Hanz and Adam Spill the Tea
Over the next few weeks, I’m hopefully going to be featuring some people I think are doing some important work in the shakuhachi world, Q & A style. The hope is to get a few perspectives at where we’ve come from as part of a tradition, and also look to where we’re headed.
Kinko-ryū shakuhachi has existed since the Edo period and offers one of the older, verifiable histories of shakuhachi music. I believe that is a significant and valuable consideration when studying shakuhachi.
Looking forward, for Kinko-ryū to remain relevant and vital, it falls to the younger (meaning, younger than me) generations to carry it on. Thankfully, the future is in the hands of some inspiring musicians with vision and respect for tradition.
Few people excite me more with their energy and music than New York’s Adam Robinson, and the possibilities they bring to moving the shakuhachi forward.
Hanz Araki: So let’s get your Origin Story out of the way: Did you eat a radioactive bamboo shoot? Where did you first come across the shakuhachi? What led you to decide to take it up? What was that journey like for you?
Adam Robinson: I want to first write a note here and thank you, Hanz sensei, for writing this blog and for inviting me on. You’re an inspiration to me and many other young shakuhachi enthusiasts here in the states. The world of Japanese Music in the US has led me to some of the most inspiring musicians I’ve ever met and the exact opposite. It’s true of all music scenes but we are lucky to have you in it.
The first shakuhachi I ever heard was in David Lopato’s "World Music History” class which I attended while I was a student at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. “World Music History” met at 9:30 AM on Mondays and, for jazz majors, this was mostly nap time. I’m a little obsessed with being on time to things and would usually be at the practice rooms at 8 every morning anyway; I never had a problem checking in to Mr. Lopato’s lectures. One day he played us Yamaguchi Goro’s Sōkaku Reibo while talking about the Voyager space probe. Since that recording is now in space, maybe it is no longer a part of “World Music” … much to think about.
I was interested in long tone playing from my saxophone practice. Hearing that recording resonated as a way to explore long tones, tone color, and breathing with the meaningful gravity they seemed to have in the music I was hearing. I found out about Watazumi from a saxophone friend and his recording, Hochiku blew me away. I looked around for anyone who was doing anything like Watazumi in New York and found Perry Yung via a google search. I learned from him for a while before working in his shakuhachi shop. I was Perry’s assistant in repairing and shipping out flutes. I also made a few simple “earth model” shakuhachi but I had significant help from Perry in making them playable at all. Perry, sensing that I might be better at playing this music than making flutes, introduced me to Ralph Samuelson, a student of Yamaguchi Goro (from the recording!) The rest of my journey has been spent learning the Kinko style from Ralph. In 2018 Ralph and I went to Japan at the same time and I got to take a week of lessons with one of his teachers, Yamato Shudo. Kinko style playing both in ensemble and solo has been my main source of inspiration and study since then.
HA: Talk to me a bit about Ralph Samuelson. I’ve known him literally since the day I was born, but we didn’t really connect until the aughts. I have such a deep appreciation for his interpretation of shakuhachi, and for the way he’s passed it on. What can you say about him as his student?
AR: Ralph is the most patient person I’ve ever met. His guidance has been essential to any success I’ve had as a shakuhachi student. During my first few years of study I was also going through some intense emotional and material challenges. I was making very little money and working for/studying with an elderly composer more than full time. Ralph’s appearance in my life was like an oasis hiding me from the harsh musical world I found myself in.
Ralph seems to cultivate his students like one would cultivate plants in a garden. He is able to read the signs and tell what a student needs at any given time. In my case this means a lot of pruning back my own ego to see the bigger picture of this tradition.
I’m most inspired by Ralph’s shakuhachi sound. It’s become an essential part of my musical identity. I could try to describe it but I’ll always come up short. I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to take lessons from him. I go to class as much as I can and have had some long streaks of studying every week. We work on Kinko style honkyoku and sankyoku primarily.
Note: Ralph’s first shakuhachi teacher was Hanz’ father, Araki Kodo V when he was a resident artist at Wesleyan University. Following Araki sensei he learned from another Wesleyan resident artist, Yamato Shudo. Yamato sensei is a student of Notomi Judo I, one of the best shakuhachi players of the 20th century and a top student of Kodo III. After graduating Ralph went on to study in Japan with Yamaguchi Goro. He regularly visited him for lessons every year or so. Interestingly, Kodo V, Yamato Shudo, and Yamaguchi Goro all belong to slightly different branches of the Kinko style family tree. What it means is that when you study honkyoku in Ralph’s way there are stories to tell about the origins of the techniques. Ralph also has a deep knowledge of the Myoan Taizan-Ha - he studied in Japan with Tominomori Kyozan, a friend of Yamaguchi’s father.
HA: You teach shakuhachi now. However, you do so without using a “professional name”. What are your thoughts on the shihan / natori and iemoto system?
AR: The simple answer is that my teacher said it wasn't important for me to worry about licenses. I follow everything my teacher tells me to do in this tradition so I never really thought about it. I also don’t ask many questions. In my first few years of study I wanted to talk about music as little as possible (I was depressed and nonverbal from conservatory). I went to my lessons and listened with full attention. Eventually, after about 10 years, some of the other players in our group here in New York offered me students that they didn’t have the time to take on. I talked about it a lot with Ralph and we spent some lessons going over how to teach. It’s been nice growing my small cadre of students and now helping teach at Columbia University.
I respect the Iemoto system. If there are problems with the hierarchy of the system in Japan it is not my place to speak about it. Being outside of the system does give me a certain freedom. The title of Master does not work for me. I intend to be a shakuhachi student until I pass away. After then, if someone would like to sum up my art in a name I won’t be able to say no. I want to encourage my students to learn from a place of joy and respect - the way I was taught. I’m wary about how people in the US view the “Master” stereotype. At the risk of sounding like I have an ax to grind I’ll leave it at that.
HA: You’re also involved in tea ceremony, yes? Do you find any crossover between those two disciplines?
AR: Absolutely! I study tea ceremony in New York with Yoshitsugu Nagano, a professor of the Ueda Soko school of Tea located in Hiroshima.
Let’s talk a bit about the Jo-Ha-Kyu form. Jo-Ha-Kyu is the “atomic structure” of all Japanese performing arts. The form is present in every note and breath of both tea and shakuhachi practice but, for the sake of example, the parallels between the sankyoku music and the ritual are:
Jo: A slow beginning: a “gathering together” feeling, purifying the tea tools, mae-uta in sankyoku.
Ha: The accelerating middle section: whisking and serving tea in the ceremony, tegoto in sankyoku.
Kyu: The quick wrapping-up at the end: cleaning the tea utensils and exiting the room, ato-uta in sankyoku.
Learning tea ceremony has given me a tangible way to interact with objects while following strict arrangement, physical posturing, and timing protocols. Tea has also helped me learn how to behave a little better in the context of Japanese arts; this is an ongoing lesson for me.
HA: Where do you fall in conversation about traditional vs. contemporary music?
AR: I don’t think it’s too much to say that learning the traditional repertoire for shakuhachi in private lessons is essential in order to understand the instrument’s voice, purpose, and technicality. That said, there are some really good contemporary pieces for shakuhachi out there. I love playing music by Elizabeth Brown and Marty Regan. The thing that they get absolutely right about writing for shakuhachi is an inside knowledge from their own experience of playing shakuhachi. I’m not dogmatic about whose music I work on, especially since I’m lucky to be able to play anything at all on shakuhachi. I do prefer traditional music.
HA: What do you see or hope for the future of shakuhachi music?
AR: Oh man, I have a hard time envisioning any future given what life has served up for these last few years. I do know that I want to play shakuhachi as much as I can. My goal is to try to play shakuhachi every day. I practice every day and hope to keep it that way.
I see danger in the isolation that the internet tricks us into believing is real. I hope that shakuhachi learners don’t put too much stock into what they see online, realize when some teachers out there are only looking out for themselves and their own popularity, seek out a real experience and if you like it, practice! The internet is a good tool for getting going, finding encouragement, and promoting activity. Beyond that, the music has all of the keys and will take you all the way.
I hope that us young people who take shakuhachi seriously will act as flame keepers for the core repertoire of the tradition. The best I can hope for is to root shakuhachi as deeply in the traditional rep and spirit as I can in my own social and professional circles. If I want to have my head in the clouds exploring new ideas I want to plant my feet firmly in the ground.
HA: Thank you, Adam!
More anon,
Hanz