Go see Kokin Gumi & Friends at the 2012 Japanese Matsuri Festival

The The 28th Annual Matsuri Festival of Japan is on February 25-26. Featuring exhibits, demonstrations, arts and crafts, children's activities, bonsai displays, Japanese food, and 3 stages of live entertainment.

One of the performances if by a group called Kokin Gumi & Friends. Music with Traditional Japanese Instruments including Shakuhachi. Their performance is at 3:30 on the Plaza stage, lets all meet up there and see their performance.

There is so much more to see and do all day. check our there web site at http://azmatsuri.org.... Also it's FREE! You can also check out Mark Zemnick's site for photos from last year. http://markzemnick.co... . Again so much cool stuff to see. I'll be there most of the day and hope to see you at the Kokin Gumi performance.

The International Shakuhachi Society Info

 The International Shakuhachi Society is a world forum for people interested in the Japanese bamboo flute. It enables players, teachers, composers, ethnomusicologists and hobbyists to share information with a wide and sympathetic audience. On average they have over one hundred full time members.

Check out there web site at: http://komuso.com/top/index.pl

 The site contains special features and tools for members to track their collections, create Bio Pages, and list Events. We are working towards allowing members to contribute to many portions of the site.

The society focuses on the following topics:

The history of the Japanese musical instruments shakuhachi, koto, and shamisen.
The history of the Komuso monks.
The history of music compositions: Zen music, classical chamber music, modern music.
The notation and playing techniques of the various schools.
Information about musicians and recordings.

Are you looking to meet other players in your area, access additional content, or contribute to the site? Then consider becoming a member. Dues keep the site alive and growing.
This site is a catalog of historical information, not a store. To purchase a shakuhachi or recordings, or find information about current musical events please visit our Sites & Events tab. We cannot advise you on where to find copies of recordings or sheet music since we don't know either. Unfortunately most are out of print. Your best bets are Shakuhachi.com - Meijiro.
For an ongoing discussion of shakuhachi related topics check out the Shakuhachi Forum.
The information at this site has been compiled from various texts and contributions of our members. We have done our best to keep the information accurate but there are probably many errors and omissions, both historical and philosophical. With our member's help this site will constantly improve in quantity and quality.

Our Next Meeting Saturday 4 February!

Our next meeting that will be on Saturday the 4th of February should be a lot of fun!

Reminder, we'll be having it at my home not at the SNAP location. Also after we get done with out flute playing and instruction we'll be having our first group party.  So even if you can't make the 10:00 AM start of the instruction please come to the party at noon.

Since it will be a party, music is always welcome. If you've got an instrument you enjoy playing, any instrument at all, bring it along and lets have some fun. Maybe we can try some improvisation between the shakuhachi and other instruments.

Two weekends ago I went to Boyce Thompson Arboritium for a class to make a didgeridoo. It came out realy well and others are welcome to try it out.

Hope to see a lot of you there and of course bring a guest if you'd like. The more the merrier.

–Buddhist saying and Ma

“Do not speak, unless it improves on silence.”

 

Within Shakuhachi music there is silence, between notes, between phrases. This is not emptiness, it has space and relationships. It is Ma (間).
It is best described as a consciousness of place, not in the sense of an enclosed three-dimensional entity, but rather the simultaneous awareness of form and non-form deriving from an intensification of vision.
Ma is not something that is created by compositional elements; it is the thing that takes place in the imagination of the human who experiences these elements. Therefore ma can be defined as experiential place understood with emphasis on interval.

Shakuhachi: Kominato Akihisa and the Music of the Universe

Kominato Akihisa is a young virtuoso on the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute. In the hands of a virtuoso like Kominato, the shakuhachi can express a wide range of emotions, almost like a human voice in song. By bringing a spirit of innovation to the rich traditions of this historical Japanese instrument, Kominato has delighted audiences around the world. In this video, Kominato introduces the history and diversity of the shakuhachi, and performs a special piece accompanied by piano.

Our Next Meeting is January 7th at 10:00 AM

Hello All,

Our next gathering of the Phoenix AZ Shakuhachi Friends will be this Saturday the 7th from10:00 AM to about noon.

Come one, come all and check it out. As always we'll be at SNAP Scottsdale neighborhood arts place.

Bamboo Dreams Concert and Workshop Photos

David Wheeler gave us an amazing workshop and concert. I’ll talk about it more in my next post but for now, here’s a few photos from the events.
Instruction at our all day shakuhachi workshop. David working with Barbara and Mike.
 
About Ready to start the concert



Wayne from our Meetup group got this wonderful photo!

Also check out our web site: http://phoenixazshakuhachi.com/