Resonance 2010

Resonance 2010: “Reflections”

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. After the success of Resonance II: "Echology'" last year, the project is back in its third incarnation, "Reflections," with the original cast and a new set of all-star collaborators. This year's Tokyo show features the unparalleled dexterity of tap dancer Tamango, the angelic voice of Matsuda Mio, cutting-edge percussion by living legend Kiyohiko Semba, contemporary taiko beats by Ryutaro Kaneko, soulful acoustic bass by Choro Club's Jyoji Sawada, live art by master calligrapher Koji Kakinuma, and a multimedia stage set by D.H. Rosen. With a stellar cast assembled for the sole purpose of creating new fusion and forms, this year's "Reflections" promises to be a music/dance/art that defies definition and engenders new expressions.

Review by Metropolis: Japan Beat

Artist Info:

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, along with his performance activities, he teaches at the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center, curates a music, art and dance series entitled “Nakanaka,” and will be co-teaching a course on taiko at Princeton University this fall.
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Tamango

Dance, Vocals

Tamango is one of the world’s leading interpreters of tap dance and it’s connections to other world dance, music, and cultural styles. His revolutionary approach to tap transforms his dance into music with a sharpened sense of style and awe-inspiring fluidity. Born in Cayenne, French Guiana, Tamango moved to Paris at age eight and began a formal education in art. For over 15 years, Tamango has been a major force in the downtown New York City scene performing at underground joints and clubs. Tamango has collaborated with Japanese Butoh master Min Tanaka, French choreographer Philippe Decoufle, and musicians including Bobby McFerrin, David Murray and countless others. He later developed his work into a full ensemble evening, called Urban Tap, which has toured extensively throughout the US and abroad. While he continues to tour with Urban Tap, Tamango is also engaged in starting a center for creative activity in his native French Guiana.

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 Anniversary "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.
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Kiyohiko Semba

Percussion

The son of Koyu Semba, head master of the Semba School of Japanese traditional music, Kiyohiko Semba took up traditional drums and percussion under his father at the age of three. He made his debut on the Kabuki stage at the age of 10 and has been pursuing his career as a musician ever since. As a distinguished percussionist, of deep musical capacity, Semba has developed his many and diverse activities not only on the Japanese traditional music scene but also in pop music and various traditional music genres. In 1999, Semba released his third solo album, Semba, a Kozuchi of Rhythm in which he exhibited his talents on 80 different percussion instruments. That same year, he formed a new group, “Unit Semba” with the talented bassists, Nobou Nakahara and Benisuke Sakai, which later became "Semba Sonic Spear," releasing the group’s first album Sonic Spear in 2003. Nicknamed “Shiso” (master), Semba is is known throughout Japan and around the world as a true master of his craft and one the all-time great percussionists.
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Ryutaro Kaneko

Taiko

In 1987, Ryutaro Kaneko became a member of Kodo, the internationally acclaimed taiko group based on Sado Island in Niigata, Japan. He has been performing both throughout Japan and around the world ever since. Ryutaro was a central player in Kodo, performing with them in 32 countries on six continents. Beyond his stage work, he was also a key figure in both composing and arranging pieces for the stage as well as recordings and held the positions of musical director and artistic director for the group. From early on, Ryutaro began performing in unique and different styles, both individually and collaboratively. His performance contradicts the traditional image of Japanese drums that is predominantly based on sheer stength, and instead also expresses delicacy and richness in various types of rhythm and sound. He has been involved in a great number of on-stage jam sessions and collaborations with artists from many different genres, such as jazz, rock, world music, traditional Japanese music, and dance to name a few. Ryutaro left Kodo to become an independent artist in 2007. He continues to perform and teach both in Japan and around the world.
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Jyoji Sawada

Acoustic Bass

It is not easy to categorize the works of Jyoji Sawada. His relentless genre hopping has allowed him to approach music from more of a modern classical perspective. Brazilian music is represented by CHORO CLUB which Sawada has belonged to for 18 years, POP certainly influences his style, and he even incorporates a string quartet into much of his work. Sawada is kind of a "kitchen sink" style composer, heavily utilizing the sampler and the studio, but all his sounds are quite beautiful and intriguing. It is not only his style of music that spans a wide spectrum, his field of work also ranges from producing other artists both domestic and abroad, as well as composing/producing music for soundtracks for films, dance, theatre, musicals, and TV-programmes. Throughout it all he has worked with various artists all over the world such as Marcos Suzano, Arto Rinsey, Jaques Morelebaum, Joyce, Simon Fisher Turner, and Teresa Wong (Erfu).
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Koji Kakinuma

Live calligraphy, Stage art

Born in 1970 in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, a rural area two hours north of Tokyo, Kakinuma began studying traditional Japanese monochrome brushwork at the age of five. Kakinuma’s own father, Suiryu, a renowned artist in his own right, was his first teacher and also introduced him to one of the greatest artistic influences of his life: Yukei Teshima. The flamboyant Teshima, who received international acclaim for his bold, powerful work among artists such as Picasso and Matisse, took the young Kakinuma under his wing, calling him the most promising student he had ever seen. Kakinuma’s works make a clear break from the traditional styles of old-fashioned Shodo calligraphers, sublimating Shodo into modern art. It is this revolutionary approach that has brought him acclaim both at home and abroad. 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. He has been invited to demonstrate and show his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Phildelphia Museum of Art, Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan, Liang Court in Singapore, as well as other prestigious venues.
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D.H. Rosen

Stage Art, Production

Originally from 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 Masters 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. Since 2006, Daniel has been a core member of the Tokyo-based Art Collective Rinpa Eshidan which became an overnight internet sensation that same year. With Rinpa, Daniel has shown his work throughout Japan and the world in exhibitions and live-art installations. Never forgetting his roots as a writer, Daniel has also been a regular contributor to the Japan Times art page since 2005.
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