[Shaku] Taimu Shakuhachi Release Concert, Oct. 9 in SF

Hi all,

I wanted to pass on some info. re. an exciting event that will happen in
San Francisco on Oct. 9. In addition to being able to check out some of
Ken LaCosse's great Taimu flutes, you'll get to hear Cornelius Boots
debut some recent pieces he's created for the Taimu. I got a sneak
preview of some of the pieces and they are an intriguing combination of
Honkyoku and Mississippi blues - how's that you say ? Go check it out.
Though they highlight the strength of the Taimu flutes it was enjoyable
playing them on a "standard" ji-ari flute as well.

    October 9, 2010 6:30-8:30pm

* *

*Mukyoku: New Repertoire for Taimu Shakuhachi Release Concert and Workshop*

*with Cornelius Boots (performer/composer) *

*and Ken Mujitsu LaCosse (shakuhachi maker)*

* *

*First Unitarian Universalist Church in the room called "The Chapel"*

*1187 Franklin Street at Geary*

*San Francisco, CA 94109*

*$20 for workshop and concert (begins at 6:30)/$10 for concert only
(begins at 7:30)*

San Francisco shakuhachi maker Ken Mujitsu LaCosse (in collaboration
with Brian Tairaku Ritchie, shakuhachi player and founder/bassist of the
Violent Femmes) has developed a large-bore, lower-pitched, rich sounding
variant on the shakuhachi that is called Taimu. These fat flutes
maintain raw bamboo interiors and feature large finger-holes for a wide
dynamic range. Taimu can be described as the cello of bamboo flutes: the
Barry White of shakuhachi.

East Bay composer and reed renegade Cornelius Boots has created a new
repertoire of 27 pieces specifically for these big bamboo, fat flutes.
The Taimu flutes appreciate being approached more as forces of nature
and less as musical instruments. Due to the extra thickness, Taimu
exhibit unique tonal possibilities. To further explore these
possibilities, the creation of brand new pieces that exploit the sound
of the Taimu and are accessible to beginner and intermediate players was
undertaken in April 2009. The term "Taimu" itself means "the big
nothing" and this new repertoire has been named /mukyoku/ meaning "songs
for Taimu." It is also a Buddhist metaphysical term meaning "the
ultimate of infinite non-being." The stylistic influences on these new
pieces are primarily /honkyoku/ (traditional Zen shakuhachi repertoire,
"original songs" based on chant, nature, breath) and Mississippi blues.

This event is the release concert of these pieces, which are being made
available both in print and digitally via CD-ROMs and downloads in three
sets of nine pieces each (Levels One, Two and Three). There is a large
amount of instructional material, including tone and finger exercises,
being offered in conjunction with Level One of the repertoire. For each
of the 27 pieces, there is both a score (in modified Kinko, Japanese
calligraphic notation) and a recorded version (performed by the composer).

All who are curious about these great bamboo flutes, whether already a
shakuhachi player or not, are encouraged to come to the workshop and
concert portions of the event. Taimu creator/maker Ken LaCosse will
bring some of his most recent (and hopefully some of the largest) Taimu
and we will explore them up-close and also discuss the compositional
approach taken by Boots in the creation of these 27 pieces. The concert
will feature two 30-minute sets of selected /mukyoku/ performed on 4
different sizes of Taimu (2.45, 2.65, 2.75, 2.8).

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Received on Wed Sep 29 12:08:28 2010