Brooklyn and East Coast Shakuhachi Friends!

Visiting my “coast of origin” from where I reside in the woods north of San Francisco, I look forward to this afternoon and evening at the wonderful Soapbox Gallery on
July 15, 2019 at 7:00 pm, $15 cash at door, no reserve
636 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY

Embrace the dynamism that is my strange path of a woodwind life: join me at the crossroads of Watazumi and Muddy Waters, on the road from Coltrane to Tool.  Respirational fortitude and an entire new repertoire for all adventurous shakuhachi people and elemental Zen practitioners.

Concert – 7:00 pm

I will be offering an engaging evening concert featuring primarily original compositions, plus a honkyoku or two and some rock, blues or theme music as the mood strikes. Living in the woods north of San Francisco, I have been hard at work for over 10 years creating, practicing and building new catalogues of solo shakuhachi compositions and arrangements, including 27 pieces for Taimu (mukyoku, 2009-2010) and the recently completed Shakuhachi Unleashed album trilogy; a current total of about 75 pieces for jinashi and bass shakuhachi (but ripe and ready for any type or size of flute).

Workshop – 2:00-5:00 pm

The workshop will be a 3-hour intensive introduction to Bamboo Gospel, a signature style that grew unseen in the dark depths from the seeds of orchestral, experimental, chamber, funk, jazz, dokyoku, progressive rock and metal that formed the fabric of my professional music life from 1989 until 2016, at which time I became a full-time shakuhachi professional.  I propose that all open-minded and creative shakuhachi souls could benefit from engaging in this fertile territory with me.

 Topics:

– stylistic roots, mindset and philosophy
– compositional details including riffs and deep blues vocabulary
– special techniques: circular breathing, breath distortions and texture turbulence
– specific pieces “Taste of Nothing” and “Purgatory”
– respirational fortitude

Attendance fee includes scores and instructional materials and entry to the evening concert.