Seattle Shakuhachi Matsuri 2014: A review

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                   Without going into a long history of my attraction and beginnings with the shakuhachi, or Japanese bamboo flute, I will move ahead to this last year. In January I had decided to undertake a study of Welsh and continue my running. Alas, in September, the language skills and study were not proving to be very fruitful at all. So, I sidelined that tongue as well as other languages for awhile. Take a break. What I DID realize was that my love and desire for playing the shakuhachi had not diminished a bit. In fact, it had grown in intensity, making me even more aware that I did possess a skill at playing this flute. Granted, it was a very miniscule bit of skill, but nonetheless, it was there.
After lessons with Larry Tyrrell in 2011, I had to give that up due to finances, work and other scheduling issues. Skip ahead to October of 2014...right now. I've been listening to my CD's of shakuhachi music for years now and I was again bitten by the bug to get back into playing shape.
So, I signed up for an event I missed last year: The Seattle Shakuhachi Matsuri (Festival). This time I was able to save the funds up to attend the workshops and concert by leading teaches : Larry Tyrrell, Kaoru Kakizakai and Ralph Samuelson. Three great players in one place!!! How superb!!

 The day arrived when the reasonably short three hour drive north had arrived and I was on my way! The weather was NOT cooperating at all though. On the way up we encountered high wind, rain and bad conditions that made it tough to see more than twenty feet or so. But the road was decent enough to maintain a good speed. Then, in a split second I had to swerve to avoid hitting a really large doe that was running across the freeway in front of the car! My swerve took us a good ten feet into the other lane, narrowly missing her back quarter by inches. Fortunately I was able to compensate and not flip or wreck. That deer was lucky as there was only one vehicle behind me and not in the right lane. Over and over for the next hour, all I could think about were the "what if" scenarios if we had indeed hit her.
Wrecked car for sure, death of the doe and, perhaps, us.
We were very lucky and proceeded on to Seattle albeit in a bit of a daze and shaken up.


   On arrival at the Japanese Cultural Center in Seattle, I found parking easily and went inside this grand older building ,set on a hillside with a view to the southwest.

BTW, these photos were taken with a Nexus 4 phone camera, so I apologize for the quality and lighting contained. My Nikon system it is not !
The original Seattle Japanese School was founded here in 1902 and the building is a delight to the senses in it's wood floors and fine interior.


     The schedule for the day was to open with some comments by Ralph Samuelson and then to split off into two workshops for students. After a little socializing beforehand and meeting some of the other students and teachers, we did exactly this. There were two options for the morning session:
In the first room would be Hifumi hachigaeshi with Ralph Samuelson and in the other room , work on
RO-buki and resonance practice with Kaoru Kakizaka. As I'm still quite a beginner , I decided that the RO-buki would be best for me, as I really need to work on breath control, capacity and making better sounds! We learned some great techniques on all of these things over the next hour and fifteen minutes and took away valuable insights on how to get more sound from our instruments.

 The other class was just finishing up when we let out for our lunch break at 11:45. To the right here is
 Kaoru Kakizaka as he was giving us instruction in RO-buki and how to make "better sounds" out of such a small stream of air! How that shakuhachi can resonate!!

The students in this class were playing well and enjoying the instruction from Ralph as he went over the score to Hifumi hachigaeshi
and helped them to hear the nuances of the piece.





  At 11:45 am we stopped for a lunch break which was a superb Bento meal from a local establishment. Wow, these were good!!! I usually don't show photos of food but here is what we had:

 Some salmon, sushi, rice, noodles,various greens and veggies and some Sencha green tea to wash it all down with.  Can't get a whole lot more Japanese than this. Wow, was it ever delicious food!!! I could eat this way every day for sure!






  After a wonderful lunch, it was time to go back to school. The next workshop was either a class on
Shingetsu with Kakizakai or a workshop on Minyo ornaments/embellishments with Larry Tyrrell.
I chose the class with my own teacher and really enjoyed the new ways of having fun with Minyo or traditional Japanese folk music. It sounds and behaves differently than the Buddhist honkyoku and other styles of Japanese classic music. In this class though, Larry had us all play these ornaments in front of the others!! Yes, I was quite nervous as I did NOT expect to be doing this. But...I was actually not bad at all and played the pieces just fine. Here is sensei Tyrrell in class:

As I had chosen my Perry Yung Earth model shakuhachi to use, it had as much different tone than the more expensive and heavier models surrounding me on this day. Yet, the flute held it's own just fine and I really enjoyed using it. There were many different models in use here by some very accomplished players. Some of these were expensive and could cost thousands of dollars. Perhaps, someday I shall own one of them when my playing is good enough to justify the expense of such a beauty. But you know, my Yung flutes as well as the Yuu I use for practice, are just fine and sound good , too.  and with finances so tight, these are just fine for me. Below is the flute  Iused for the Seattle Shakuhachi Matsuri.







When we were finished with this workshop, the other was also finishing up. This was the class of Shingetsu with Kakizakai that was finishing up.

Now was time for the student recitals. Um...hell no was I going to be playing ANYTHING in front of a group of such accomplished artists!! Sure, I could blow RO and TSU notes for them and look funny doing it. These were recitals for players who had been doing this awhile and could bring out the sounds and beauty of the works. For the next hour and forty five minutes, these fine folks played their hearts out and impressed this beginner with all of the intensity of a thousand suns! Below are the photographs of the recitalists , ALL of whom did a remarkable job in their performances. Next year...I only hope I can be an eighth as good as they were. Congratulations too all who played!!

 Unfortunately, I do not  have the names of all of my fellow shakuhachi players and can only put first names to some here. As I continue this journey of learning, perhaps i will get to know more of them better and put names to faces well in the future.  At right is
Ray Ruhlen >>>>>>

 

To the left is Patrick
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And to the right is sensei Larry Tyrrell and one of his students, whom I didn't meet.
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To the left is a kind fellow named Kirk.
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And to the right, another good player named Chris Grabowski. >>>>>>>

 Then a duet with Larry Tyrrell and one of his students, Alex . Below, James and his Koto playing partner for a duet.

















  After the student recital, there was some time to socialize, play some of the various flutes for sale and to get to know each other a bit. I wish I had been able to do more of this but, alas, I didn't due to time. Following now are some photos of the various students and teachers before the final concert of the evening.

   At four PM was the evening concert with the three teachers performing a variety of wonderful pieces on various sized shakuhachi. Below are the photos from the concert.

   The concert lasted an hour and a half and included some of the best playing I have ever heard! While I have limited experience with live shakuhachi concerts, this was a real treat. To listen to all three accomplished and famous players and teachers, all at the same concert, was beyond my wildest dreams!


   For the final work , the famous honkyoku piece known as "Shika no Tone" , or " The distant cry of the deer" is usually a solo piece or, even better, a duet between two players as the call and response from the other makes it such a thrill. This time...
it would be played by THREE players. While Ralph played the starting call from the front of the room, sensei Tyrrell and sensei Kakizakai started at the back of the hall, slowly moving forward to the front as they all exchanged calls. The final trio at the end was spectacular and a delightful end to the day.

      So, there you have it. The Seattle Shakuhachi Matsuri of 2014. There were many valuable things I have learned while attending this festival and it's workshops. The first being that I want to progress so badly in learning this beloved instrument and all I can about it's history,sound and background.
Second, that I need to devote time and space to this endeavor. It is not going to be an easy path as it takes dedication and scheduling as well as daily practice. At least a half hour minimum. I have tried this before and admit I was not very good at keeping things going. I simply had way too many pans in the fire for me to effectively devote time to it. So, after careful thought, I have decided to devote all of 2015 to this ONE and only "hobby". No languages, no new sports pursuits, no running after something that will sidetrack me. Now IF there is something that will ENHANCE my playing and time with the shakuhachi, that's fine. This is where Buddhist history and meditaion come in. These are lifestyles, not hobbies. And running will not be affected. Looks like I have my new years resolution set for the year 2015. Now, to get my ducks in a row, books and scores out. Have my new
calendar to note each and every practice and what I did. Well.....there it is. Wish me luck!!
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  And, to end this blog post, a photo of me with my teacher, Larry Tyrrell. Thanks for the delightful
day my friend and I so look forward to next year!!