligrapher/artist) at the Millenium Stage in the Kennedy Center, Washington DC as part of “JAPAN! culture + hyperculture festival”.The Kennedy Center has broadcast the Millennium Stage performances live on the web. And it also broadcast performance archives.

Performance "Trancework - the world of BAKE-MOJI" Feb.12,2008 (Tue) 6:00pm-7:00pm at Kennedy Center : Millennium Stage (part of “JAPAN! culture + hyperculture” festival)

 Shodo(Japanese calligraphy) is a unique art form that embodies both the graphic aspect of painting and the temporal aspect of music. One of Kakinuma’s specialties is a performance in which he executes a work of Shodo in concert with musicians. He has experimented various kinds of performance - from traditional to avant-garde, from figurative to abstract, from small pieces to monumental works. At Millennium Stage, Kakinuma presents an epoch-making Shodo performance with two improvisational musicians - Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese fue flute) and Tatsuya Nakatani (contemporary percussion). Using a byobu (Japanese folding screen), Kakinuma plays “the world of Bake-Moji,” the metamorphosis of simple characters into a work of abstract art. Kakinuma also presents one of his trademark innovations Trancework, in which he paints countless repetitions of a simple, powerful phrase as he falls deeper and deeper into a trance.

Koji Kakinuma website: www.kojikakinuma.com Tatsuya Nakatani website: http://www.hhproduction.org

for more information about the festival, see http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/festivals/07-08/japan/index.cfm http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=KAKINUMAKO

To watch performance live on the web: access http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/ at 6 p.m. Eastern time on that days.

To watch performance as archive: access http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=KAKINUMAKO

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20566 Tickets and Information: 800-444-1324 or 202-467-4600 Administrative Offices: 202-416-8000

Performing with Tatsuya Nakatani(Per.) (Feb.6)

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

KRUSSIA: New album released

My good friend KRUSSIA, a crazy Russian beatboxer has released an album called Making Moves. I am playing both flute and fue on the creatively named track, "F**K YOU" featuring C-Rayz Walz. Please visit KRUSSIA's Myspace page for details.

Richard Amos: Karate Video released

My good friend Richard Amos has released a karate video that is meticulous in detail, comprehensive and clear in content and is beautiful to watch. The soundtrack isn't too shabby either.  For more information, please go to http://www.amazon.com/Shotokan-Mastery-by-Richard-Amos/dp/B000W2IIFU

S.O.B's presents JAPANESE NIGHT(Dec.4)

S.O.B's presents JAPANESE NIGHT Feat. ZAN  

special guests: Manhattan Taiko Featuring: Kaoru Watanabe Special Appearance: 10tecomai

date & time: Dec. 4(Tue) doors: 7PM, Show: 8PM Place: S.O.B's www.sobs.com   204 Varick St. @ W.Houston tel: 212-243-4940  

Song of Shinobue CD releaced

  A CD of my father's compostions has just been released.  I think it's gorgeous music that embodies my father's passion for music and his bicultural life.  It was an honor to be a part of this album.

Haruka Watanabe- Composer and Violin Ayako Watanabe- Harp Kaoru Watanabe- Flute Jennifer Montone- Horn Vera Parkin- Piano

http://aamrecordings.com/SongofShinobue.htm

"Mai" at Niigata & Sado (Dec. 21 & 22)

I will be performing with the dancer Wakabayashi Mitsue in Niigata city on the 21st of Dec and in Sado on the 22nd.

=================== In Niigata:

Date & Time: Dec. 21st (Fri)  7:30 pm show

Place: Gioia Mia www.niigata-gioiamia.com Tel: 025-224-2588 Ticket: 4,000 yen for advanced tickets, 4,500 yen at the door

======================= In Sado:

Date & Time: Dec. 22nd (Sat) 6 pm show

Place: Sado, Kanai Nohgakudo

Tel: 0259-63-4124

Ticket: 3,000 yen for advanced tickets 2,500 for below middle schoolers               plus 500 yen for tickets at the door

Live at "In F", Tokyo(Dec.18)

I will be performing in Tokyo on the 18th of December with great guitarist Natsuki Kido and singer Mio Matsuda. Natsuki is a very in demand guitarist in Tokyo, while Mio is an elegant singer of Portuguese, Brazilian and Japanese music. This will be the first time the three of us work together as a unit. "In F" is the name of the jazz bar. They have great ODEN and sake all from the Niigata prefecture. Take the Seibu- Ikebukuro Line to Ooizumi Gakuen. From the north exit, it is a 10 minute walk.

Date & Time: December 18th(Tue),  starts at 8 pm.

Address: Nerima Ku, Higashi Oizumi 3-4-19. Tsuda Building 3rd floor Tel/fax:  03-3925-6967

charge: 3000 yen

Please e-mail in-f.sato@nifty.ne.jp or just e-mail for further info.

Go: Organic Orchestra report

I performed in this wonderful ensemble lead by the great percussionist Adam Rudolph at the Roulette in Soho this past monday. The music can basically be described as structured group improvisation shaped by Adam as he guides the musicians along with a variety of predetermined hand signals indicating pitch, scales, melodic shapes, dynamics, range, tempo, texture, solos etc.

For instance, Adam may indicate the strings to play a low, soft long held note using any note of a certain scale - creating a lush dissonant chord- while the trumpets play short high bursts of staccato notes in a different key and over these layers of sound, a bass clarinetist may be improvising freely.  Consequently, much of the music is atonal and devoid of specific tempo, although there are times when Adam directs us to play pre-established rhythmic grooves and melodies.

Adam was constantly listening to the contours and movement of the  solos and accordingly shaping the orchestral backing, giving the   music a compelling ephemeral quality to it.  All of the twenty some musicians there were strong improvisers, able to take the music in very different emotional directions.

Adam also encouraged everyone in the orchestra to bring non-western woodwind instruments.  Among the many "non- conventional" instruments that I saw there was a fulani flute from West Africa, Brazilian flutes, harmonic flutes, quarter tone flutes, a shakuhachi, bird whistles, bottles, didgeridoos, Native American flutes, and an ornate Vietnamese flute.  My Noh Kan, Ryuteki and shinobue felt very at home in this setting.

The Orcehstra will perform once more this monday, November 26th.

GO: ORGANIC ORCHESTRA (Nov. 19 & 26)

GO:  ORGANIC ORCHESTRACreative music concert residency

MUSIC COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY ADAM RUDOLPH

Mondays - November 19 & 26  @ Roulette 20 Greene St. (between Canal and Grand) 2 blocks west of Broadway 8:30 PM $15 at the Door DTW members students, seniors: $10 Reservations: 212.219.8242 Roulette & Location One, members free www.roulette.org   www.location1.org

Each week will feature a unique orchestration - Participating artists include:

Graham Haynes. Martin Loyato, Stephen Haynes, Amir Eisaffar – Trumpet and Cornet Steve Swell, Peter Zummo – Trombone Ned Rothenberg, J.D. Parran, Charles Waters, David Rothenberg, Avram Fefer - Clarinets Tomas Ulrich, Daniel Levin, Kirsten Jerme, Alex Waterman, Rubin Kodheli - Cello Charles Burnham, Jean Cook, Sarah Bernstein, Gwen Laster – Violin Stephanie Griffin, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Viola Sylvain Leroux, Ze Luis, Michel Gentile, Jane Rigler, Steve Gorn, Kaoru Watanabe – Flutes, Bamboo Flutes Batya Sobel, Salim Washington – Oboe Sara Schoenbeck – Bassoon Jerome Harris, Leni Stern, Kenny Wessel, Marco Cappelli, Matt Waugh - Guitars Harris Eisenstadt, Brahim Fribgane, Shaun Kelly, Mamadou Makan Kouyate – Drums and Percussion Lindsey Horner, Nick Rosen, Keith Witty, Stuart Popejoy, Tim Kiah, Kevin Farrel – Acoustic Bass Chris Dingman – Vibes, Marimba Alex Marcelo, Sylvie Courvoisier – Acoustic Piano "A pioneer in world music”          - NY Times "The music, performed by a large ensemble of wind and percussion players, rose like vines from hand drummer Adam Rudolph's written instructions and hand signals. And it truly is organic -- a blend of gentle sustained dissonance, heaven-crashing rhythm jams, and individual improvisations. No joke: a startling and involving development in roots music, with more to follow."

 - Greg Burk, LA Weekly

for more on GO: ORGANIC ORCHESTRA http://www.metarecords.com/gohtml       

Gagaku and Capoeira

Okay, it's hard to say if I really started either considering I've only done each once but they both are something that I think I can really get into if I just keep it up.  These are both things that I've had interest in but have had neither the time nor the opportunity to properly study. Gagaku is something that I have always loved and have spent time in the past trying to stylistically imitate the way the Ryuteki (Gagaku flute) is supposed to sound from CDs.  Ironically it is not until I after I left Japan that I have sought a little more formal training in Gagaku.  I visited the workshop of the Tenri Institute.  The workshop was taught by Noriyuki and Louise Sasaki who also teach Gagaku at Columbia University.  Like I said, I only went once, but they graciously gave me some music to work on and I realized that I had been thinking of some of the most well known songs (Etenraku for example) wrong as far as what where the measures and beats lay.  One thing I have learned about Japanese music in general is the importance of the SHOUGA (not ginger but the type of omonomopiatic vocalization of melodies that they have in so much of Japanese music).  I started really trying to check out the Shouga and through that trying to get some of the more subtle nuances that I had been missing when trying to imitate just from records.  One goal of mine is to try to memorize a Gagaku piece in it's entirety- including the shouga- by the next practice a couple of weeks from now.  I also want to memorize a few more Bach pieces so I sort of have a lot on my plate.

So, on to Capoeira.  I visited the studio of the venerable Maestre Joa Grande.  An instructor named Matt took me aside and showed me the very basic movements of Capoeira and their names.  Not being able to speak Portuguese, I really struggled trying to remember the names of some of the moves.  I remember the English equivalent to some: "Cut the Grass"  "Scissors"  the name of a frog, the tail of a certain type of fish, etc but that doesn't help when Matt was calling out the names of the movements in their native tongue.  Since I haven't been getting too much exercise recently, I really felt it in my legs and I know I will suffer for it tomorrow.  However- it was great!  A huge challenge to the mind and body.  I intend on keeping it up.  I will probably take a lot of classes in the beginning to get the basics, then cool of a little as my I get really busy with all the calls for gigs that I expect will be coming any day now.

Daniel Rosen: RESONANCE page

Daniel Rosen has set up a nice page regarding my RESONANCE concert.  I will be putting up images and video as soon as I can.  The concert happened almost two months ago by the way...  I work slow.

http://www.geocities.jp/wtymd050/misc/resonance/index.html

Ear to the Ground (Oct.18 to 20)

Kaoru will be creating the music for a new dance piece, Lenora Lee and Elaine Wang with guest Mina Nishimura in Chinatown from October 18th through the 20th at 7:30 pm. Please see the images below for details.    (click thumbnails to see large images)

Earth Celebration '07 report

Earth Celebration '07 August 17th, 18th and 19thAn account of the three days of concerts

For me personally, Earth Celebration was a whirlwind of  emotions; a desperate grappling of euphoria and despair, an icy coldness trying to blanket an overriding anxiousness and endless, fervent praying. Come to think of it, maybe it's like this every year for me as Artistic Director and maybe that's a sign that I'm doing something wrong! Nonetheless, I always feel that I'm a sort of Atlas trying to carry the world on my shoulders- that I'm using physical and emotional will to make this thing work. To make it happen.

Of course, what really makes it happen are the great people on stage who produce all those wonderful sounds and create those beautiful images, the backstage crew who thanklessly make sure the cogs are greased and mashing away together seamlessly, the staff and volunteers who make sure people and things get to where they need to go, when they need to- and provide as much comfort as possible throughout. I know it's definitely not me that makes things happen but there are moments when it feels that way.

During the first day's concert the mood was very relaxed. Rehearsals had gone well and it seemed everyone was able to remember the feelings and emotions to be expressed in the individual pieces, the timing and intensity of the transitions, all while retaining the overall flow of the concert. Since I was only playing in one piece, I decided to let go of the reigns and not get too involved. I ended up watching most of the concert from the audience - and enjoying it!

The second day for me had a little more tension- there were some technical and personnel issues, that occurred on many fronts including things seemingly unrelated to the stage- that allowed for some potentially very beautiful elements of the evening to not quite bloom as I hoped they would. Of course the performers and staff were ALL models of professionalism, each displaying his or her craft with the utmost grace and elegance, but there had also been a random series of unfortunate turns of events that somewhat diminished the results of what my expectations to the evening were. I still consider the concert a success though and feel that it offered the usually excitable Earth Celebration audience an opportunity to relax under the beautiful crescent moon hanging in the sky and be immersed in the sounds of meditative Indian ragas and plaintive Okinawan melodies.

The morning of the third concert came and I vowed to myself that none of the various little problems that plagued the second day would effect the third concert. To take it a step further I literally told myself that I was going to make things work- even if I had to give my life for it! To do it with the intent that this was the last thing I was going to do on Earth! I look back on it now and think: Such drama! But that's what weeks of inadequate sleep and high levels of stress do I suppose. Anyway, since the afternoon rehearsal was the first time all the performers actually gathered on stage together I knew that what we were able to accomplish during that rehearsal was crucial.

Fortunately things went as well as could be expected in the afternoon. Then came the actual concert. There were many guest artists involved this year and I wanted to not only feature each one but to have interesting musical combinations between them and with Kodo. In order to generate a large wave of energy and tension that would somehow give a sense of continuity to the disparate songs, I decided to structure part of the concert as a series of pieces that were linked with very quick transitions that used Kumada's lighting artistry to instantly draw the audience's eye from one story to the next.

This meant that performers often had to set up and prepare to play a piece before the previous piece was finished, in a darkened part of the stage. And that's why we have a very capable back stage crew to give the performers cues for when to go on stage. However, since so many of the performers don't speak Japanese, and since in most cases they had to be reminded not just when to go, but what piece to play, at what point to start, what was coming next and how to finish- I took it upon myself to rush around backstage during the show- literally running back and forth between stage left, stage right and to the back of center stage (where there were stairs for entrances)- to personally explain to each guest performer what was happening.

By the end of the show, after all those transitions came off flawlessly (and after what I hear were some amazing performances) by the time the final note of the grand finale came, my feelings of relief were almost overwhelming. Everybody was onstage playing and after having drawn out the second to last note forever, I conducted, with abandon, that last note with a big up and down jump- I leapt as high into the air as I could so that I could savor that feeling of euphoria- to stretch out that feeling, and time along with it forever. I distinctly remember looking down at the stage during that leap and wondering if I was ever going to come back down.

The Untitled Concert(Sep.21)

The Untitled Concert- an evening of experimental music and dance

  (click thumbnail to see large image)

 Shoji Kameda - taiko/electronics  June Kuramoto - koto  Cynthia Lee - dance  Chris Spilsbury - guitar  Kaoru Watanabe - fue

Friday September 21st, 8:00pm Tickets: $10 at door Marina Sound Group 4121 Redwood Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90066

Live with Toru Tenda(Bass. Fl)

After a triumphant premiere of RESONANCE at Roppongi's SuperDeluxe, flutist Kaoru Watanabe will be performing in a very intimate setting, a small jazz spot called "In F" in Ooizumi Gakuen.  This time, Kaoru will be playing with the bass and contra bass flutist Toru Tenda.   The contra bass flute, for those of you have never seen one, is taller than a person and plays two octaves below a "standard" flute- a somewhat unusual instrument with a fascinating sound.

Although not set yet, there will most likely be a special guest on taiko performing as well.  Please come by!

Tenda's website (in Japanese only) http://homepage.mac.com/torutenda/

When: September 14 (Friday)   8 pm

Where: In F Ooizumi Gakuen station off of the Seibu Ikebukuro line 5 minutes walk from the North Exit phone: 03-3925-6967

How much: 3,000 yen not including food and drinks

In F's website: http://homepage2.nifty.com/in-f/

(9.13.2007) Tetsuro Naito of the Japanese Taiko player will come on stage and join us tommorow.  Don't miss it! 

RESONANCE

Thank you to everyone who came to RESONANCE at SuperDeluxe.  I felt a lot of love in the audience that night and the energy was palpable.   People, including the performers in many ways, didn't know quite what to expect- but it didn't seem there were too many people disappointed by the end of the night.  For me, it was probably one of the most gratifying performances in my life.  I was able to incorporate elements of jazz, free jazz, Brazilian music, spoken word, electronics, Japanese Noh and Minyou, performance art, live painting, contemporary dance, interactive stage art, etc etc into a somewhat surprisingly symbiotic concert.  The artists I gathered together all contributed so much to the show and each beautifully held his/her own like the true artists they are.

Thank you to the artists, all the volunteers, Mike and SuperDeluxe, Yamano san, and especially Eri chan for all the invaluable support!

I will post photographs and video as soon as they are ready.

Kaoru Watanabe’s RESONANCE

Kaoru Watanabe’s RESONANCEfeaturing Tamango, Koji Kakinuma X Mio Matsuda + Hiromichi Sakamoto Stage art by D.H.Rosen

New York based flute/fue player Kaoru Watanabe brings together some old friends for RESONANCE, an intimate music/ dance/ art experience at Roppongi's SuperDeluxe August 31st at 8pm. With Victor Records recording artist Mio Matsuda, cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto, Japanese calligrapher Koji Kakinuma, ceramics artist D.H.Rosen and featuring the masterful tap dancer Tamango.

Date&Time: August 31st,2007 at 20:00 (19:30open) Place: Roppongi's SuperDeluxe www.super-deluxe.com Fee: advance 3500Yen, regular4000Yen

To make reservations, please visit the SuperDeluxe website http://www.super-deluxe.com or our mobile site http://www.sdlx.jp. To reserve via FAX, include the name and date of the event / your name / number of reservations / your TEL number / and FAX to us at 03-5412-0516. Reservation deadline is 6PM the day before the event.

http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/700/agenda.asp

Earth Celebration 20th Anniversary Concert Artistic Director/Guest Performer

The annual World Music festival "Earth Celebration 20th Anniversary Concert" presented by the internationally acclaimed taiko ensemble KODO.  Date: August 17,18 and 19th Place: Niigata Prefecture, Sado Island

featuring: Zakir Hussein (Tabla) Yosuke Yamashita (jazz piano) Giovanni Hildago (conga) Tamango (tap dance) Takako Sato (Okinawa Classical Dance) Mio Matsuda (vocals) KODO

Earth Celebration offical website: http://www.kodo.or.jp/ec/index_e.html