Taiko

Just got back from going to see sensei Jim's Taiko Group. Had a great time. The group was great, Jim was great and watching the reaction of the homeboys/homegirls from the Bronx who were on a field trip to Lincoln Center to see it was hilarious. They were about 15 and 16 yrs old. Bursting with energy (of course). They were old enough that I could scarcely tell the difference between they and their rather "young looking" teachers. About 100 of them all told.

Some of the grunting from the Taiko leader brought out their sarcastic, goofing off side, but when the overwhelming groove of the drums kicked in it proved once again my (oft postulated, nay original) theory that once you get down to the thread-bare essence of what people are really about, topical cultural differences melt away. (And yes, I would count as essence the effect that a deep, hypnotic, well constructed groove has on the human animal.)

The Japanese formality, costumes, above mentioned grunting, and dance-like drumming seemed funny to them. But when the leader, after about 3 minutes of steady, ostinato drumming, laid out a John Bonham-esque fill (essentially a reverse clave) it just destroyed the whole back row and part of the first, and they erupted into unscripted, uninterrupted seat-dancing. And it does. It just gets you.

(check out: West African ceremonial drumming, Brazilian samba, Japanese Taiko etc)