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Dear friends on the bamboo hotline -
(Please pardon the long silence from here - been too busy to talk - and the
length of this communication!)
Greetings from Japan, recently returned from (and soon to return for another
3 wks to) India. With wife Sakiko (on Indian strings) to be touring USA for
performances from 13 to 30 September 05; have two dates in San Diego county
(spot of an alma mater), one in York, PA (rah-rah home team!), one at
Princeton Univ (thanks Tom!); will send details before long. We would love
to have a shot at the San Francisco Bay Area and Boulder, CO (first time
since 1977; missed the super bamboo bash there 6 yrs ago due to wrecked
thumb). I am back to 99%, after car crash a year ago and doing my 10-min
perf and 1-hr workshop at NYC Aug in a corset with 4 broken ribs (thanks
Ronnie and everybody for everything then and there!).
In Bay area, 14 (or, if not available, maybe 15) Sept; in Boulder, 19 or 20
Sept. Then there is DC/MD/NJ/NYC area from 22 through 26, may be open for
one date there. Anybody who may be interested or whatever, please get right
back to me - like, today or yesterday, if possible; seriously, pushing an
impossible time line just now, my excuses for this situation offered below.
I am sure it would be fun and a new kind of treat to your loyal clients.
Performances to feature any or all of the following:
authentic performance of Hindustani classical on Japanese shakuhachi and
koto, singing of Japanese classical poetry (and Indian texts) in Hindustani
vocal forms, and Indo-Japanese co-compositions based on folk music -
accompaniment by Indian tabla, and tambura/swarmandal. Sounds esoteric on
paper, but really is more 'natural' than a piano recital in a well-tempered
scale. And the 'why' of how it works is 'stimulating to the gray matter'...
During 5-23 March had a series of concerts and workshops in northern India
(Delhi, Lucknow, Amritsar, Mumbai, Pune), and have been recharged from
sharing spontaneity on stage together with hot hands and liberated voices.
Both Indian Institutes of Technology (Delhi & Mumbai) and Guru Nanak Dev
University hosted me in their fine guesthouses, though there was little time
for much but the tunes. It was especially encouraging to have the entire
music dept of Univ of Delhi (and knowlegable artists et al from outside) on
their feet after my program of raga and Japanese poetry on shakuhachi, koto
and voice in their two-day National Seminar 'Tradition and Experimentation.'
Am scheduled for more programs across India in August, a tri-cultural
workshop weekend (India-Korea-Japan) and performances in Korea, and then the
visit to good ol' USA in September.
For background, you could have a peep at the 2 websites below (sorry, badly
in need of updating etc - will have some time for that, now that I've
dropped my position as professor in one university; will still be 2 days/wk
lecturer at Musashino Music Academy). On my page on www.shakuhachi.com
(see below; thanks Monty!!), will also try to have some sound samples in a
few days. Upon request, can send text files covering the past two years -
you will see we have been busy!
In Japan these days, enjoying working with a fine Bangladeshi artist (tabla
and Bengali songs), this coming month again in Foreign Correspondents' Club
of Japan, on a noh stage, at int'l school, Rotary Club, Indian Embassy Hall.
Was recently blessed with a beautiful letter from Hideo Tanabe, 92-yr-old
doyen of ethnomusicology in Japan (and son of 'godfather' Hisao Tanabe,
tri-cultural music man who lived to 100), informing that our CD 'INTEGRAL
ASIA' (available at shakuhachi.com) is now his fave rave earfood.. It is a
'live' collection, with no overdubs - jai manodharma sangit!
On this last India visit, I donated a koto to Bhatkhande Music Institute
staff and students in Lucknow (my home/school of 4 yrs back in the 80's)
without leaving any recordings or instruction materials from Japan or
elsewhere. It will be interesting to see what they do with it. I did give a
short demo-recital of what I have been trying on koto, and it was well
covered by media, especially on the significance of a new Asian instrument
being added to the university. Am intending to do the same in at least two
other institutions, get a race going on creative developments. Try to guess
why I would encourage koto over shakuhachi in this case...
***Re: performances and presentations
Having just returned from the 20-day tour of India, I am scrambling to set
my schedule. A major deadline is coming up in just 2 days. Would be ideal
to made it. If a host materializes, I would request from him/her a letter
by e-mail (scanned copy with letterhead best) or by fax - a simple letter of
invitation for me to present a performance on any of the dates mentioned
above. The posted version could follow a few days later. This letter itself
would not be binding, in case the proposed details would not be convenient
for you; at this time, the letter will help substantiate my case for leave
from my duties here, and perhaps make possible transportation assistance. As
I am neither rich nor amateur (though I love that word!), I would of course
appreciate payment for our presentation. A serious investment of time (two
decades) involving considerable contributions of time and aural treasure
from finest masters is behind these efforts.
I can offer an interesting program, have over the past 20 yrs had lots of
opportunities to present for various groups - audiences from 2 to 7000,
also TV/radio; kindergarten to retirement homes; in Japanese, Hindi,
Sinhala, English; from hardcore academic papers to interactive workshops and
pure concerts. I am these days working with other artists from Asia, Europe
and the Americas. My training and interests do go into areas other than
shakuhachi, Indian music and Indo-Japanese crossover; Western classical and
jazz had my attention up to age 25, and then those countless hours spent on
tabla and sitar, and in Javanese gamelan, Sinhalese shaman drumming/dance,
and Japanese festival music. And piano in my youth produced a speed typist
with (sorry!) run-on e-msgs. Hey, thanks for your attention!
Please kindly respond at your VERY earliest convenience.
Thank you very much!
Respects and best wishes from Japan.
Tim Hoffman
T. M. Hoffman
ethnomusicologist and performing artist
Indo-Japanese Music Exchange Association
130 Yoshizaki, Shimonita-machi, Kanra-gun, Gunma-ken 370-2604 JAPAN
tel/fax: 0274-82-3160 mobile: 090-5447-1903
e-mail: ijmusath@po.wind.ne.jp
tmhoffmus21@yahoo.com
http://shakuhachi.com/G-IJMEA.html
http://www.indiaedunews.net/MeetAchievers/interviews/holfman.htm
= quite detailed interview by National Network of Education (India) - put it
in Google, it may come up (India keeps us on our toes!)
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