Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I don't know to many japanese songs but, something "Happy" will work.

Any of the crane pieces could work. Tsuru no Sugomori, Sokkan Reibo.

Ho Gyo Koku (Phoenix Crying in the Empty Sky) - a Taizan Ha piece that Riley Lee has recorded.

(Cranes, Phoenix = Auspiciousness in Japanese culture.)

Uji Meguri - an Ikuta Ryu with shakuhachi. Example from  poem:
In the spring breeze
which blows across the fields of tea,
harvested for countless generations,
the floating sleeves
of the goddess Saohime,
spring bearer of Kotobuki ["good fortune"]
are like Wakamidori ["young and green"]
She shyly shows to public view
Hatsumukashi ["first-picked tea"] ...

Like-wise tea centered: Cha No Yu Ondo

Honkyoku inspired by festival music like the lion dances Azuma Jishi and Kumoi Jishi.

And Asuka Reibo which sounds upbeat and very much like it could have been a lion dance or festival piece.

Last edited by Chris Moran (2007-04-24 14:23:42)

Thanks guys!

Thanks everybody,

I played "Kumoijishi" upon the advice of Nyogetsu and Nyokai. Then people wanted more so I played "Azuma no Kyoku" and "Reibo."

That was for the private opening. I will also be performing one of the first days it's open to the public.

Your tea house sounds like a great place for both tea and shakuhachi.  Kumoijishi is a personal favorite of mine, being a short and sweet celebratory piece.  I just played it for a friend's wedding up at a Shinto shrine in the Shikoku Mts last Saturday; American-Chinese husband and Polish wife settling down to live in a small Japanese village.  We had tea, as well as delicious village prepared tataki, sashimi, and mountain vegetables including takenoko (young bamboo shoots), and numerous toasts with beer, sake, and vodka (the latter courtesy of the father from Warsaw) at the lively party afterwards, and it was a real international affair for such a small village (population 1500), with wedding guests from Poland, Australia, England, Mongolia, China, and the U.S.A.

Yeah, it was a fun gig.  We showered the newlyweds with rice, flower petals, and shabon dama (soap bubbles little kids in Japan usually blow from tiny bottles) as they walked through the shrine grounds. There was a Japanese nihon buyo dancer and some waltzing too.  Some of the older villagers appeared a bit befuddled as the dinner in the village community center wore on as perhaps the wedding was less structured than the typical Japanese wedding.  They seemed reassured when the wedding cake finally appeared.  The bride and groom really got into the feeding each other pieces of the cake, smearing it on and becoming very white faced in the process.  Playing shakuhachi at weddings is usually very enjoyable for me as I really get caught up in the celebration.

Last edited by Daniel Ryudo (2007-04-27 05:19:32)