Viracocha
I’m honored to host two of the Bay Area’s most talented shakuhachi players, Cornelius Shinzen (深禅) Boots and Karl Young, for two special acoustic sets at 4pm and 5pm, Wed 12 June during my regular booking at Viracocha (NW corner of 21st & Valencia, San Francisco).
Long-time disciples under masters of the traditional Japanese honkyoku (本曲) repertoire, Karl & Cornelius have also taken the shakuhachi into explorations beyond its usual space with unique élan, ranging the gamut from “heavy chamber” covers of Black Sabbath to unique Asian takes on jazz classics, while keeping musical company with virtuosi of trad-shak like Michael Chikuzen (竹禅) Gould and Riley Lee.
Karl Young (L) & Cornelius Shinzen (深禅) Boots (R), as members of the shakuhachi section for Undercover Presents' re-mix concert of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", 19 May 2012
Cornelius Shinzen (深禅) Boots (L), Philip Gelb, and Karl Young (R)
Cornelius is bringing a special mix which including honyoku classics like:
— Shika No Tōne (The Distant Call Of The Deer, 鹿の遠音, duet with Karl Young)
— Fūrin (Wind Forest, 風林, on the 2.4 shakuhachi)
— Half Of The Beast, an original mukyoku (無曲) piece for the 2.8 taimu (大無) flute, in the spirit of the classic Kyorei (Empty Bell, 虛鈴)
— The Hills, renegade nature music “duology” (arrangements for the 1.8 shakuhachi of 2 classic rock tunes with “Hills” in the title:
> Run to the Hills (Iron Maiden)
> Over the Hills And Far Away (Led Zeppelin)
Cornelius Boots playing shakuhachi (尺八)
“The Rod Serling of chamber music composition, the David Lynch of the bass clarinet, and the Luke Skywalker of the bamboo flute.”
East Bay reed renegade Cornelius Boots is a progressive rock & “heavy chamber music” composer, bass clarinet virtuoso, wu wei woodwind instructor & Zen flute adept. He is a dabbler in Tibetan mysticism and Taoist wizardry, & a devotee of the Respirational Arts.
Cornelius Boots playing taimu shakuhachi (大無尺八)
Recent projects include the composing, calligraphic notation and recording of a series of 27 études (mukyoku, 無曲) for taimu shakuhachi (大無尺八, large Zen bamboo flute), performances and recordings with the elemental sound-structuring ensemble, Sabbaticus Rex (taimu shakuhachi, throat singing, large overtone gongs), and the collaborative composing of an avant-orchestral rock opera, An American Faust.
Cornelius Shinzen (深禅) Boots & Karen Stackpole performing as Sabbaticus Rex (not pictured- Mark Deutsch)
Since 1996 he has led and written virtuosic “heavy chamber music” for Edmund Welles, the world’s only original bass clarinet quartet, with whom he’s released 3 albums: Imagination Lost, Tooth & Claw, and Agrippa’s 3 Books. The quartet had featured recitals at Clarinetfest and Switchboard Music Festival, received a Chamber Music America New Works grant, and has shared the stage with Medeski, Martin and Wood, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and Extra Action Marching Band.
In addition to receiving a Jun Shihan (準師範) ranking from shakuhachi Grandmaster Michael Chikuzen (竹禅) Gould, he has music degrees from Indiana University (BM Clarinet Performance, BS Audio Recording, MM Jazz Studies) where he studied with Howard Klug, David Baker, Alfred Prinz, David Pickett and Wayne Jackson.
Karl Young
I’m also very much looking forward to duet with Karl Young.
In addition to the solo honkyoku (本曲) piece Sagari-Ha (Falling Leaves, 下り葉) by Karl, Karl and I will do special shakuhachi+piano duets, including pieces such as:
Ornette Coleman
— Lonely Woman, by Ornette Coleman
— Chōshi (調子), after the Neo-Gaku arrangement on my album, Turquoise Sessions.
Steve Adams
— #39, by Bay Area saxophonist Steve Adams of ROVA Saxophone Quartet
Bishu Chatterjee (বিষু চ্যাটার্জি)
— Nile Shobuj (Green in Blue, নীলে সবুজ) by Bay Area bassist Bishu Chatterjee (বিশু চ্যাটার্জি)
Larry Ochs & friend
— Failure, by Bay Area saxophonist Larry Ochs of ROVA Saxophone Quartet
— and other surprising pieces for shakuhachi (like Eleanor Rigby, Miles’s Davis’ So What, etc.…)
Murasaki Ensemble (紫アンサンブル) - Karl Young above bass
After an initial period as a jazz tenor saxophonist, Karl Young embarked on a career as a physicist and entered an intensive study of the shakuhachi. Over the past 20 years he has studied with a number of teachers; his primary sensei are Kaoru Kakizakai (柿堺香) and Riley Lee, both masters in the dokyoku (道曲) tradition, and students of Katsuya Yokoyama (横山勝也).
While his focus has been on the traditional solo honkyoku repertoire in the dokyoku tradition he also plays sankyoku (三曲) or traditional ensemble music with shamisen & koto, as well as min’yō (民謡) or Japanese folk music. He is co-founder of the group Ensohza (縁囃座), specializing in traditional minyo and Japanese folk dance, in which he plays the shinobue (篠笛) or transverse bamboo flute in addition to the shakuhachi. He also participates in the East-West Murasaki Ensemble (紫アンサンブル), led by Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto (村本和世).
He couldn’t help wandering back to his roots and recently worked with jazz flutist Ali Ryerson on developing an approach to jazz shakuhachi. He subsequently released Lost In The Wood, a CD of jazz standards and original pieces in an exploration of the expressive possibilities for shakuhachi in jazz. He has recently been playing jazz in various ensemble formats around the San Francisco Bay and “Mendonoma” areas.
Karl Young's recent jazz shakuhachi CD - Lost In The Wood (I guarantee you've never heard a version of Polkadots & Moonbeams like this...)
Viracocha is a unique polyvalent zone spread over several levels at the NW corner of 21st & Valencia, San Francisco, that functions as post-modern antique shop, piano lounge / performance space, lending library, gallery, and all-purpose cultural node. It has been my pleasure and honor to play there weekly for the last 2¾ years. (Here’s a lovely article on Viracocha with a picture of me playing from the back).
Joe Lasqo @ Meridian Gallery, 11 Jan 2012 (Photo: PeterBKaars.com, http://www.peterbkaars.com)
Warmly hope to see you at this special show!
Joe