Floating world

Elizabeth's concert last night was wonderful.

Duo En

Is the name of the ensemble, consisting of Elizabeth and her husband John, with guest appearance by Marcia Takamura on shamisen

Koto music always makes me feel like I've shed a hundred pounds of earthly care.
It was a shame that after the show, I had to get into a car and drive along a freeway to get home.
I should have been able to stroll along a wooded path next to a languid stream lined with lanterns.

Something I can do over at Kobota Gardens a few blocks away, however.

Besides the koto, bass koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen pieces, there was a short video called "27 Mornings in Winter" an integrated stream of black and white nature images filmed by

Douglas Ethridge

Which was exquisite in it's beauty, even though or maybe because it was in many many shades of gray, just like winter itself.

One outstanding piece was "Harpo's Blues" by Phoebe Snow.
Played on koto and shakuhachi it managed to be blue and ethereal at the same time, a bit like Native American flute music but with less sense of infinite space.

Here's the program;

1 "Haru no Gotoku' (Spell of spring) by Sawai Tadao. Duet for shakuhachi and koto.
2 "Silver River" by John and Elizabeth. Duet for shakuhachi and bass koto.
3 "Ginga" (Milky way) by Sawai Tadao. Duet for koto and shamisen.
Guest artist Marcia Takamura on shamisen
4 "27 Mornings in Winter" Multimedia presentation by Douglas Ethridge.
With "Call of the Cranes" a traditional work arranged by John Falconer

Intermission with cookies

5 "Kazi no Uta" (Song of the Wind) by Sawai Tadao. Duet for shakuhachi and koto.
6 "Moonlit Garden" by John and Elizabeth. Duet for shakuhachi and koto.
7 "Harpo's Blues by Phoebe Snow. Duet for shakuhachi and bass koto.
8 "Hana" (Flourish) by Sawai Tadao. Duet for shakuhachi and koto.

Lovely lovely stuff.

I think Alex would have loved it.