Concert Review: Tatsuya Nakatani
Concert Review: Tatsuya Nakatani
Tatsuya Nakatani, an Osaka-born and Pennsylvania-based percussionist, played a solo set consisting of a long, uninterrupted piece improvised on a mostly home-made set-up of gongs and cymbals, a small drumset, and a variety of bows, wooden and metal sticks, scrapers and brushes at Eugene, Oregon’s Harmony Roadhouse Studios on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010. The solo set was followed by a quartet with able collaborators Andrew Rowan on cornet, Hashem Assadullahi on saxophone, and Bill Marsh on guitar.
With this kind of progression and especially with a solo improvisor, one gets the feeling of watching the performer’s inner conversation, a process of watching thoughts unfold through music. Nakatani sometimes picks up an instrument and drops it right where he found it to move on to another, or brings up an instrument from his stockpile on the floor and throws it back down again after playing just one note on it. The quick but unhurried way that Nakatani does this communicates only a sense of curiosity and an excitement for exploration, rather than indecision or mere impatience. The listener feels that he can see the thoughts developing as the music progresses. Through this kind of visual thought process, the performer can offer to the listener an intimate view into his thinking, and this was a strength of Nakatani’s set.
In this kind of improvised music, where the rules are made up as one goes along, it is often a performer’s orchestration of pace and affect that makes or breaks an improvisation. Tatsuya Nakatani is a master of his own brand of this kind of orchestration, offering a serene, child-like interest in the sounds he creates. Every movement and every sound from this seasoned performer is completely authentic, completely natural and completely captivating.
Nakatani is part way through a long solo tour of the United States, and I highly recommend seeing him play. Visit Nakatani’s website for more information.
Sunday, May 2, 2010