Thursday June 30, 2005
8 pm
$15
The Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley, CA 94709
http://www.hillsideclub.org/concerts
Berkeley, CA
Riley Lee- shakuhachi
Shoko Hikage - koto
Stephen Kent - didjeridoo
Philip Gelb - shakuhachi
Visiting from Australia, world reknowned shakuhachi player Riley Lee will p=
resent traditional and modern solo pieces as well as modern duets with 3 of=
his friends and colleagues who are based in the bay area.
Manly NSW Australia 1655
RILEY LEE (http://rileylee.net) began playing the shakuhachi (bamboo flute)=
in Japan in 1971, studying with Chikuho Sakai until 1980, and has been a s=
tudent of Katsuya Yokoyama since 1984. He was given the rank of Dai Shihan =
(grand master) in 1980. Riley was born in Plainview Texas USA in 1951. He =
and his family moved to Hawai'i in 1966. He first went to Japan in 1970, an=
d returned in 1971, when he began his shakuhachi studies. He lived there co=
ntinuously until 1977.
From 1973, Riley toured internationally as a full-time performer of taiko (=
Japanese festival drums), yokobue (a high pitched bamboo transverse flute) =
and shakuhachi with Ondekoza (now called Kodo) a troupe of traditional Japa=
nese musicians. Riley's studies with traditional teachers in Japan have in=
cluded such peculiar methods as practicing barefoot in the snow, blowing in=
to his flute under waterfalls and in blizzards until icicles form at its en=
d, and running the Boston Marathon and then playing taiko drums at the fini=
sh line. He founded the Chikuho School of Shakuhachi of Hawaii. He was a le=
cturer of the shakuhachi at the University of Hawai'i until leaving for Aus=
tralia in 1986 to take up a PhD fellowship at the University of Sydney. Ril=
ey completed his BA and MA degrees in music at the University of Hawai'i, a=
nd received his PhD degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Sydney=
. His PhD dissertation topic was on the Zen repertoire of the shakuhachi. =
He has been instrumental in creating a professional presence of traditional=
Japanese music in Australia. He has made over fifty commercially released =
recordings since 1980, which are sold worldwide on a number of labels.
Shoko Hikage (www.ShokoHikage.com) began playing koto at the age of three. =
Her first instructor was Chizuga Kimura of the Ikuta-ryu Sokyoku Seigen Kai=
in Akita Prefecture,
Japan. From 1985, she received special training from Seiga Adachi the 2nd a=
nd 3rd Iemoto - hereditary head masters of the Ikuta-ryu Sokyoku Seigen Kai=
. In 1988, Hikage graduated from Takasaki College with a major in koto musi=
c and subsequently was accepted as a special research student with Tadao an=
d Kazue Sawai, where she received her master's certificate. She also comple=
ted a one-year intensive seminar at the Sawai Koto Institute. In 1992, Shok=
o went to Honolulu to teach at the Sawai Koto Kai Hawaii. There, she held =
her first American solo recital at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Theater as =
part of the "New Music Across America" series. In 1997, she moved to San Fr=
ancisco, where she continues her pursuits in improvisational dance and musi=
c. Hikage performs regularly in solo situations and in collaboration with =
a range of artists, has worked with Trio Natto (Philip Gelb, shakuhachi, Ti=
m Perkins, electronic & Hikage), Koto trio LANTANA (Noriko Tuboi, Ryuko Miz=
utani & Hikage) Koto Phase (Curtis Patterson, Mitsuki Dazai, Ryuko Mizutani=
& Hikage), Ghostdance Trio (Pauline Oliveros, accordion, Toyoji Tomita, tr=
ombone & Hikage), Gino Robair(percussion), Jon Raskin (saxophone), Marina P=
iccinini(flute), Hugh Livingston (cello), Robert Dick (flute), Trinth Minh=
-Ha (film), Lori Ohtani(butoh dance), Eri Majima (dance), and more artists.=
A solo recording of Hikage's original compositions and improvisations, alo=
ng with a number of recordings with different collaborators are available. =
These include "Step Forward" with Noriko Tsuboi (koto), "Tanka" with Tsuboi=
and Ryuko Mizutani (koto), "Indistancing" with Brett Larner (koto) and Phi=
lip Gelb (shakuhachi), and "Blue Poles of Lear" with Tetsu Saito (bass), Ku=
ribayashi Hideaki (koto) and others. A new CD, "Trio Natto w/ Chris Brown" =
will be released in a few months.
Over the last several years Stephen Kent has been involved with a number o=
f eclectic musical projects in both Europe and the USA. In 1999 he made 2 t=
rips to Europe playing concerts, giving workshops and working on new record=
ing projects. Firstly with Mino Cinelu [Percussion] and Michel Portal [Clar=
inets] for a CD to be released on Pau Records [Austria] in the summer of 20=
00 and later in a more extensive tour with MEGADRUMS - featuring the compos=
itions of Reinhard Flatischler and including collaborations with Zakir Huss=
ain, Airto Moreira, Glen Velez, Leonard Eto, Wolfgang Puschnig and Cornelia=
Flatischler. A CD of Megadrums 1999 will be released on Intuition in the s=
ummer of 2000. Other events over the last year have included a European Tou=
r with Peter Valsamis and Eda Maxym, the release of a Lights in a Fat City =
CD, 'Memory Ground' [City of Tribes]: archival Deep Ambient recordings from=
San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts in 1991 and a live Trance Mission CD, =
'A Day out of Time' [City of Tribes]. Produced by Simon Tassano and featuri=
ng Stephen Kent, Eda Maxym, Peter Valsamis and Beth Custer, the recording d=
ocuments the last performance of that version of the Trance Mission line-up=
.
Philip Gelb (http://philipgelb.com) is one of a handful of shakuhachi playe=
rs that focus on new music and frequently collaborates with composers for n=
ew works. He has studied shakuhachi with Kurahashi Yoshi, Ronnie Nyogetsu =
Seldin and Dale Olsen bai-o. He has performed throughout North America and=
in Europe and Japan as a soloist and in various ensembles, premiering num=
erous new works for shakuhachi solo and in varied ensembles. His recordings=
have been released on numerous labels including 482music, Deep Listening, =
Leo, Sparkling Beatnik, and New World/Countercurrents. He has received gran=
ts from the Florida Arts Council, Meet the Composer and the Knight Ridder F=
oundation. In addition to being an active freelance performer, his current=
projects include =93The Space Between=94 with Pauline Oliveros and Dana Re=
ason; =93Natto quartet=94. with koto player, Shoko Hikage and electronic mu=
sician, Tim Perkis and pianist Chris Brown; and collaborations with dancer =
Eri Majima. He holds a BA in anthropology from the University of Florida an=
d attended graduate studies in ethnomusicology at the Florida State Univers=
ity School of Music. He currently lives in Oakland and runs the =93Bay Are=
a Shakuhachi School=94 with over 30 students. In addition he is a reknow=
ned vegetarian cook with his own personal chef business. http://www.philipg=
elb.com.
Philip Gelb
shakuhachi player, teacher
Vegetarian, Vegan Personal chef
http://philipgelb.com
phil@philipgelb.com
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