About a week before this performance, my old friend Issa let me know he would be in town, and I asked if he would join me for a performance. It's been years since we played taiko together, but it felt like old times to be back at it again. We drove to the gig in the same car with the same paint stains from back when he held down the oversized lumber hanging out of the open trunk to make our float.
Because Issa was coming, Jon joined, too, and suddenly what would have been a solo set was an ensemble. In some real sense, taiko is something that keeps us in community, and I think that's really wonderful. We had to come up with shared portion of the set rather quickly, but I'm happy with how it reflects a really authentic moment, at least how I experienced it as a performer.
This performance was also special because it celebrated the accomplishments of Asian American and Pacific Islander students graduating from Sierra College. Each of the students who spoke were really moving. I've been both enamored and disillusioned with academia in my life, but this graduation really hit home for me that the love and care that these educators give to their students are really helping in their lives. It's a model of education that I admire. It's a good energy in that space.
I'm grateful that I can play taiko for this community and be in these spaces. I'm grateful for the ways that taiko connects me to my old relations and lets me share something with new audiences.
Congratulations to all the graduates!
Thanks for filming this, Issa! It's a good memory.
Songs and song elements played are:
- Folk song from Hachijo (a prison island in the Edo Period)
- "Go for Broke" by Tiffany Tamaribuchi
- arrangement of Chichibu Yomatsuri Yataibayashi