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.

A recap of my 5-state Midwest teaching tour

Ho Etsu Taiko in Chicago

There are a lot of great things happening within the US Midwest taiko scene. My recent teaching tour took me through five states over a two-week period and each stop was full of positive energy and warm hospitality. I worked with groups which have existed for anywhere between a few years and thirty plus years, and it seems like the region is making more and more cross-state connections - hopefully planting the seeds for a future Midwest Taiko Gathering. I especially enjoyed seeing the various styles of each group and truly appreciated the heightened emphasis on musicality. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

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Soten Taiko in Des Moines

My first stop was in Des Moines, Iowa to work with my friends at Soten Taiko. The members took me straight from the airport to the famous Zombie Burger where we enjoyed great burgers and shakes while completely surrounded by everything zombie. The fun continued during the shinobue private lesson (where I was shown 2 beautiful shishi gashira they perform with) and the Soten Taiko workshop covering ensemble playing concepts. Dinner was another peculiar place where pizza was topped with Chinese-restaurant dishes like beef stir-fry and crab rangoon, all surprisingly tasty. The next day I drove north to Minneapolis in a rental car after having a fantastic breakfast at the local French bakery where I had one of the best almond croissant in recent memory. Many thanks to Ben, Mary Jane, Amanda, Tanis, and all of the Soten Taiko members!

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Edo Bayashi masterclass

I was really looking forward to returning to Minneapolis where I first met the Mu Daiko team in 2005 when I traveled there as a member of the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble. It was a blast seeing old photos from that time, reminding me of my initial admiration for Mu Daiko's wonderfully distinctive original compositions played at our joint concerts. This recent visit was organized by my friend Iris Shiraishi who is doing fantastic work with her projects Ensemble MA and TaikoAlive. While it was fun teaching workshops on intermediate shinobue and small drum technique, I was particularly thrilled to lead an Edo Bayashi masterclass for the class Iris runs. She and some other members have a history of studying with Kyosuke Suzuki sensei, and this session served as preparation for his visit in August following the North American Taiko Conference. It was also inspiring to get private lesson requests for shinobue, atarigane, and Edo Bayashi – things I would like to see more of out there. Happily there was some free time to check out a nice brewery, a good coffee roaster, and even a fantastic little drum shop that makes their own line of drums called Northeast drum co. I played the walnut mini kit and was shocked at how good it sounded. Thank you so much to Iris, Alex, Arlene, and all of the Ensemble MA and Mu Daiko members for the warm and enthusiastic hospitality!

Small drum technique

Intermediate shinobue

The Drum Loft

Urban Growler Brewing

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My next stop, Ho Etsu Taiko in Chicago, was the originator of this tour. My interview with artistic director Jason Matsumoto covers how we met, including the newly-released joint live album with On Ensemble recorded a year and a half ago. Ho Etsu is one of my favorite groups not only because the members are a joy to hang out with but also because they are creating interesting original material that fits the group's style and vision. It's exciting to think of the possibilities to come from their forward motion, and absolutely Ho Etsu is a group we should be keeping an eye on. In addition to workshops on small drum technique and Edo Bayashi, we took some pieces from the repertoire and explored ways to make the music speak with more clarity and artistic intension. Among the many great meals, the unusual beers at Forbidden Root were especially memorable. I also finally made the pilgrimage to the old Deagan building where I met Andres, the master tuner, repair technician, and owner of Century Mallet Instrument Service. As a Deagan vibraphone owner, I have ordered parts from them for many years, and visiting this historic place was just as incredible as I had imagined. A huge thank you to Jason, Johes, Midwest Buddhist Temple, and all of the Ho Etsu members for a remarkable time together!

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Initially I had planned on driving to my next location of St. Louis, but Expedia informed me that I could fly there for less time and expense than driving a rental car. When nobody in Chicago or St. Louis had heard of the tiny airline called Air Choice One, I knew there was a chance for an adventure. It turned out fine – a leisurely flight on an eight-seat prop plane with five other passengers and two pilots a few feet away. It was a windy day, causing the little plane to blow around, but having so much visibility inside made it quite an enjoyable ride. This was my second time visiting St. Louis Osuwa Taiko and I was delighted to see their brand-new shishi gashira. We covered the taiko part for Edo Kotobuki Jishi on the first day and conducted a workshop called Pulse & Ensemble Playing on the second. This is one of the few groups where I can exchange stories and share experiences regarding the original Osuwa Daiko in Nagano, Japan. Although I never had the chance to meet Daihachi Oguchi sensei, I am friends with his grandson and current leader Makoto Yamamoto, having visited their historic location in Okaya as well as presented an Osuwa Daiko concert in Vancouver, BC. Before taking my afternoon flight, I was able to visit an interesting brewery called Urban Chestnut where a self-guided tour tells about the brewery's environmentally conscious operations. Thank you very much to Andrew, Soon, and everyone at St. Louis Osuwa Taiko!

My ride to St. Louis

Urban Chestnut Brewing

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Great Lakes Taiko Center

My final stop was new for me – Great Lakes Taiko Center in Novi, Michigan. For several years I had been hearing from friends about Brian Sole and his taiko school located in this somewhat unexpected location. Having earned my undergraduate degree at Central Michigan University, I was familiar with the geography and knew there weren't many taiko players in the state when I lived there, which is why I was so impressed with how much Brian has done in a relatively short amount of time. From the nice studio and quality instruments to the large-scale annual concert and student recital featuring guest artists from Japan, everything is well organized and very professional. The school's community ensemble Go Daiko and Brian's professional group Raion Taiko seem to get steady work and deliver excellent performances. It was a pleasure to teach in the clean and quiet space with plenty of drums, huge mirrors, a powerful PA system, and notation for warm-up exercises posted on the walls. I admired how everyone participated in the workshops with full vigor, and I even witnessed the single most virtuosic note-taking display in my 20+ years of teaching. (Thank you Eileen!) I also taught private and group lessons on small drum technique, shinobue, and katsugi technique. There were many good meals including the famous Detroit style pizza at Buddy's, but Bento 39 (sankyu) was the place I was eager to try as I had heard about this unlikely little spot serving amazing Japanese comfort food. My katsu curry plate easily met my hyped-up expectations. An enormous thank you to Brian, Eileen, Jianin, and everyone at Great Lakes Taiko Center for making this marvelous visit happen!

Ji playing workshop

Great Lakes Taiko Center

Bento 39

Katsu curry

Japan trip Part 2 - seeing concerts, kabuki, and friends

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In the Japan trip Part 1 entry, I described the primary reason for my recent trip: Edo Bayashi intensive with Suzuki sensei. In addition to my lessons, there was a lot happening during my stay and I was able to attend some performances and see many friends.

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The day after I arrived, I went to see Azusa Yamada's vibraphone trio in Tokyo. We first met almost 2 years ago through another Tokyo musician because I was looking for a vibraphone to rent for a Ginza performance with shakuhachi player Bruce Huebner. Azusa gave us a great rate to rent her Premier vibes for a two-week period, and two things remain in my memory about the instrument: it was one of the heaviest vibes I've ever played on, and there was a low E (which I couldn't get used to and had to cover up with a music stand bag for the gig). Her performance in the intimate space was very good and I especially appreciated all the original material in the program as well as the exciting playing of pianist Sachiko Nakajima.

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The next day was the Wakayama Shachu performance at the Bettara Ichi Festival, which I described in Part 1. The day after that was a collaborative concert in Asakusa called Taiko Battle Live, featuring Makoto Yamamoto of Osuwa Daiko. I've known Makoto for several years, having visited him in Nagano as well as presenting Osuwa Daiko for concerts and workshops in Vancouver, BC. The program consisted of original music, solo performances, and some traditional music. It was also a fun surprise to see my very first taiko teacher Saburo sensei in the audience, as he had taught some classical repertoire to Makoto in preparation for this concert.

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I enjoyed checking out Hitoshi Hamada perform at his CD release event in Shinjuku. I first met Hamada san in 2005 during a Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble concert tour. This vibraphone and saxophone duo played some very challenging original music and Hamada san sounded great as always. I was there with Bruce and Azusa so we took a group photo after the performance. It's not every day that three vibraphonists are in the same room together.

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I was fortunate to see the famous Kabuki play Kanadehon Chushingura at Kokuritsu Gekijou (National Theater) in Tokyo. As part of the theater's 50th anniversary season, the play has been divided into three parts, and I saw the first third. The middle third runs in November and the final third runs in December. Because each part is approximately 6 hours long, the audience is treated to rarely-presented scenes which many kabuki fans have never seen or heard of. Everything was excellent: acting, music, staging, and bento. This was especially meaningful for me because I had been a geza musician (playing nohkan and shinobue) for Portland State University's presentation of Chushingura in February 2016. The video of that performance can be seen here: Chushingura blog entry.

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It's always a great pleasure and inspiration to visit Ranjo san at his workshop in Chiba. He continues to answer my questions and share his wealth of knowledge every time I see him. In this photo, Ranjo san is wrapping one of my flutes to prevent a small crack from opening. I also met Fujita san on this recent visit, a great fue player from Akita Prefecture who demonstrated some of the music from his local festival on a Ranjo #4 hayashi fue. For more information about Ranjo san, check out this blog post: Ranjo blog entry.

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Chichibu in Saitama is a special place. It's best known for the spectacular Yo Matsuri (annual night festival, Dec 2-3) and the music of Chichibu Yatai Bayashi. But there is also a very long history of Ji Kabuki (地歌舞伎, local kabuki) going back to the Edo period. This Hagitaira kabuki stage is at least 170 years old and continues to be used for theater and music. Apparently there are no carpenters in the area who are properly trained to make repairs on such an old building, so they have had to bring experts all the way from Kyushu. I attended the October 30, 2016 event where there were three kabuki presentations: elementary school, middle school, and finally the adult group. The performances were complete with live geza music as well as gidayu chant and shamisen, and the day was interspersed with performances of Chichibu Yatai Bayashi, Tsugaru Shamisen, and Chichibu Ondo. The overall presentation was remarkable, especially considering this very rural setting. Of course the youngest performers were the audience favorites, and the best moment for me was when the little girl finally got a turn on the odaiko, outplaying the previous versions by teenage boys and an adult. And all of the food and drinks I tried during the event were memorably delicious.

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Another unique experience was visiting "the Switzerland club of Kanto" in Katashina village of Gunma Prefecture. These remarkable wooden horns are handmade by Kinsaku Hoshino using local cedar. I was told that the curved bottom portion is made out of a naturally shaped section of the branch that was bent by the weight of the heavy snow. Even the mouthpiece (similar to trumpet) is handmade. I was able to get a decent sound right away, so perhaps my music education degree finally came in handy many years later. Hoshino san offered to let me try the carving tool so I carefully took a turn.

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Finally, I got to see an incredible concert at Suntory Hall in Tokyo of the incomparable Eitetsu Hayashi. This was a mostly solo performance with the exception of one piece composed by percussionist Midori Takada. They have a long history of working together and this was apparent in their cohesive sound. Eitetsu's concerts are fantastic every single time. Without fail, there are always things I've never seen before, and such consistent creativity and attention to detail is truly breathtaking. Concluding the program was a 20-minute solo odaiko performance, and this was the finest odaiko playing I've ever seen. Absolutely beautiful.