Date: Fri Dec 17, 2004
Subject: Tokyo life and an invitation

Hi folks,

Another chapter closes, another begins. Must be in Bangkok! I'm staying in [name deleted], like Varanasi's Munna House a word-of-mouth oasis for like-minded folks. It's a lovely place hosted by [x], a Thai hippy with a 1960 Vespa, a couple of sitars, tablas, numerous guitars, drums and assorted other instruments, and what's more a great cook. The house itself is a wooden Thai house in a quiet back street but only a short walk from all the conveniences of Kao Sarn Road, like travel agents and massage shops.

AN INVITATION - CONCERT IN VARANASI ON MARCH 17
I'll be heading off to India in a few days, spending a few days in Kolkata meeting some members of my Guru Parivar (Guru-family) and then reaching Varanasi by Christmas. In February and March there are some memorial functions for Guru-ji (who passed away this February 8) - a puja (devotional ceremony) on Feb 26 and a big concert on his birthday, March 17. The concert will be my debut in Varanasi and I'll be performing with my friend Setsuo "Jimi-san" Miyashita, a santoor student of the great Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma. There will be some very big names from the Indian classical pantheon performing that night. If you're of a travelling bent I'd like to invite you to come to Varanasi in March! Other important festival dates around that time in Varanasi are: March 8 (Shivaratri), March 25 (Holi) and April 28-May 2 (Sankat Mochan music festival).

TOKYO LIFE
Since I last wrote I've been settling into Tokyo life with my lovely girlfriend Orie. I met Orie in Varanasi, where she was studying sitar, in March, when she moved into Munna House. Things clicked for us very quickly and after my trip to Australia in June/July I moved to Tokyo. Actually we're just outside Tokyo in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, but it's only 20 minutes by express train from Shibuya. I'm sure you've seen images of Shibuya - the world's busiest pedestrian crossing surrounded by 3 giant sized video screens on the surrounding buildings, and frequently haunted by all kinds of fashionable folk and fashion victims. The train line home from Shibuya is the Tokyu Denentoshi Line, one of the most packed train lines I think. I've developed strategies for carrying 3 tablas when it's sardine time.

As the new kid on the block in Tokyo, I've spent most of the last few months networking and trying to develop a reputation amongst musicians so I can get some gigs and start making an audience. I think I've done reasonably well and hope to be busy when I return next April/May. Here are the brief highlights (since the Tohoku tour which I covered in my last email):

SEP - A concert with Mr. Tim Hoffman, a very interesting chap who, after studying shakuhachi with one of Japan's National Living Treasures, went to Lucknow to study Indian classical vocal and instrumental music (on shakuhachi). He's got a fantastic voice!
- A few jugalbandi (duet) concerts with Taro Terahara-san (bansuri) and Tadao Ishihama (sitar) - Mr. Peaceful and Mr. Action! Lots of fun.

OCT - Saw a great Indian classical concert by Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumder on sarod with Shubankar Banerjee on tabla - fantastic! One great thing about Japan is the number of high-profile artists who make it here...
- KANSAI TOUR - Visited my old home for a couple of weeks, did a concert in Osaka with Tadao-kun and one in Kyoto with Jimi-san (santoor) in a beautiful traditional Japanese house. At the end of the month I took part in the GIFU SANGEET MELA, an annual all-night Indian classical event in the countryside a few hours from Kyoto. It's a fantastic event - a conference of Indian musicians and dancers from around Japan which this year also featured Mata Prasad Mishra (Kathak dance and tabla) from Varanasi. I performed tabla solo and accompanied Keiku on vocal. It was so exciting being part of that event, seeing all the other musicians playing, chatting in the green room, visiting the onsen (hot spring) the next day... Kudos to Jimi-san for organising such a great event!

NOV - Another Indian master came to town - Pt. Manilal Nag (sitar), an old friend of my late Guru-ji. Lovely concert. - For myself, a few concerts with Taro Terahara on bansuri. Taro's such a lovely bansuri (bamboo flute) player and we are very well-matched. One of these concerts was a very interesting jazz-fusion collaboration with double bass and guitar. I do promise to put samples on my website very soon.
- I also had to leave the country this month as my 3 month tourist visa expired. Orie and I decided to spend a few days on the beach in Guam but unfortunately it wasn't so enjoyable. I don't recommend Guam, especially if like me you're not enchanted by American culture. But I got a new visa in Japan...
- Finished the month with a few concerts with Sushma Omata, a Nepali sitar player who came to Japan 30 years ago after meeting her Japanese husband in Kathmandu. The concerts were quite unusual - we were performing at the hair show of students of the Nippon Beauty Academy. Our 30 minute performances were introduced by "Music Aesthetics Professor" Negishi-san, and followed by some pretty far-out hair-styles and music. Well-paid though, and the biggest audiences I played Indian classical music for.

DEC - Finished off with a very busy 5 gig week which gave me a lot of
optimism for next year. The 5 gigs were with - T.C. Deane (American New Age acoustic guitarist), Hilo Kawagishi (kora - African harp) and Carlos Guerra (bansuri) (the first EthnoSuperLounge in Japan), Chris Silva (jazz/rock/funk electric guitar in a rock bar), and twice with Koro Ito (sitar - learnt sitar in the Himalayas from a Baba about 25 years ago). Very eclectic!!!

Links to most of these artists can be found on my People and Links pages.

May you all have a happy Christmas/New Year season!!!
Love to all
Shen Flindell
Aum Mani Padme Hum