Just followed me on Twitter. I’m not sure what that means.
I feel like I’m being followed on Twitter by Takahashi Chikuzan by proxy.
An aside, now that I’m listening to some Chikuzan, I’m noticing how slow it seems. The younger places have sped it all up, not a bad thing if done right, but it’s amazing how people are pushing it forward.
People like to call music like this “traditional” which always kind of makes me bristle. Any serious musician will want to push the art form forward. No one wants to be stuck in the past forever.
Some great, great players these days. Have also seem some great young biwa players out there. Really encouraging.
Sorry, rambling.
I admire Tkahashi-sensei, because he’s blind. I heard one of Takahashi’s student: Ono Keisho. Personally, I don’t like him…
Takahashi Chikuzan’s successor is amazing. I personally think she might be better than the original, although I’m sure there will be conflicting opinions there.
I have no other input for this thread. But like we’ve talked about earlier, there’s so much good music these days.
:3
I agree on the assertion that TC II might be better. The original was great, but he lacked some level of expression in his playing that TC II has.
His book is cool though.
I’m confused… Is Takahashi’s successor a female?
I don’t like Ono, because he mixes idolish styles with tsugaru
That’s correct Sakura.
His successor is a woman, and she is ludicrously skilled. Ludicrously.
I did remember Keisho was a man… what’s the name of Takahashi’s successor?
Literally, Takahashi Chikuzan II.
二代目高橋竹山 (Nidaime Takahashi Chikuzan)
In general, all of the current players I like are female. I could just be biased. There aren’t many male players I like for some reason.
She followed me on Twitter. She hasn’t liked anything yet.
This is fantastic.
She did a stint with Mikami Kan.
Alright, I’m in love. I wait for the day when she likes something of mine on Twitter.
But… I’m still confused
Why are you confused?
I am going to assume you are confused because she is female. She studied under him, and isn’t young.
In Kabuki, it would make a difference (since there are no women in kabuki), but generally speaking female musicians aren’t at all a rarity in Japan, unlike Europe and the States (particularly the States).
Moreover, Chikuzan was a weird and open minded guy (read his book). I’m sure that he gave his wholehearted blessing.
Here’s a video from 1994 of the two of them playing together.
My opinion is that Chikuzan was a great for popularizing the form, was an amazing person and a great player, but Takahashi Chikuzan II is a far better musician.
Truly fantastic by any standard.
Others might disagree.
Like this, this is like Hendrix or something.
I’m confused, because I heard on the web Takahashi’s successor was a certain Ono Keisho. As I mentioned, I don’t like him. I didn’t know of this female successor. As I could hear, she’s vey talented, but I’ve never heard performances from the original Takahashi Chikuzan
Yes, female are not a rarity in Japan, especially talking about koto