Obama is a crowd magnet, for sure, but I was
surprised to see a line on the sidewalk as Yoko and I arrived in front of Somethin’ Jazz on 52nd
Street on this late Saturday afternoon. After all, this was Akihito Obama, a Japanese
shakuhachi player. Almost everyone in the queue was Japanese and I saw Satoru
Steve Kobayashi, the owner of the club, checking names in a list in his hand.
Luckily, I had made a reservation online earlier in the day. Clearly, this was
going to be a cultural event. When we entered the pleasant club space it was
crowded and we could see familiar faces belonging to well-known musicologists,
academics and people into Japanese culture as well as some from the Japanese
consulate in New York.
The musicians entered the stage and Obama, a
thin unassuming young man, explained how this was a very important event for
him: his first concert in New York! He further explained how in Japan he
usually talks a lot during concerts, but he has seen that musicians in New York
don’t do so, so he will follow their example.
He started the concert with an atmospheric shakuhachi
improvisation which the drummer, Akira Horikoshi, soon
joined. The sound of the bamboo flute was thick and breathy setting the stage
for an almost mystical atmosphere. Switching to a shorter version of the flute,
Obama played a minyo (Japanese folk
tune) –like piece that led to an imaginative improvisation backed by
Horikoshi’s drumming. Obama bent the tones of the flute so that the impression
was almost like of a rubber band stretching, still playing perfectly in tune.
The shakuhachi has only five finger holes forcing the player to find the right
pitch by a variety of techniques that include covering the holes partly and in
different combinations and changing the way you blow. Unlike with the Western
flute, playing the shakuhachi involves changing your embouchure, changing the
position of the flute, and even twisting your neck in a specific way called kubifuri. All these techniques
contribute to the almost magical sound of the ancient instrument.
Akihito Obama started like virtually all
shakuhachi players have, studying the traditional shakuhachi music created in
the Buddhist temples and by the mendicant Zen Buddhist monks, komuso, hundreds of years ago and
reaching its current shape during the Edo period (1600-1868). Obama is,
however, more known for his own style of music that incorporates influences
from jazz and electronic music. This was the first time we heard his music.
The Japanese masters were joined by a local
addition, Brooklynite Joe Harrison on guitar. The next piece was a slow and
beautiful tune, which Horikoshi accompanied on brushes. Harrison played a crisp
solo, which Yoko classified as fusion-like, somewhat disapprovingly. This was
followed by a very thoughtful piece in which Obama’s thick shakuhachi
intertwined with a countermelody played by the guitar, leading to an
effect-filled guitar solo that intensifying with Horikoshi beating his drums
with mallets. After a mallet solo, the music calmed with Obama switching back
to his longer flute. The last number of the first set contained an angular,
somewhat atonal melody and some nice electronics work by Harrison.
I got the impression that Joe Harrison was a new
addition to the group, which would explain that he was at times slightly stiff
in his playing. And I could see him reading the music in a concentrated manner
during several of the pieces. My impression is backed by the fact that the
Somethin’ Jazz website announcing the concert listed Obama and Horikoshi, but
continued “Someone – piano or guitar or bass.”
At the beginning of the second set Obama resumed
talking. He said that Joe had told him to speak, but that he was nervous
because his English teacher was in the audience. Needless to say, this brought
out laughter from the crowd. Obviously, an American with similar command of
Japanese – or any other foreign language for that matter – would not shy away
from showing his proficiency. But the Japanese are modest and decent people and
humility is a virtue, unlike in this country of brash and shameless
self-promotion.
The second set introduced a special guest,
Japanese singer Emme. The first piece Tsuki
was about the moon. Obama introduced the sweet melody with the shakuhachi. It
was then taken over by a solo voice and finally completed as a lovely
shakuhachi-voice duet. Next came a lullaby for adults, Oyasumi, which Emme sang exquisitely accompanied by the guitar and
bells. Obama’s playing was wonderful as he produced beautiful bird twitter like
effects on the bamboo flute, reminiscent of the shakuhachi classic Tsuru no sugomori or ‘Nesting cranes.’
As the song evolved it developed rhythmic complexity but remained soft and
soothing. Continuing on the lullaby theme, Obama pleaded with the audience,
“please don’t sleep.” There was no risk of that during the beautiful, rather
intense waltz that Horikoshi and Obama, wielding again the smaller flute,
introduced and that made Emme dance before her singing part started. Joe
Harrison had switched to an acoustic guitar and the song had almost Irish
atmosphere, while Emme’s singing was tinted with shimauta-colourings from the southern Japanese islands.
The two final numbers of the concert returned to
the trio format and demonstrated some of the most powerful shakuhachi of the
evening. Obama masters the difficult instrument in such a way that his playing
is never showy. Although he possesses a tremendous technique, he doesn’t draw
attention to it: the focus is always on the music and the musicality (this is a
sign of mature artistry, as was the case with Miles Davis or John Coltrane,
post-Giant Steps). Harrison had also settled in and played a very good and
inventive slide solo. The last piece was the most commanding of the evening,
and the only one on which Horikoshi resorted to more conventional jazz drumming
with sticks on cymbals. It involved some strong shakuhachi and electric guitar
as the tempo was ramped up before the ending.
As the applause died, Obama highlighted another
difference between Tokyo and New York. Here, there would be two other acts
following tonight and so there was no time for playing any further. Indeed, the
next band and some of its most eager followers were already waiting in the back
of the room as we streamed out. It would be a challenge for them to create
equally original and inspiring music and to fill the house with an equally
dedicated audience.
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