Re: Okuda review by Brian Ritchie
I'm a long-time Zen student (Rinzai) but a newbie to shakuhachi, sui zen
and this list. Just wanted to let Brian and others know that I purchased my
first flute, a 2.1 jinhashi bamboo (in 'B') from Ken LaCrosse on Ebay for
my birthday present to self in October, and I am very pleased with it. It
is excellent adjunct to zazen, and I can now play the entire lower register,
if I maintain relaxed concentration, and a positive attitude.
I'm happy to endorse LaCrosse flutes to other serious zen students, of
which there are a growing number here in western Montana. Wish there were
a few more shakuhachi teachers here, though. I can't find a one. Any
coming through W. Mt. in the future, please notify me in advance, and maybe
we could arrange for a lesson.
John Syodo Stromnes
> From: Brian Ritchie <brianritchie@mac.com>
> Reply-To: Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
> Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 08:42:56 -0600
> To: shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
> Subject: [Shaku] Okuda review
>
> Hi All,
>
> I know this is old news but since nobody else wrote a review of Okuda
> Atsuya's visit to the Bay Area I thought I would briefly recount the
> activities.
>
> I was curious to meet Okuda because I enjoy his CD. Besides that, his
> personal story is interesting. He was a pro jazz trumpeter who gave up
> jazz to become a shakuhachi teacher.
>
> Kiku Day hosted Okuda sensei in Oakland. She has been studying with him
> for many years. First there was a workshop/lesson evening at Kiku's
> house. I showed up with Ken LaCosse and John Singer. When we walked in
> we thought nothing was going on yet, so we greeted her rather
> ebulliently. Then we noticed that there was a small Japanese fellow
> blowing on a long 3.4 jinashi shakuhachi. That's Okuda. We didn't know
> music was already happening because he was playing at an UNBELIEVABLY
> low volume. It was amazing how quietly he was playing. The piece was
> "Shingetsu" I believe.
>
> There were several other students there, some of whom seemed to already
> know Okuda san. They had already taken their lessons. We exchanged
> formalities and started checking out each others flutes. Okuda plays
> exclusively jinashi shakuhachi with little or no lacquer in the bore
> and no utaguchi inlay. They are of his own making, or those of his
> students and associates. Some people call this style of shakuhachi
> hocchiku. Ken LaCosse is a fine maker based in San Francisco. We have
> been working together on a new range of huge bored long jinashi flutes.
> Okuda was very impressed with Ken's work, going so far as to say, "I'm
> jealous". He played "Tamuke" on Ken's 2.7 and "Tsuru no Sugomori" on
> Ken's 2.3.
>
> For my lesson he asked me to play something. So we went through some of
> the pieces I have memorized. Basically I played the piece as I know it
> and then he would play his own version of the same piece. He played
> semi improvised versions of the same pieces. Kiku explained that this
> may be an outgrowth of his jazz training. I have learned versions of
> all songs on his CD except one, "Shin Kyorei", so I asked him to show
> it to me. The melody is fairly simple and characteristic of Myoan
> honkyoku. Okuda's emphasis in this piece is to find the most subtle and
> delicate fingerings to produce the standard pitches. So there were a
> lot of alternate fingerings, which was an interesting challenge. His
> playing ranges mainly between pianissimo to piano, and his tone is
> usually distorted, splintered, mixing octaves and generally exploring
> the nuances of muraiki and other breathing techniques within a quiet
> framework. For me it wasn't difficult to play that quietly, but it took
> self control to keep it there. I like to play loud! He showed us how he
> constructs his flutes with a very small hole at the bottom in order to
> keep a lot of the sound within the bore. He said that allows him to
> work the sound more than conventional flutes which are designed to
> project.
>
> Okuda Sensei was very giving during the lessons. He played full
> renditions of every piece under discussion, so we basically got our own
> mini concert. After the lessons we had a good time trying each others
> flutes and eating some delicious snacks prepared by Kiku and her
> friend. Thanks to them for their generous hospitality. It was a
> pleasure to be around people who appreciate the sound and feeling of
> jinashi flutes. It's an approach which doesn't have a lot of momentum
> in America yet, but hopefully will pick up.
>
> The next day was the concert at Mills College in the chapel. It was an
> appropriate venue for the spiritually oriented music being performed.
> Okuda started out with an improvisation in Honkyoku style. That was
> followed by three honkyoku. They were all characterized by Okuda's
> unusual style and his semi-improvisational stance. It's refreshing to
> hear someone improvise within the general style of honkyoku. The
> concert was well attended by the general public as well as most of the
> usual suspects of Bay Area shakuhachi.
>
> To summarize, my opinion is that Okuda Sensei and his students are
> working in a natural style of shakuhachi playing. The emphasis on long
> jinashi flutes is something that will continue to grow, because playing
> them is so satisfying and the tone they produce is earthy. His
> repertoire is drawn from various sources, and is not confined to one
> school. He seems to learn the basic songs and then interpret them to
> his own taste. Most modern shakuhachi playing is geared towards
> blasting and making as clear a sound as possible. Okuda explores the
> opposite side of the sound spectrum. It shows that there is more than
> one way to play shakuhachi, which is a healthy influence. Thanks to
> Kiku Day and Alcvin Ramos for bringing Okuda Sensei to North America.
> Hopefully there will be more visits from Japanese players with
> perspectives on shakuhachi which will broaden the musical palette of
> players on this side of the pond.
>
> Regards,
>
> BR
>
> http://www.brianritchie.com/
>
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