Interview: Kaoru Watanabe talks Japanese etiquette, studying, teaching, and performing

photo by Max Whittaker

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Kaoru Watanabe, a friend and wonderful musician based in New York. We first met while I was living in Honolulu and playing with the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble. Kaoru and I have performed together in a variety of configurations over the years and I always have a fantastic time. I especially appreciate his musical openness and keen ear which constantly kindle spontaneity and real interaction on stage as we improvise. Kaoru, like myself, is all about the music, and I think this philosophical bond can be heard in our conversation.

For this interview, I asked Kaoru about etiquette in Japanese culture and more specifically within traditional arts. My interest in this topic has grown as I learn more about 礼儀作法 (reigi sahou, or etiquette system) through my Edo Bayashi studies with Kyosuke Suzuki sensei. At the beginning of the interview, I mention Suzuki sensei’s video interviews I produced for the Online Edo Bayashi Gathering in February 2021. Here is the link where you can find three videos dedicated to this topic:

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7974529

As I had anticipated, Kaoru shared valuable insights he gained through a wealth of experiences in the US and Japan. I can relate to his fluency in both cultures so it felt easy and natural to conduct the interview. The included music are excerpts from three of Kaoru’s pieces: Merge, Shinobu, and Bloodlines. I am grateful to Kaoru for his time and look forward to the next time we can record another interview on a different topic.

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Website
http://www.watanabekaoru.com

Youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBL_1I2mRPcVK2gvyRAeNA

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/kaorufue/

Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center
http://www.taikonyc.com

Kaoru Watanabe, a New York-based composer and musician specializing in Japanese flutes and percussion, works with such groundbreaking artists as Laurie Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Yo-Yo Ma, Wes Anderson, Bando Tamasaburo, Simone Leigh, and Jason Moran. Watanabe is known for the artful and innovative ways he merges traditional Japanese music and theater elements with the contemporary Western world.

Originally from St. Louis, MO, where his parents played in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Watanabe played classical music as a child before going to the Manhattan School of Music to study jazz flute and saxophone. He then spent a decade in Japan, re-discovering and diving deep into his cultural roots as a member of the iconic taiko drumming ensemble Kodo. Watanabe studied a wide variety of traditional Japanese folk dances, songs, drumming, Noh, Kyogen, tea ceremony, woodworking, and rice farming to deepen his understanding of Japanese culture and the function and place of the performing arts within it.

As a solo artist, Watanabe seeks to collaborate with artists who embrace both tradition and innovation, such as Eva Yerbabuena, Imani Uzuri, Tamangoh, Adam Rudolph, Alicia Hall Moran, Rhiannon Giddens, Jen Shyu, Susie Ibara, Hassan Hakmoun, Zakir Hussein, Gamin, Vernon Reid, Wu Man, Tseyen Tserendorj, and many others.

As a composer, Watanabe writes for various, often unconventional instrumentations and explores a wide variety of compositional techniques. He has written orchestral works for the Sydney Symphony, premiering them at the Sydney Opera House. Watanabe composed music for the Academy Award-nominated Isle of Dogs soundtrack and three separate commissions for Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad ensemble. Watanabe's compositions often explore social justice, politics, history, and heritage. He has written a piece called Iki, meaning "breath," a mantra-like performance-art piece for Eric Garner. Watanabe has written for prepared koto about the Japanese fighter planes used in WWII, a symbol of both the beauty and genius of Japanese culture and the evil and destruction it perpetrated. During the pandemic, Watanabe developed a body of work that uses electronics to sample and playback his flutes, drums, and voice live, allowing him to create ensemble works solo that he titled INCENSE.

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Interview: Kiyoshi Nagata talks Daihachi Oguchi, Kodo, and the taiko artist life

Kiyoshi Nagata

I had a fun time talking with Kiyoshi Nagata, the founder and leader of Nagata Shachu based in Toronto. We first met in Vancouver at the 2008 Regional Taiko Gathering, and I remember how his workshops and concert performance were all great. In this conversation, I learned a lot about Kiyoshi's interesting background which included training from Osuwa Daiko's Daihachi Oguchi as well as Kodo's apprenticeship program. Nagata Shachu, his professional taiko ensemble, keeps a busy schedule with tours, recordings, and an impressive array of artistic collaborations. One of the most interesting aspects of Kiyoshi's group is the large number original compositions they have created and performed. His website lists this repertoire along with many other informative resources so I would encourage everyone to check it out at the link below. Another topic Kiyoshi discussed in depth was his teaching philosophy. I wanted to hear his perspective because he has taught taiko classes for credit at the University of Toronto and public classes at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Kiyoshi kindly sent me his newest CD/DVD set called Toronto Taiko Tales, and I have included some music from the album in the interview. I enjoyed it for the original compositions as well as the quality of the audio recording. The pieces are Hana, Enya Totto, Taichi no Sakebi, Tokiwa, Zare Shamisen, and Araumi. His youtube channel is full of concert footage so you can get a glimpse into the work of Nagata Shachu.

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Kiyoshi Nagata

Kiyoshi Nagata, founder and artistic director of Nagata Shachu, has been performing in a career that spans 35 years. His principal studies were with Daihachi Oguchi (as artistic director and performer of the Toronto-based, Suwa Daiko from 1982 to 1992) and with Kodo (as an apprentice from 1993 to 1994). With the assistance of a Chalmers Performing Arts Training Grant in 1999, Kiyoshi studied classical percussion with Paul Houle at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Links
www.nagatashachu.com
facebook.com/nagatashachu
www.youtube.com/nagatashachu

Since 1998 Kiyoshi has taught a credit course in taiko at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. From 2003 to 2011, he established a public taiko course at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. For eight years, he instructed two community groups, Isshin Daiko in Toronto and Do-Kon Daiko in Burlington, which he helped establish in 1995. Kiyoshi is also regularly invited by universities and taiko groups to conduct workshops and present lectures.

In 1994, Kiyoshi founded the cross-cultural percussion ensemble, Humdrum, whose debut Toronto performance was ranked fourth in Now Magazine’s “Top Ten Concerts of 1995”. He has composed and performed taiko music for dance, theatre, film and radio and continues to collaborate with artists from all genres of music including traditional Japanese instrumentalists.