By Robert M. Tilendis, on January 18th, 2011
Kodo is one of the best examples I’ve ever found of the idea of tradition in art, especially in music, as an ongoing event. Akatsuki brings this home in many ways, from the origins of the songs themselves to the troupe’s openness to new idioms.
Drumming has as many traditions as there are peoples who have used drums — which would be just about everyone, I suspect — but there are commonalities and there are meanings to drumming that far transcend the impact of sticks or hands on stretched skins. In Japanese tradition — and I suspect many others — the drum is more than an instrument: the sound of a drum, a fixture in Japanese shrines, marks the boundary of the village. If you can hear it, you’re home. (Think about the equivalent place of church bells in Europe and America — if you could hear the bell, summoning you to worship, or to mourn, or to celebrate, you were part of the community.)
Kodo lives this. They are, in effect, an artists’ commune, resident on Sado Island, for several generations a refuge for artists looking for new contexts for working. Over the past thirty years, Kodo have become, as much as possible, part of the community, deriving much of their material from the island’s own traditions.
Akatsuki, which means “dawn” in Japanese, presents a Kodo with somewhat more expanded resources than when I last encountered them, evident in the first track, “Tamayura no Michi.” The vocals, by the female members of the troupe, possess purity and weight, which is not something we normally think of together. I should add that those expanded resources include koto, samisen, kokyu and flutes, enabling a much greater range of music and a, not richer, but different texture that opens up new possibilities for listening. The vocals in this piece soon join with the drumming and the broader instrumentation, providing a real sense of not only the range of means in use, but the degree of mastery. The shift to the massed, unison drums opening “Stride” after the soft, melancholy sounds of “Tamayura no Michi” is like a splash of cold water. The piece itself is a display of sustained intensity that sets the tone for the rest of the disc and reminds me strongly of what I found compelling about Kodo way back when.
One more word, about borrowed idioms and the way Kodo has incorporated them into their own work: “Yoshino no Yama” takes very little time to take on all the poignancy of Javanese gamelan, and although the vocals aren’t precisely in the style, the instrumentals are. And “Sora,” which closes the collection, would slip right under the radar at any Irish pub you’d care to name.
It’s a choice collection, not quite an hour of rhythms and melodies playing off each other, changing places, transforming and being transformed into something new and rich. And although the release does include a bonus DVD about the group and their life on Sado — itself laconic, understated, and in the absence of spoken narration creating its own kind of poetry — the huge frustration is not being able to see them. The group brings a high level of energy to their performances, a combination of dance, drumming, song, striking visual imagery, and throws it right out at you. Here’s a little something to whet your appetite:
And the happy news is that Kodo’s 30th Anniversary North America Tour (One Earth Tour) begins at the end of this week.
01/26/2011, Wed Spokane, WA Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox
01/28/2011, Fri Vancouver, BC Queen Elizabeth Theatre
01/30/2011, Sun Olympia, WA Washington Center for the Performing Arts
02/01/2011, Tue Arcata, CA Humboldt State University – Van Duzer Theater
02/03/2011, Thu Berkeley, CA UC Berkeley – Zellerbach Hall
02/04/2011, Fri Berkeley, CA UC Berkeley – Zellerbach Hall
02/05/2011, Sat San Rafael, CA Marin Center – Memorial Auditorium
02/07/2011, Mon Scottsdale, AZ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
02/10/2011, Thu Los Angeles, CA Walt Disney Concert Hall
02/11/2011, Fri San Diego, CA Balboa Theatre
02/13/2011, Sun Tucson, AZ University of Arizona – Centennial Hall
02/16/2011, Wed Austin, TX Paramount Theatre
02/17/2011, Thu Dallas, TX Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House
02/19/2011, Sat Catoosa, OK Hard Rock Casino
02/21/2011, Mon Chicago, IL Symphony Center
02/23/2011, Wed Ann Arbor, MI Hill Auditiorium
02/25/2011, Fri Bloomington, IN Indiana University Auditorium
02/27/2011, Sun Indianapolis, IN Clowes Memorial Hall
03/01/2011, Tue Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theater
03/02/2011, Wed Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theater
03/04/2011, Fri Montreal, QC Canada Place des Arts
03/07/2011, Mon Ottawa, ON Canada National Arts Centre
03/09/2011, Wed Kingston, ON Canada Grand Theatre
03/11/2011, Fri Toronto, ON Canada Sony Centre
03/13/2011, Sun Boston, MA Symphony Hall
03/17/2011, Thu Richmond, VA Landmark Theater
03/19/2011, Sat Morristown, NJ Community Theater
03/20/2011, Sun New York, NY Avery Fisher Hall
03/22/2011, Tue Utica, NY New Stanley Theater
(Otodaiku, 2011)
01/18/11 >> 
