Koto Jazz tune 93: Creating a free form, “chaos” music

Indeterminate music happens when a musician creates a base melody, and leaves the rest to spontaneous chance and free flow of expression. Instead of the musician taking the driver’s seat, the musician surrenders to letting the music take the driver’s seat; take the musician wherever it leads. It was first practiced by John Cage and Brian … Continue reading Koto Jazz tune 93: Creating a free form, “chaos” music

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KotoJazz 15: “Chaos Jazz”

“Chaos Jazz” might be a genre of its own, and if that is the case, the east-west connection is alive and well in this category. Some samples of “chaos jazz” I’ve listened to that are connected to koto jazz tunes are: Hatchidori (Hummingbird)- by Kenji Tori No Yo Ni (Like a Bird), version by Kenji … Continue reading KotoJazz 15: “Chaos Jazz”

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KotoJazz 14: The Serendipity in “Order Out of Chaos”

I know I’m not alone in this. I know that many people, artists, designers, engineers, express their deeper, at times darker, life experiences through their art or trade of choice. My big lesson while playing the piano, is facing and overcoming fear. The first step is to know how fear is present in my life. … Continue reading KotoJazz 14: The Serendipity in “Order Out of Chaos”

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Patrick Wilson’s SyntHorn on the koto jazz tune

For the off beat eclectic innovator, the SyntHorn is an amazing, fun and crazy instrument. One of my neighbors and friends Patrick Wilson in Seattle created a digital instrument he calls The SyntHorn (short for synthesizer horn). The horn itself produces an unique, distant echoing cavernous sound effect. The SyntHorn includes the horn, a mini- digital keyboard, Oscillator, Chaoscillator, Monotron delay unit, two Internal Horn speakers, and one external speaker. Since the the features and function completely run on rechargeable batteries, it can played anywhere at any time. A carrying strap fits over the shoulder. All this resides in one unit.

Here is a sampling of Patrick live on the SyntHorn –

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Join me in my next performances at C&P Coffee, Columbia City’s Royal Room, and Stone Way Café to hear our progressive electronic jazz. Patrick, a former DJ at a local college radio station, will join me in jazzing up my koto jazz tunes and offer up a few of his own originals with my accompaniment on the keyboard.

It makes sounds and rhythms you’ve never heard before.

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Join Me This Saturday, Nov. 21st in Ballard @ Egan’s Jam House

Come join me, Chris Kenji, Saturday, November 21st, 9:00 pm – 10:30pm, at Egan’s Jam House in Ballard, northwest Seattle. I will bring you new songs on the piano, including Odds & Endings, Seascape, and my new Koto Jazz piece, Motto Midare (More Chaos). I will also sing a few popular classic rock/ folk songs … Continue reading Join Me This Saturday, Nov. 21st in Ballard @ Egan’s Jam House

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KotoJazz 44: “A New Dialogue with Nature”

My apologies in advance for this “detour” from art and the nature of gardening and koto jazz music. This “KotoJazz 44” blog entry is about the revolutionary nature of Nobel prize winning physicist Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers’ and “Man’s Dialogue with Nature” in their international bestseller, “Order Out of Chaos”. Though published a while … Continue reading KotoJazz 44: “A New Dialogue with Nature”

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Koto Jazz 41: Duality

Everything in life can have its duality. Personally, it’s engrained in my blood and DNA. I am bi-racial, bi-cultural, once bilingual (not currently), and definitely bi-spiritual, among others. In addition to “bi-“, there’s a duality in general, a duality of perspectives, a duality of existence. There is a duality in the political arena, a duality in social … Continue reading Koto Jazz 41: Duality

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Koto Jazz 36: Flow State in Art & Music

Have you ever been so immersed in a creative adventure that it takes you to a different, alternative plain where your creative expression no longer feels like you, but a part of something more? Wikipedia defines the “flow state” as being “fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the … Continue reading Koto Jazz 36: Flow State in Art & Music

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Koto Jazz 25: Pogodas & The 5 Elements

Every true traditional Japanese garden has a pogoda. The pogoda is distinguished from the lantern by its multiple layers of roofs. The temple pogoda, like the famous Nara Temple or the temple at San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden (pictured above), is a thin tower with 5-13 floors, each of which has its own roof. Usually … Continue reading Koto Jazz 25: Pogodas & The 5 Elements

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KotoJazz 8: The Wind and the Spirit

While originally secularly founded by Yatsuhashi Kengyo in the early 17th century, Koto, “the music of Japan”, flourished in the 1800s. Koto composer Nakanoshima Kengyo (1838-1894) created and dedicated “Matsukaze”, “the wind in the pines”, imitating the sounds of Gagaku, Japanese court music (see http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~rgarfias/sound-recordings/japan.html). It is a composition in continuous gentle, fluid motion, sometimes … Continue reading KotoJazz 8: The Wind and the Spirit

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KotoJazz 7: Water, Water Everywhere

“Water water everywhere, and all the boards did shrink. Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner). Famous poets the world over find inspiration from the simple element we call water (see Famous Poets and Poems or Haiku poems about water. So much poetry and music is … Continue reading KotoJazz 7: Water, Water Everywhere

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