Sunday, violent winds across Japan disrupted the train lines. The Joban Line trains couldn’t cross the Arakawa and Edo Rivers until the afternoon because the winds were roaring down the channels.
By late afternoon, I was able to get to Spiral Hall on Aoyamadori to take in the drum solo concert by Akira Hino. Hino sensei lives an amazing life in motion, blending his martial arts study with contact improvisation dance and drumming. His concert blurred the line between performer and audience by having everyone sing Sakura Sakura, a haunting Japanese folk song often invoked to represent Japan. We sang the second verse as the lights slowly dawned on Hino at the drums bringing us into a 40 minute thunder solo. After, he was joined by a pianist and standup basist for a medley of jazz standards. Amazing that he could sustain that energy for so long, first beating out that sometimes blinding and often tender solo, and then working within the trio, riffing off the base and piano.
He’s so part of the music, it all becomes one. Our nature flows out of us to other people through music and movement.
