MUSIC OF JAPAN AND INDIA
George Tetsuo Abe
instruments of Japan gongs, shakuhachi, temple bowls, yokobue, voice |
Christopher Garcia
North Indian tabla, South Indian kanjira and ghatam, olla mbwata, baa wehai, voice |
George Testuo Abe (b. 1944), renowned taiko and flute performer, was born at Manzanar concentration camp in California.
He was one year old when his family relocated to Los Angeles, California. His mother was kibei, born in the city of Orange, California, moved to Japan when she was about nine years old, and returned to Los Angeles at about 26 years of age. His father was an Issei.George grew up among artists and musicians, often attending biwa (lute) recitals with hs mother. He studied multiple instruments in his school band at Manual Arts High School including: the clarinet, saxophone and oboe and later graduated with a BA in Psychology at CSULA. As an adult, George remained fascinated with music of his culture and learned to play the shakuhachi, yokobue, taiko, biwa and fue. Some of his music can be heard in KARATE KID II and in numerous productions at East West Players (OMEN; ...AND THE SOUL SHALL DANCE; PACIFIC OVERTURES). George is also a founding member of Kinnara Taiko, a taiko group based at Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, and remains associated with them today. Kinnara Taiko was one of the first taiko groups to form in North America, second only to Sensei Seichi Tanaka’s San Francisco Taiko Dojo.He has been a workshop leader every year at Tasiko Conference, going back to the very first one. As a member of Japanese Festival Sounds (on the rosters of Music Center on Tour and From the Center) he has presented assemblies in schools throughout Southern California for over 15 years. He also is an Artist in Residence at Metropolitan State Hospital, providing drumming workshops for clients and staff for the last 10 years. GEORGE ABE INTERVIEW WITH DISCOVER NIKKEI http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/profiles/97/ GEORGE ABE INTERVIEW BY THE SMITHSONIAN festival.si.edu/blog/2016/george-abe-ripples-of-japanese-internment/ He continues to be a frequent guest artist and/or member with various ensembles including: ANADI MUSIC http://anadismusic.weebly.com/ ANCIENT GROOVES http://ancientgrooves.weebly.com/ George believes in the influential power of art and the energizing effects of taiko. He uses his art to bring cultural, spiritual and community awareness to others. |
Christopher Garcia, a native of East Los Angeles, is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who continues to compose and play his composition in 28 countries on 5 continents, and support his family without grants, a teaching position, or letters after his name since 1990. Garcia continues be in demand with a career making music on either drumset percussion of North and South India, indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments of Mexico, ZAPPA music and/or western classical percussion in an eclectic variety of musical settings with a vast array of musical artists ranging from jazz, rock, indigenous, chamber and symphonic music, classical and world music settings, His fascination with rhythm and the color of sound allows him tremendous opportunities and invitations to collaborate in the United States and abroad with a literal who's who http://christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/previous-performances.html with concerts in 25 countries on 5 continents including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and Wales. http://christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/tabla---teacherslife.html CHRISTOPHER GARCIA INTERVIEWS christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/interviews.html. |
GEORGE ABE
“George Tetsuo Abe is a consummate player of Japanese musical instruments: Shakuhachi, Fue, Yokobue, and taiko. He has played in the Japanese American community for years….born in Manzanar California, raised in the Seinan area (Westside, L.A.). He began with clarinet, and went on to play oboe and saxophone in high school. His music can be heard in KARATE KID II, and in productions at East West Players – OMEN; AND THE SOUL SHALL DANCE; and PACIFIC OVERTURES. His Shakuhachi playing was featured in the film Nisei Fisherman, and his playing can be heard on Makoto’s cds.” KUL TONE RECORDS “George Abe was one of the founding members of Kinnara Taiko, paving the way for many of the groups that followed, Kinnara has been influential in the development of North American Taiko. Mr. Abe makes and sells yokobue and shakuhachi, and in this interview, talks about the early days of Kinnara as well as his contributions to flute playing.” TAIKO.COM “George Abe was a founding member of Kinnara Taiko, a taiko group based at Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, and remains associated with them today. Kinnara Taiko was one of the first taiko groups to form in North America, second only to Sensei Seichi Tanaka’s San Francisco Taiko Dojo.” NISEI.COM |
CHRISTOPHER GARCIA
"Christopher Garcia has been a great friend of KPFK’s Global Village because he plays the most extraordinary music, on the most extraordinary instruments, with the most extraordinary musicians” JOHN SCHNEIDER KPFKS GLOBAL VILLAGE on NPR "While he has devoted much of his life to learning indigenous music, Garcia also revels in playing the new and unexpected…..Garcia's musical vocabulary not only spans centuries and cultures it's also spontaneous." DEUTSCHE WELLE GERMANYS INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTER "We hear a variety of percussion, including instruments from India, Mexico and MesoAmerica. They sing and throb to the pulse of a single person, Christopher Garcia. He produces an extraordinary array of sound and rhythms, effortlessly weaving in and out of familiar Indian patterns to those of traditional MesoAmerica ........." SRUTI MAGAZINE INDIA’S PREMIER MAGAZINE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS "Garcia’s drumming cut through, complemented, and grounded the reverberating echoes of L. Shankar’s masterful slides on the violin… Highlights included Garcia’s percussion solo in the fifth composition, in which he built upon various rhythms for several uninterrupted minutes, playing every drum in front of him, including tapping his face to a fascinating effect………” WESLEYAN ARGUS |