July 25, 2005
Drummers a crowd-pleaser in Hebron
By BILL LAFORME - News Editor
wlaforme@citizen.com
HEBRON — Visitors to the Hebron Common Sunday afternoon were treated
to a unique and powerful display of Japanese taiko drumming by the
Boston-based group Odaiko New England.
Seven members of the group made the trip to Hebron, including its
assistant director, Mark H. Rooney. The group's founder, Elaine
Fong, was the lone member unable to make the trip.
Before the show, Rooney explained that the kind of drums being used
in the show have been made for a couple of thousand years — but
in Japan, he explained, traditionally only one or two drummers at
a time would be playing. He added that the style called Kumi Daiko
— where multiple drummers play together at once like Odaiko New
England does — has only been around for about 60 years.
Rooney confirmed that Hebron was further away than most of Odaiko
New England's other venues, which include schools, festivals, and
other gatherings. The group also presents taiko drumming workshops
in the Boston area for beginners and others. Rooney reports that,
regionally, there are three or four other taiko groups in Massachusetts,
one in Burlington, Vt., and one in Connecticut.
Taiko drumming has also received some exposure at the national level.
Some drummers are featured in a recent Mitsubishi commercial and
clips of it can be seen occasionally in movies. The best-known taiko
band worldwide is Japan's Kodo (http://www.kodo.or.jp/), which tours
North America and Europe on a fairly steady basis and which has
played at least twice at Boston's Symphony Hall in recent years.
Rooney noted that he travels to Japan yearly, including Sado Island,
home of the Kodo drumming group. There he does volunteer work for
the group's annual Earth Celebration, held each August. Later in
the show he mentioned that approximately 1,000 people in America
are taiko drummers, many of them women and people of all races and
ethnicities.
For her part, the co-director of the Hebron Gazebo series, Jane
Ramsay, was pleased with the turnout, which appeared to be more
than 250 people, and she was equally pleased with the opportunity
to help bring such a unique show to town. Ramsay noted that Odaiko
New England played last year at Laconia's Diversity Day event. Impressed
with their performance, she proceeded to seek them out for this
summer's Hebron Gazebo series.
"We try to make it different," said Ramsay, "We never
have the same group two years in a row."
The drummers performed an athletic and talented set that lasted
for a little more than an hour, playing a mix of traditional Japanese
and more recent taiko compositions with names such as "Crashing
Waves" and "Festival." The various drums ranged in
size from a palm-sized metal one to four medium-sized wooden ones
to an extra deep bass drum that was approximately two feet across
and was suspended from a wooden rack. The group also used cymbals
with some dance and even a little Japanese singing.
Rooney told the audience during the show that in ancient Japan,
village borders would be set by how far away a drum could be heard
playing in the center of town. By playing extra loud, he joked,
the group would be expanding Hebron's borders somewhat that day.
At one point, the group also brought a few audience members up to
try their hand at playing a basic Taiko rhythm. Two small children
played along with the group afterward on the wooden Hebron gazebo
sign with plastic silverware.
At the end of the show, the audience gave the group a standing ovation
and many went up to meet them and to check out their equipment.
The next Hebron Gazebo concert is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 7,
at 5 p.m. when Gary Sredzienski and the Serfs, a band that plays
'60s-style surf rock, will be playing.
To learn more about Odaiko New England and taiko drumming, visit
their Web site at http://www.onetaiko.net/.
For more information on the Hebron Gazebo Series, call 744-5095
or 744-3335.
c. 2005 George J. Foster Co.
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