Edo Bayashi & Shishimai expert Kyosuke Suzuki sensei

Suzuki sensei has been one of my most important teachers over the past ten years.  My first opportunity to meet and work with him was during the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble 2005 tour and I remember being immediately struck by his deep commitment to the highest performance standard.  North American audiences may know him best as the brilliant shishimai performer with a lengthy and life-like repertoire of choreographed actions such as playing with a butterfly, licking its leg, eating a mikan (tangerine), searching for food, and interacting with the audience.  Although 'shishimai' is usually translated as 'lion dance,' Suzuki sensei has mentioned in workshops that the shishi (獅) is a mythological creature, not technically a lion.  He also contemplated that the word 'dance' may be closer to odori (踊り) than mai (舞) because of the subtle differences in implication.  This kind of detailed explanation is a great illustration of Suzuki sensei's dedication to the meaning of this traditional art form which helps us understand its context and perform it more appropriately.  Anyone who has studied with him would likely agree that he is a masterly instructor who is kind and patient while never compromising his expectation of the highest artistic integrity.

Edo Kotobuki Jishi at 2011 NATC concert

Suzuki sensei is also an exceptional musician on Japanese flutes (nohkan, shinobue), taiko, atarigane, and piano.  Based in Tokyo, he belongs to the acclaimed Wakayama Shachu, a performance troupe and school in the tradition of Edo Sato Kagura, recognized as an important intangible folk cultural asset by the Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs.  It would be absolutely fantastic if someone was able to present the kagura performance by Wakayama Shachu in North America one day.  Seeing performances and studying these traditional Japanese music forms have been invaluable to my own musical development, and I'm always encouraging other taiko and fue players to research and engage in the rich history of these instruments.  One of my personal performance highlights was at the 2011 North American Taiko Conference evening concert where I appeared on stage with three of my teachers (Suzuki sensei, Saburo Mochizuki sensei, and Kenny Endo) for Edo Kotobuki Jishi.

Last summer, Yuta Kato (Asano Taiko US & Los Angeles Taiko Institute) and I worked to bring Suzuki sensei for a two-week teaching tour that included San Jose, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle.  For much of this trip, I accompanied and translated his workshops and private lessons, covering Edo Bayashi (festival music of old Tokyo) and Edo Kotobuki Jishi (shishimai of Edo).  I've also translated for Suzuki sensei on previous occasions, and the more I see his teaching, the deeper my appreciation for his approach becomes.  His pace of instruction is fast, yet meticulous.  His energy is usually greater than everyone else's combined as any workshop participant can attest to.  And the session is truly free of extraneousness.  His insistence on vocalizing music parts (kuchishoga) and his frequent demonstrations are my favorite parts of the workshop.

See videos and more info about Suzuki sensei here

I'm excited that Asano Taiko US in Torrence, CA is now selling the recommended fue, bachi, sheet music, and CDs for Edo Bayashi and Edo Kotobuki Jishi.  These materials are used by Wakayama Shachu and recommended by Suzuki sensei.  It's great that now anyone can order them from the Asano US online store. 

See the recommended materials here

Please contact me or Asano Taiko US for questions about the instruments and to receive updates for future opportunities to study with Suzuki sensei.  His workshops and lessons are always followed by enthusiasm and positive feedback, so the more people there are to join me as his fans, the more often we can invite him over to share his expertise with us.

Making simple sauerkraut at home

For anyone who thinks that sauerkraut is not delicious, I would urge you to try making it yourself at least once.  Like most things, homemade is quite different from store bought.  For the rest of us who love the stuff, it's fun and rewarding to make.  And it couldn't be simpler.  My fermentation guru is Sandor Katz, who has extensively researched and written about fermentation traditions around the world in his two indispensable books, Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation.  I highly recommend both.

The most important factor for the best sauerkraut is the quality of the cabbage.  Fresh, organic cabbage from the farmer's market is best (unless you grow it yourself - the kraut made from my garden's cabbage was the best I've ever had).  Because we're relying on the natural bacteria (lactobacillus) already on the cabbage, organic makes a lot of sense, and the same is true for freshness.  Another detail is the salt ratio.  I use a scale to weigh the salt at 2.5% of the weight of the cabbage because I have one and it's the best method for batch-to-batch consistency.  Of course you can salt to taste and it will probably be just fine, but weighing allows you to make salt adjustments to suit your preference.  I use unrefined sea salt (Korean sea salt in this batch) because it tastes better and the minerals (calcium) help keep the cabbage texture crunchy.  The final element is fermentation time, which depends on bacteria vitality, salt level, fermentation temperature, and personal taste preference.  This batch was fermented for 5 days where the room temperature was in the low to mid 60s F.  The acidity is medium low and it has a slightly fruity aroma and notes of horseradish on the palate.  The airlock is not necessary at all but I use it because it's fun and I have a lot of them lying around.  The lid is Tattler and I drilled a hole to fit the rubber stopper that holds the airlock.  The jar is the 1.9 liter Ball, the largest I can find that takes the standard wide-mouth lids.  This jar would hold at least 300 grams more cabbage than what I used.  I also have a little glass weight holding the cabbage under the liquid.  Here I used a mix of green and red cabbage, but any cabbage is fine - savoy, napa, or any other greens like kale, mizuna, etc.  A mandolin can make the cutting easy, but for me the task is just as fast with my very sharp knives.  Playing with spice additions is fun too - juniper, caraway, lavender, coriander, and such.  Don't forget to label!  Painter's tape is great for that.

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mix the cabbage and salt, let sit at least 1 hour for the juices to release

Purple Sauerkraut
1300g shredded cabbage (1 red, 1/2 green)
32.5g sea salt (2.5% of the weight of cabbage)

squeeze the cabbage to get enough liquid out to cover the cabbage

airlock is fun but not at all necessary
a glass weight helps keep the cabbage under the liquid

pet the kitty if he's in a friendly mood

it came out red (magenta) but it was purple when I labeled it
it tastes really good!

Interview: Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos talks about shakuhachi and working together

During my time in Vancouver (Canada) Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos was the musician I worked with most often.  Our group Maru performed in concerts, festivals, and collaborative projects with guest artists around British Columbia and Washington.  Alcvin's huge sound and strong personal expression is a great match for taiko and other percussion accompaniment.  Because both of us love to improvise, our music features open structures where we can create in the moment. 

In the interview, Alcvin talks about his background, important teachers, the categories of shakuhachi, his roots pilgrimage trip to Japan, collaborating with other artists, and the music we made together.  I have included some of Maru's music along with the conversation: Esashi Oiwake (Hokkaido traditional), improvisation on a fast groove, Sakura (traditional), Madake Grooves (Alcvin's piece), vibes & shakuhachi improvisation, and Wara (Eien's piece). 
 

My homemade bread method

freshly baked rye bread

I've been baking bread at home for over ten years, trying several different methods during that time.  The first book that helped me get more serious about bread was Dough by Richard Bertinet.  After that was Mark Bittman's New York Times article about Jim Lahey's revolutionary no-knead method and book My Bread.  Finally, Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast is the source of my current recipe and technique.  His Portland restaurants' bread and pizza simply speak for themselves and I rushed out to get his book after tasting his bread.  I really appreciate Forkish being very detailed in using scales (in grams), thermometers, and percentages so that we can get a handle on the relationship of the ingredients.  This allows for very easy up and down scaling of batch size, plus makes it easier to experiment and adjust to our own tastes.  The basic recipe makes two loaves, and here I've baked one and stored the other dough in the fridge to bake later or for pizza or focaccia.  Once you get the hang of the white bread, it's easy to substitute whole wheat, rye, or other flour, as well as throw in dried fruits, nuts, and seeds to your liking.  The important points are hydration level, long fermentation with less yeast, and high heat baking in the cast iron dutch oven.  Forkish has some good videos explaining and demonstrating these steps.  Making this bread is easy and inexpensive and the joy you can bring to others by sharing a loaf is even better than the happiness of seeing your beautiful bread come out of your own oven.

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Overnight White Bread
1000g all purpose flour
750g water around 90F
20g sea salt
1g instant yeast (less when the house is warmer)

2. mix the dry, add water, and mix until the dry clumps are gone
cover and ferment 12 - 18 hours at room temp
find a warm spot if the house is cold

4. next day, 15 hours later it's ready to divide in half and form into rounds

6. after a couple of hours covered, it has doubled and is ready to bake

1. ingredients and equipment
the small scale is not necessary because the yeast amount can vary

3. assistant: "ok, now you have time to play! where's da bird!"

5. I'm baking one and refrigerating the other to use later in the week

7. preheat cast iron dutch oven in 475F oven (use oven thermometer)
bake the bread covered 30 min, then remove lid and bake 15 min longer
cool completely on rack before eating

Interview: Colleen Lanki of TomoeArts on kabuki and collaborating

My friend and Vancouver-based dancer, director, writer, and teacher Colleen Lanki was in town for the final performance of Portland State University's kabuki production Chushingura.  She is the artistic director of TomoeArts, "a dance theatre company that works between traditions and disciplines" and regularly produces some of the most intriguing and original work I've seen.  Colleen kindly agreed to join me in my studio where we talked about the kabuki play, her training in Japan, thoughts on collaborating, and the various projects we worked on together.  Included in this recording is music I composed for two of the productions mentioned in the interview - EN: a raincity street dance and Voices of Hiroshima.  Working with Colleen has been fun and rewarding especially because we were able to create a number of different shows together.  Finding like-minded artists is not as common as I would like, so I'm happy when opportunities arise to work with someone like Colleen.

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Colleen's website
TomoeArts website
TomoeArts youtube
TomoeArts facebook
TomoeArts flickr
 

Voices of Hiroshima

EN3: Community Circles

EN: a raincity street dance

EN: The Procession of Performing Circles