RESONANCE 2

RESONANCE II: 'Echology'

Kaoru Watanabe presents
Featuring Tamango + Mio Matsuda, Tatsuya Nakatani, Yuu Ishizuka and D.H. Rosen / Opening and closing sets by DJ Skinny Pants
In 2007, while still serving as the artistic director for the world renowned Japanese performing arts group KODO, fue/flute player Kaoru Watanabe called together a group of friends to form Resonance, a one-night multimedia celebration of sight and sound that astounded the audience. Now based in New York, Kaoru has reassembled much of the old cast and called upon some new friends to realize Resonance II: 'Echology' for a three-show tour of Japan. With the unparalled mastery of tap dancer Tamango, the angelic voice of Matsuda Mio, cutting-edge percussion by Tatsuya Nakatani, contemporary taiko beats by Yuu Ishizuka and a multimedia stage set by D.H. Rosen, 'Echology' promises to be an unrivaled music/dance/art experience.
Audience members are requested to bring a camera (with a flash) to the show!

Artists' information:

Kaoru Watanabe(Artistic Direction, Fue, Flute)

A conservatory-trained classical and jazz flute player (Mahattan School of Music) who has worked with such musicians as Jason Moran and Stefon Harris, Kaoru Watanabe's approach to music underwent fundamental change while living in Japan. Over the course of nearly a decade, Kaoru studied and performed with the acclaimed taiko ensemble KODO, as well as with various master practitioners of traditional and modern Japanese arts including the great Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando. Kaoru also served as artistic director for Kodo's international music festival "Earth Celebration," working with such luminaries as Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hildago and Carlos Nunez. Parting ways with Kodo in 2006, Kaoru currently resides in NY where he continues to perform and teach Japanese and western flute and the taiko. He recently established the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center where he teaches movement basics, singing, and other fundamentals crucial to the taiko expression. Kaoru's most recent project, 'Naka Naka,' puts him at the helm of a biweekly music, dance and art series in Manhattan that takes its cues from traditional and contemporary Japanese culture.

Tamango (tap dance, Vocals)

Following on the heels of its wildly successful 2001-2002 U.S. tour, Tamango's Urban Tap premiered the revolutionary "Full Cycle," a sold-out two-week run at New York's Joyce Theater, showcasing the group's one-of-a-kind sound and astonishing visual display. Within this mix, Tamango creates magical and timeless happenings inspired by the rhythmic cadences of the street's global sounds. Driven by an urban beat immediacy and fueled by improvisation, Tamango is a master of improvisational exchange and spontaneously generated rhythms.
"Urban Tap finds comrades in any deep rhythmical recitation. You can almost see the diorama of the world speed behind the band." -The Village Voice "At the helm of this exciting arrangement is Tamango, a revolutionary tap artist who has been described as 'one of the great tap artists performing today,' a dancer of astonishing speed and lightness whose feet produce a rippling, richly complex cannonade of tap beats. He never ceases to suprise - don't miss him!" -The New York Times

Mio Matsuda (Vocals)

Mio Matsuda began her singing career when she discovered fado, the magical traditional music of Portugal. Living in Lisbon and learning the culture, she developed fado as a form of her own self-expression. Over the past several years she has traveled the globe as a representative fado vocalist, and released three albums to great critical acclaim. While becoming an important figure in interpreting the music of Portuguese culture in Japan, Mio has collaborated with artists from all over the world, such as the legendary Yamandú Costa (Brazil) and the inspired Jadranka Stojakovic (Sarajevo). In August, 2007, she was invited to Kodo's 20th "Earth Celebration" to share the stage with Giovanni Hidalgo, Zakir Hussein, Yosuke Yamashita, Tamango and Kodo. Mio's unique singing style and sensibility reflects her colorful background and inspiring journeys.

Tatsuya NakatanI (Percussion)

Tatsuya Nakatani 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 the dru mset, bowed gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects, bells, and various sticks and bows to create 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 Master classes and Workshops at the University level. Nakatani is the head of 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.

Yuu Ishizuka (Taico)

Son of the celebrated Noh percussionist Saburo Mochizuki, Yuu Ishizuka was practically preordained to become a giant in the taiko world. By the age of 12 he was performing on the stage with "Hatoyama Koin no Kai," a Japanese performing arts group directed by his father, and at 18 he joined the professional taiko ensemble "Oedo Sukeroku Daiko" with whom he performed all over the world. While continuing to refine his skills on the the Japanese drum, in 2001 Ishizuka joined the West-Coast style punk band "jammed train," performing at live houses across Japan and releasing two albums. The following year he became a member of the traditional Japanese music ensemble, "Shake CHA-z" together with fellow Oedo Sukeroku member Masashi Itohara, in which the two taiko players joined renowned fue player Yasho Tosha And shamisen wizard Hirokazu Yamaguchi to compose and perform unprecedented compositions using these ancient instruments. In 2006, Ishizuka and Itohara formed the taiko duo "style II.com", in which their unique blend of taiko and digitally sequenced music met with great accolades. In 2009, Ishizuka left Sukeroku Oedo Daiko to pursue further solo and collaborative projects including the newly formed "strush." Throughout his multifaceted career, Yuu Ishizuka continues to explore the limits of the ancient Japanese drum in a contemporary context.

D.H. Rosen (Stage Art)

Born 1971 in Philadelphia, Daniel Harris Rosen first went to Japan in 1990 when he fell in love with clay and traditional Japanese pottery. Daniel would go on to spend most of the 90s in Japan doing writing and production work, but he always reserved the weekends for time behind the potter's wheel.
In 2000, he returned to the United States to formally study ceramic arts and spent over three years in the University of Hawaii at Manoa art department honing his craft. During that time, Daniel's work was exhibited at both state and national exhibitions in the United States, and he gained a local following on the island of Oahu where he lived.
In 2004 Daniel moved to Tokyo where he took a break from vessels and began doing large-scale installation work. In March of 2007 he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Tama Art University and was accepted into their doctorate program immediately after. His present research and studio work focus on reexamining the boundaries of ceramic arts in a 21st-century context.