René Mclean (Saxophone), Christopher Yohmei (Shakuhachi) Ken Yamazaki (Percussion)

Remembrances*McLean,.Yohmei,.Yamazaki. Remembrances (in memory of the Tohoku Earthquake) with René McLean (saxophone), Christopher Yohmei (shakuhachi) Ken Yamazaki (percussion) Monday March 11th at 7 pm $20 admission, (kids 6-15 free) Shoho Dojo Cultural Center 307 E 92 St (bet 1 & 2 Ave), 2 Fl, New York NY 10128 www.aikidonyc.com Tel 646.509.9212 Remembrances*McLean,.Yohmei,.Yamazaki. René McLean (b. December 16, 1946) is a hard bop saxophonist and flutist. He was born in New York City. He started playing guitar later received his alto saxophone, also had instruction from his stepfather, noted alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. McLean played in the mid-'70s in a quintet with Woody Shaw and Louis Hayes and toured with Hugh Masekela in 1978. He later studied music at New York College of Music and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Renè received the Creative Artist Fellowship by the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts in 1986 to reside in Japan to research traditional Japanese music, arts & culture as well as to perform and teach. He has recorded extensively and also has thorough experience as a music educator in the United States and South Africa. Born in New York City, René McLean, multi-reed instrumentalist (alto, tenor, soprano saxophones, flutes, ney, shakuhachi), composer, band leader, educator and producer, began his musical training at the age of 9 under the tutelage and guidance of his father, alto saxophonist and educator Jackie McLean. René made his debut with Jackie McLean's band in the mid-1960s as well as leading his own bands. René McLean's debut as a band leader and producer began at the age of 16 in 1963. René continued his studies with his father as well as with the Jazz Arts Society, HARYOU ACT Cultural Program under Julian Yule, Rheet Taylor, Jackie McLean and Kenny Dorham; the Clark Terry Youth Band, Jazz Mobile and later at the New York College of Music (N.Y.U.) and the University of Massachusetts. In addition he studied privately with such luminaries as Sonny Rollins, Frank Foster, George Coleman, Kenny Dorham, Jackie Byard, Barry Harris and Hubert Laws. René has performed and recorded as a leader and featured sideman with the crème de la crème of Black Musical tradition, to name a few—Jackie McLean, the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Lionel Hampton - All Stars, Tito Puente Orchestra, Horace Silver, Woody Shaw, Dr. Bill Taylor, Baba Olatunji, Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln, Dexter Gordon, James Moody, Yusef Lateef, Jaco Pastorius, Jerry Gonzales' Forte Apache Band, Hamza El Din, as well as in collaboration with premier poet-activist Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones). McLean has performed, conducted workshops and lectured at numerous universities and cultural programs in the U.S. and Caribbean (including Cuba), as well as in South America, Europe, Lebanon, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Mauritius. McLean's teaching experience is unique and diverse. From 1970 to 1973 he was Bandmaster for the N.Y. State N.A.C.C. Melrose Community Center in the South Bronx. From 1984-85 René was Artist-In-Residence at the University of Hartford's The Hartt School, Department of African American Music. Since 1985 McLean has been living in South Africa, where he has been performing, teaching Remembrances*McLean,.Yohmei,.Yamazaki. and researching musical traditions. As consultant to the Mmabana Cultural Center he developed the foundation for the Center's music program and curriculum, subsequently heading the music program from 1987-90. From 1991-1992 he was a visiting member of the New School Jazz program. From 1994 to 1998 McLean was a Lecturer in Jazz Studies at the University of Cape Town. McLean is presently Professor of African American music on the faculty of the Jackie McLean Institute at The Hartt School, University of Hartford. He is also the Master Artist-in-Residence of Music at the Artists Collective in Hartford, Conn. He has been the recipient of several National Endowment for the Arts grants and fellowship awards, including the prestigious Creative Artist Fellowship by the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts to reside in Japan to research traditional Japanese music culture as well as to perform and teach. He has also spent time researching musical traditions and performing in Bali, Indonesia. René McLean draws inspiration and insight from the rich diversity of the African American tradition and various world music genres with particular emphasis on Eastern and African traditions. René McLean defines his music as "transcending socio-political and cultural boundaries - it's a universal language." http://renemclean.net/ Christopher Yohmei Blasdel began the shakuhachi and studies of Japanese music in 1972 with Goro Yamaguchi. In 1982 he received an MFA in ethnomusicology from Tokyo University of Fine Arts and is one of only two non-Japanese to be accredited as a "shihan" master by Yamaguchi. Performing in Japan and around the world, Blasdel maintains a balance between traditional shakuhachi music, modern compositions and cross-genre work with musicians, dancers, poets and visual artists. Discography includes Navarasa (2009), Breath Play (2007), Visionary Tones (2005) and several other CDs of traditional and contemporary music. He has composed and performed music for NHK documentaries and various films. He co-organized the World Shakuhachi Festival ’98 held in Boulder, Colorado and the Sydney World Shakuhachi Festival in 2008. He is the senior advisor to the annual Prague Shakuhachi Festival. His semi-autobiographical book, "The Single Tone—A Personal Journey through Shakuhachi Music" (Printed Matter Press, 2005), details his experiences learning and playing the shakuhachi in Japan and around the world. He presently teaches Japanese music at Temple University in Tokyo, acts as Artistic Director of the International House of Japan and is a coordinator for the Columbia University Hogaku Porgram. He holds a third-degree black belt in Aikido. www.yohmei.com Remembrances*McLean,.Yohmei,.Yamazaki. Ken Yamazaki (b. New York, NY, 26 March 1962) is a percussionist, drummer, and composer. Starting at the age of four Yamazaki studied piano with Takejiro Hirai until he was eight. An early musical inspiration was the conductor Leonard Bernstein, whose Young People’s Concerts he attended. Many years later Yamazaki would meet “Lenny” at a New York Philharmonic rehearsal of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, which was a powerful rendition of this work. European classical music was his main influence until age twelve (by this time living in Japan), but turned to jazz after hearing John Coltrane. Yamazaki then studied drums with Tatsuya Nakamura. From 1981 to 1982 he also studied classical marimba with Shoji Kudo. In 1982 Yamazaki returned to the United States, this time taking residence in New York’s Spanish Harlem. He got the Latin fever, which led him to study congas with Little Ray Romero, of the Machito and Tito Puente bands. Meanwhile, he continued to pursue formal studies of classical music, from 1983 to 1988 he studied tympani with Morris Lang of the NY Philharmonic and from 1984 to 1985 he studied composition with Charles Jones at the Juilliard School. In 1988 he also studied composition with electronic music composer Jon Appleton. Still exploring world music, in 1989 he studied South Indian rhythms with percussionist Jamey Haddad. From 1994 to 1996 he studied drums with Andrew Cyrille at Mannes College of Music/New School and in 1996 received his BFA. 1986 would be a turning point for Yamazaki, as he became an Aikido and Zen Buddhism student of Joseph Jarman, founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Focused in spiritual training he would create sounds he had heard while growing up in Japan. By 1992 Jarman began to put together various ensembles that featured musicians such as Leroy Jenkins, Myra Melford, Zusaan Kali Fasteau and writer Thulani Davis. Their work expanded into the Lifetime Visions Orchestra, co-led by composer Chris Chalfant. Yamazaki had also been working heavily with synthesizers and electronics, and in 1989 he joined Digital Cream, an electric jazz group with Stephen Buchanan (guitar, saxophone). A traditional drum set triggered digital sounds and samples, creating a wall of sound. His use of sampling and electronics were then integrated, functioning as another percussive voice, within an acoustic jazz group he led called the Nation (1990), which comprised of saxophonists Byard Lancaster and Elliott Levin. In 1991 he became a member of Talking Free Bebop, a jazz and poetry group featuring vocalist & poet Gloria Tropp. Then, in 1994 Yamazaki formed a new group Zero Hour, writing original compositions called Modern Sound Structures. The group featured David Gilmore (guitar), Kevin Bruce Harris (bass) and later Toshi Nakamura (guitar) and Keith Macksoud (bass). He has also performed with: Steve Coleman, Ken McIntyre, Arnie Lawrence, John Purcell, Dizzy Reece, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Wilber Morris, Andrea Wolper, Eve Zanni, Cleve Douglass, Ellen Christi, Keiji Haino, Haco, Elliott Sharp, Jason Hwang, Carlo Nicolau and the ensemble Olduvai. Remembrances*McLean,.Yohmei,.Yamazaki. Yamazaki currently plays an extended trap set with world percussions, congas, frame drums, and/or mallet percussion. Performances: International festivals: Philly International Jazz, Nancy Pulsations Jazz (France), Ocho Rios Jazz, JVC Jazz, Kleinert Arts, Prague (Czech Rep.), Vision, Jump Institutions:

Load more