Japanese Fusion Ensemble and Shamisen

A few Fridays ago I went to a music performance in old town Oakland billed as "An Evening of Japanese Fusion featuring Reigen Fujii." Fujii-san is a distinguished young shamisen player from Japan, and the ensemble was fronted by Kyle Abbott, an American shamisen player and multi-instrumentalist, and founder of Bachido, a website that provides instruction and materials for learning to play the shamisen. The shamisen is a traditional stringed instrument that puts me in mind of a three-stringed Japanese banjo.The strings are played with a plectrum (pick) called a bachi, thus, the website Bachido ("way of the bachi").

I really didn't have any expectations for the performance- my main priority for the evening was to meet and get to know the program coordinator for my upcoming employment opportunity, who had invited me to the performance. I had heard shamisen music before (Yoshida Brothers, anyone?) but had not seen it performed live. We were a little late and the performance had already started when we sat down- the first piece we heard was a solo on the koto, another traditional stringed instrument that seems to me like a harp on its side. The soloist, Brian Wong, introduced the piece by saying the composer was influenced by rock music, and I thought I could almost hear an echo of electric guitar riffs in there somewhere.

After that piece, Kyle and Fujii-san sat down and played two American Old-time standards on the shamisen, and I realized that of course I was far from the first person to think the shamisen was like a banjo. Then the rest of the ensemble came together- shamisen, mandolin, shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), drums, and a stand-up bass, and they launched into a toe-tapping Mongolian song featuring a fair amount of tuvan throat-singing. Japanese Fusion indeed! My eyebrows went up about two inches. This was followed by a few outstanding shamisen solos by Fujii-san, and the ensemble regrouped for some jazz standards - Autumn Leaves, Summertime, and Spain. Somewhere in there five of the performers sat down in a shakuhachi circle and played a very atonal piece - I don't think shakuhachi is going to be my thing, but I won't rule it out yet. I did notice the guy sitting in front of me literally nodding off several times during the shakuhachi jamboree.

When Fujii-san played his solo pieces, which featured a fair amount of high-speed fretwork and fast bachi action, I noticed that the shamisen makes (at least) two different sounds that are in addition to the actual playing of the strings. First, the bachi makes a sharp percussive clapping sound either against the strings or the taut surface of the shamisen body, I'm not sure which. The faster the playing, the faster the clapping of the bachi- clack-clack-clack. Second, high-speed playing seems to set up a constant drone note, that I'm only guessing might be the other strings' sympathetic vibration. Nestled between those sounds there is, of course, the actual sound of the strings being plucked to make the melody of the song.


I didn't take any pictures or video during the show, but here are some links where you can watch and hear examples of some of the music I described above.

Reigen Fujii's official website
Fujii-san playing shamisen with a jazz ensemble
Brian Wong's biography and Koto performance
Shakuhachi performance
Kyle Abbott demonstrating Tuvan throat singing

Clawhammer Banjo for the Rank Beginner...

I will talk about Clawhammer Banjo in a minute, but first-

Disclaimer: After many years of exams and studying (and working full time as an "intern" for about 8 years), I finally got my Architect's License in June of last year. Whether by coincidence or by design (or both?), not long after that my workload increased dramatically and it hasn't let up since. As an architect, it's better to be "too busy" than "not busy enough" so I'll stop complaining right there... but it sure makes it hard to find time to practice playing music, and I haven't been to a concert since November, so...

Anyway, since January I've been taking Clawhammer Banjo classes at the Freight (finally putting that banjo to use.)  This week we just started the second series of beginner lessons- and it is so fun!  I've been learning to play (slowly) about a song a week- Cripple Creek, Waterbound, Cotton Eye Joe... and this week, June Apple and the introduction of drop-thumbing, a technique that adds some versatility to the strum pattern.  I'm turning into sort of a banjo geek- I'd geek out even more if I could find the time.  I'm not sure what I'll do with my newly-earned banjo skills; I hear there are trad music groups that just get together and jam, but I'm not quite there yet.

Banjo lessons conflict with open mic nights at the Freight (Tuesday nights at almost the same time) so I'm trying to psych myself up to play the first open mic after lessons end.  My friend JT is an excellent guitarist and we've been tossing the idea around of maybe playing an open mic together.  Wouldn't that be nostalgic...

Concerts on the Road: LA, Berkeley and Seattle

I've been rattling around the Golden West the last few months seeing a few choice shows here and there. I made a trip down to LA (Burbank to be more specific) in early October especially to see Elbow at the Greek Theatre.  The week before, I had seen another favorite, Bon Iver at the Berkeley Greek, with opening act Other Lives.  Most recently, I took a long weekend in Seattle and stopped in to the Neptune theater to see The Belle Brigade and Dawes.

Two Open Mikes in One Week. 08.2011

Last month I made my annual summer trip to upstate new york to visit family and friends, and squeezed in not one but TWO open mikes in Saratoga Springs.
Open Mic #1 was at Caffe Lena, a career-launching coffeehouse venue for some well-known songwriters, Bob Dylan and Ani DiFranco among its distinguished alums. Growing up in that area, I heard much about its reputation but never worked up the nerve to go play there during my high school days. 

Open Mic Progress - 07.12.11

I did it- I finally dragged myself back to the Freight and Salvage open mic night to try again, and I'm happy to report that it went much better! It's been about 8 months since my last attempt; hopefully it won't be 8 months before I do it again. I'd like to do it at least once a month.

I played a cover this time (Bad Reputation by Freedy Johnston), which feels a little like cheating since so many of the open mic folks play their own songs. I figured that I have been playing Bad Reputation since my high school days (well over ten years, that is) and it's so simple that I should be able to play it in my sleep. So when my fingers turn into spaghetti and my brain goes into cold shutdown, I should be able to get through it without forgetting the words... and it seems to have held true. I was pretty happy with it despite still being very nervous.

I have to say the guys from my study group were awesome- they were my "entourage." They all showed up and kept me company, and kept me from getting too nervous while I waited. I seem to have odd luck (or maybe it only seems this way to me) with performing immediately after the best performers of the night- this time I played right after an amazing south american quartet and a laid-back sweet voiced guy from Humboldt. He sang a song about a beautiful day, and he looked as comfy and happy as if he was sitting on his front porch watching the sunset he was singing about. Maybe I should watch more sunsets...

Freight Fright, Part 2

I've decided it's time to tackle my stage fright again. The Freight has an open mic tomorrow night and I'll be there. The last time I tried it was in March of this year. I actually got myself there, with T in tow and Ruby on my back- but the sign-up sheet was already up to 25 performers and I was looking at a post-10pm performance time, just like before. Already feeling nervous at 7:30, I didn't think I could take 2.5 hours of adrenaline jitters, so I flaked. I had invited some friends from study group(JS, JT and Jj) to come listen, so rather than flake completely I called them up and invited them over to my house instead for a private "concert"- way more fun (for me, anyway).

But it's time to try public performance again. I've signed up the study crew again to come and hold me accountable (I won't flake if I've made four friends pay cash money to see it!) Jj has threatened to bring flowers and diapers (ew!) and decide which to throw after my performance. I may have to be dragged onstage kicking and screaming... wish me luck!

Fleet Foxes at the Fox 05.05.11

Somewhere between February and march, time and money fell into short supply- I began studying for my second attempt on the state architect licensing exam (the less said about that, the better) and we went into our second round of pay cuts at work. Deja vu - that sounds exactly like March 2010! Long story short, I made the unhappy but logical choice to cut the entertainment-slash-"performance research" budget and stay home and study. It turns out that was a pretty good idea, since I passed the test!

Kitchen Table Covers

This past Christmas, I made a CD for my Dad. I often make mix CDs for my Dad, or send him copies of new albums I think he will enjoy, since my love of music is rooted (in part, at least) in my Dad's love of music. His record collection has a sort of origin myth role in my memory- Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, the Beatles and the Dead. This year, I made a CD I called "Kitchen Table Covers," which is basically me and Ruby, sitting at my kitchen table, playing into my iphone (recording with the included Voice Memo function). The weekend before Christmas, I recorded five of my favorite covers (at the moment), in one or two takes each, imported them into itunes, burned them to a CD. Bam. Done. Ridiculously easy!

Freight Fright 11.23.10

Finally, finally I played at the Freight Open Mic last week. I did a little reconnaissance at the open mic the week before that, and the caliber of musicians performing at the Freight is pretty high, but it felt like the right place with the right crowd for me. So I packed up Ruby and went over hoping for the best, but with a healthy dose of realism- I haven't played in front of an audience in over six years after all.

I have some experience with stage fright. I consider myself to be a fairly rational person, but I have learned that there are several areas of my life where rationality and logic do not apply, no matter how much one may desire otherwise. Stage fright has nothing to do with rationality. My conscious mind fully recognizes that the audience is a group of like-minded and tolerant acoustic musicians including several of my close friends, but my body does not acknowledge this distinction. It tells me that I am about to be eaten alive by a prehistoric tiger and prepares me for the fight-or-flight of my life, possibly the last of my life. Not helpful. Not rational.

As I am stepping onto the stage, every major muscle in my body is beginning to twitch, every joint is suddenly loose and over-lubricated. My throat constricts, I bet my pupils are dilating... the point I am trying to make is that it is very hard to play a guitar or hit the right notes under these circumstances. I did my best, but it wasn't very satisfying- I think the best thing that came out of the evening (aside from the free tickets to see Molly's Revenge) is that I know for sure it's the right place for me, and I need to suck it up and play as many Open Mics as it takes to work the stage fright out of my system. Play on!

Laura Marling at GAMH 07-27-10

Tuesday night T and I went to GAMH to see Laura Marling. I've been listening to her for awhile on KCRW and I still can't get over the disparity between her voice and her age/appearance- she's 20 years old, has two albums out already, has been playing high profile gigs since she was at least 15- and her music sounds like it comes from a much older person (whatever that means). 

Writing Music Again

I moved out of SF, to the East Bay. Two things have come out of it: my commute is shorter by a whole hour a day, and the living room of my new place has a great acoustic quality. It's fun to play music in different parts of the room facing different directions, and hear the reverberations change... the sound reflects in such a way that I can actually hear my voice coming back at me, which is very cool. Whenever the house is empty I close the windows and make some noise (our neighbors are very close).

Another thing I've been trying is to keep a sort of journal. Not a sit-down-at-the-end-of-the-day-and-write sort of journal (which has never worked for me) but more of a stream of consciousness thing. Sometimes if I'm in the right mood, I keep a word doc open on one screen (I have a dual monitor setup at work) and I write down what occurs to me... I started doing this awhile ago to try and work out the source(s) of my on-again-off-again general malaise, but what's come out of it has been some useful lyrical material here and there. I have a few half-songs in the works that are starting to shape up... feels good to be writing music again, but it's sort of annoying to have my own song stuck in my head, especially when I don't know how it ends yet.

Imogen Heap

I'm awful! Ok, first- Imogen Heap eye candy.




On a particularly miserable day at the end of last month, I had a ticket to see Imogen Heap at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga (CA), and I was not in to mood to drive an hour and a half down the peninsula on a friday night. I'm so glad I did it anyway. The venue was unique and awesome, my seat was (unexpectedly) close to the stage, and Imogen Heap put on a great show, with some well-coordinated audience participation, and set list apparently chosen by ticketholders online prior to the concert. It's an open-air venue on the top of a (small) mountain, and once the sun went down it got pretty chilly up there- the two women next to me, wearing nice dresses with bare legs exposed, had to leave early because they were too cold (Californians! Sheesh). I will admit that even with my REI shell and fleece vest on, I was shivering through the last two or three songs, and a lot of other audience members had blankets and coats. That's June in the Bay Area for you.


It rocked anyway! Her harmonizer thingy is awesome... it was windy now and then, and it would harmonize the wind (kind of screwed up "Hide and Seek" a little bit). She did a version of "Wait it Out" accompanied only by the piano, (said during the performance that was how it was originally written) and I thought it had more emotional impact than the recorded version, which I like very much.


I've pretty much run out of concert tickets now... eyeing some late summer/ fall tickets for Swell Season, School of Seven Bells, Shawn Colvin, Ray LaMontagne and David Gray, and giving a little thought to Outside Lands festival and Treasure Island festival (even though I hate festivals).

Back to Reality; Broken Bells at the Regency Ballroom

I've been MIA from the blog for a month or so, thanks to studying for (hopefully!) my final licensing exam- wrapped that up this week, so back to "real life." I have not, however, been MIA from live music- since my last post I saw Miike Snow, won free tickets to see Aqualung (yeah free!) and also took the aforementioned T to see the Hold Steady at the Fillmore. I have actually been getting to about one show per week - pictures and recaps coming soon!

Little Dragon at the Independent 4.13.10

Update 2015-03-17: I had a witty little paragraph here about how Little Dragon was "on fire" at the show, and the fire alarm even went off three times and the fire department showed up... but the text got corrupted in the post editor and now it's lost forever. Sadness.

It was a sold out show and the Independent was packed-I managed to get head and shoulders above the crowd somehow. Little Dragon is a pretty kooky act- Yukimi Nagano has a great, nuanced voice, and she danced all over the stage and struck some really great poses (seriously). Also some very strong work with the tambourine.

It was a great show- would have been even better if someone could have taken my extra ticket... just to have some company. And now I've just had to sell my extra ticket to the (also sold out) Miike Snow show on Friday. I'm reminded again that I have no music friends out here- kinda feel like maybe I should tape a sign on my back saying "Will you be my music friend?" when I go to shows...

Banjo for Beginners

I have acquired the use of an excellent banjo, borrowed from a coworker. So far with the help of Youtube I've managed to tune it, and establish that it is definitely harder than it looks to play- I think I'll be able to get the fingerpicking eventually, and it will be time well spent because it will improve my guitar fingerpicking skills too, which are nascent at best. Every time I try to learn a new sequence (or pattern, or roll, I'm not sure what it's called on the guitar) I can feel the brain cells shifting and straining, kind of like learning to speak a new language.

The banjo's got a great sound- it's kind of rowdy and the definition of twang, and it somehow sounds more aggressive (in a country kind of way) than the guitar when it really gets going. I'm short one or two picks (it seems that people generally wear a whole knuckle sandwich full of finger picks when playing the banjo.) Maybe I'll find one on the floor of the Little Dragon show next week, although I doubt Little Dragon has a banjo in their lineup...

The Low Anthem at GAMH 03.26.10

I stole that picture of Jocie Adams of The Low Anthem from the SF Chronicle... I was there too, but with no camera. More Chronicle pictures here.

The Low Anthem put on a great show- their style is hard to describe. They played a set of slow sort of atmospheric tunes like Charlie Darwin and To Ohio, with soft ethereal harmonies... and then the guy on standup bass (Jeff) starts playing a pretty intense solo, and the rest of the band busts out with Don't Let Nobody Turn You 'Round, and the singers are howling and the drums are banging... They played about 2/3 soft and 1/3 loud overall. I really enjoyed it, but I think my friends were a bit dismayed at the dichotomy (I took pity on their jetlag and we ended up leaving after the first song of the encore). The band members switched instruments every few songs- they all sang, I think they all took a turn on the drums, the guitar, the WWI organ, and the ringing bowed xylophone bell thingy. Also involved- the standup bass, clarinets, tenor saxophones, and a saw. Yep, a saw. I really love the "all hands on deck" multi-instrumentalist approach- it's something I aspire to. I'd love to be able to play drums, guitar, bass, banjo, violin and whatever else comes to mind at a passable level- and then just jump in wherever.

What Does a Musician Look Like?

The question is kind of tangential to the main issue at hand- playing music- but the more I think about it, the more I feel some sort of inner musical persona really struggling to get out. When I look in my closet I feel like I might have a personality disorder- there are clothes for three different people in there. One person is a fairly conservative office worker who likes lightweight sweaters, the occasional cotton blouse and pointy-toed shoes. She's the one who keeps running up the balance on my Bananacard. The second person is a martial artist with a running hobby who wears mostly fleece, stretchy, and/or black fitness wear- she's the one the sales ladies at Lucy know by first name. The third person is harder to find- she wears very casual, unexciting clothes like dark jeans and simple black shirts, occasionally raids clothing from the other two personas, and she is the one who struggles on a friday or saturday (or sometimes even wednesday) night to find something interesting to wear to a show or a club. Can we get her some help please?

When the idea of bedazzled leather pants as "rockstar clothes" was raised on FB, I realized that in this area of my life (as in all the others), I know more about what I don't like than I know about what I do like. Persona #3 needs a role model, so I'm now on the lookout for examples. It's complicated by the labyrinthian genre-ization of music styles- "rock star" is the only household word I can think of to describe music fashion, but I think my own style is closer to acoustic indie folk chick something or other with an underlying desire to rock out without really knowing how to go about it. So as much as I'm digging Joan Jett's latest leather ensemble I don't think it's going to work for me...

How did the cookie know?

Laura Veirs and Drum Instigation

Laura Veirs is playing at Cafe du Nord tomorrow night- initially I was only a little bit excited, even though I love her latest cd July Flame, because I wasn't impressed with her live performances on youtube. I need to get over my miserly, judgemental nature- she just played a live set on KCRW this morning (8 months pregnant no less!) and it was great, so now I'm totally stoked! (Can I really say that? I guess so.) Plus it will be my first chance to check out Cafe du Nord and the Swedish-American Music Hall, which I hear is a great venue.

My friend T is slowly picking up the drums... and I am totally instigating. She got an electronic drum set ages ago, and is just now trying them out- I think last week was literally the first time she put the drumstick to the pad, and I went over to have a listen and try and "tune" them a little (I know only the barest amount of what to do with electronic drums). It's awesome because I'm at the same level with my electric guitar (more or less) and it would be so much fun to be a beginner rock band! With headsets on and not making too much noise though- her condo development in Emeryville is quieter than the Pineview Cemetery, by a comfortable margin. It's strange how densely inhabited urban spaces can be so eerily silent... and then a train comes through.

On a side note... if I get laid off before summer, I wonder if I could switch gears to music for a bit?

The Bowerbirds at the Independent, 01-28-2010

A few weeks back I saw (heard) the Bowerbirds at the Independent- it was a great show and I meant to write it up then, but life got in the way...

Julie Doiron opened, but I procrastinated a little leaving the house and only caught the last two songs in her set. She played guitar and kind of wandered around the stage (away from her mic, I wonder if that's part of her style?) and there was just one guy on drums (and then guitar) accompanying her. The music didn't quite grab me, but I loved her guitar and she struck me as an interesting person, kinda spunky.

So I obtained an overflowing gin and tonic from the bar and sidled my way up close to the stage while waiting for the main act. I got about five feet from the stage, and I probably could have gotten right up and leaned on it if I wanted, but I didn't. The Independent is just the right size I think, maybe half to two-thirds the size of the Fillmore, so it's intimate but roomy enough. I understand they've recently upgraded their sound system quite a bit.

Then the band came out, and I'm pretty sure they started off with "In Our Talons" and played a great set from there. It took me two or three songs to realize that the main singer, Phil, was playing a classical guitar (must have been the g&t), and it took me until last week to figure out that his voice reminds me of Andrew Bird. The only girl on stage, Beth, played the sexiest accordion I have ever seen, and I mean that in the most complimentary sense. There was also a guy on stage alternately playing a mandolin and a guitar (I think) and another fellow playing drums and some sort of electronic bass-note device that occasionally made sounds at the right frequency to cause the stage to vibrate and buzz. The band seemed to be having a good time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the show, only kicked my drink over once, and bought a CD at the end of the night. Good times!