Howdy all! Whew, what a crazy week it has been! The moment I arrived in Canada, we set off for Montreal to lead a minyo workshop for an astounding 65 people! Everyone had a great time, and it was lovely to finally meet Bachido member Jacinthe! She even performed Kuroishi Yosare Bushi for everyone and did a fantastic job!
Then, we set off for the minyo workshop in Ottawa, where we met Bachido member Matt Hawthorne!
(forgot to take a group photo. Nuts!)
After returning to Toronto, it was time to start preparing for Matsuri performance with the talented Ten Ten, featuring Kiyoshi Nagata on Taiko, Heidi Chan on Fue, and Aki Takahashi on Shamisen!
I’ll skip ahead to the results of the collaboration, presenting to you - Ten Ten & Kyle Abbott at Matsuri!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzTm8l5SJZk
A few days before that, epic jamming took place at the Toronto gathering at Linda Caplan’s gorgeous home! Probably for the first time ever, Cypress Grove Blues jammed with shamisen, kokyuu, shao, silver flute, uke, guitar and a little bit of hambone! Take vacation!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdr1DBLb4hk&index=1
Lastly (though the Matsuri was technically the last event in the trip), we had an evening of minyo magic at the Nagata Shachu studio! Four separate workshops (shamisen, taiko, fue, voice) running at the same time, all coming together at the end for a big group Soran Bushi!
Wow, so much packed into a week. It simply couldn’t have been a better experience. Many thanks to the whole Ten Ten crew for making me a part of their ensemble that day, thanks to Gerry McGoldrick for letting me stay at his place and spending so much time with me to chat and catch up, and thanks to Linda Caplan for hosting the very fun eclectic jam at her castle! And lastly, thanks to everyone who came and/or helped with the workshops, and Matsuri!!
Bachi on!!!
Kyle
)
)