Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Crossing East: Shasta Taiko

Shasta Taiko Piece
Hour Four ? Exclusion & Resistance
Time: 4:30

HOST: I?M DMR WITH THE CROSSING EAST MUSIC FEATURE.

In Japanese Taiko means ?Big Drum.?

MUSIC ? SLOW DRUM ?

HOST: Taiko is also the name for Japanese drum ensembles all over the world. In North America, there are more than 150 Taiko groups and growing. The birth of North American Taiko came in the politically charged time year of 1968. The same year, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated Seichi Tanaka banged the Big Drum in San Francisco and started the American Taiko movement. Jeannie Aiko Mercer and Russel Baba of Shasta Taiko met each other while studying with Tanaka. They were instantly hooked and now have their own Taiko group in in Mt Shasta in California.

JEANNIE: I had moved to San Francisco from Anchorage Alaska in about 1969. It was very thrilling because I?d never seen a Japanese musical art form so dynamic. One of the things that attracted me to it was the fact that there were quite a few women in the group. To me to see these women just going all out and being so physical and creating music at the same time was just very appealing to me.

RUSSELL: Growing up and seeing all the war movies constantly and the Japanese were the enemy. That had maybe affected me and, and a whole generation of, of young people. My stereotype of Japanese were that they were very quiet, didn?t rock the boat. And then when I saw taiko or when I went to Japan and saw festivals there or talked to Japanese nationals they weren't quiet ? in some ways they were loud and told you their opinions.

MUSIC ? INTENSE DRUMS

JEANNIE: Actually, I was born in an internment camp in Minnedoka in Idaho so I don?t really remember anything of the experience. And then of course after the war, I think it?s true of all Japanese Americans, our parents, in particular the Nisei wanted us to be Americans. So we weren?t really taught or exposed to really Japanese culture.

JEANNIE: I think the act of playing taiko is in itself sort of political in a way because you know you are educating people. And we did perform for a lot of ? we still do in fact for things like pilgrimages to Tule Lake and days of remembrance kinds of things.

MUSIC ? SAXOPHONE AND DRUMS

RUSSEL: Before I was awakened, you know because of the Vietnam war and the Asian movement, political movements. And I was a student activist. To me, truth was in music. For me when I play, that says everything. You just hit the drum and it?s like I?m drumming in your face. It?s who I am, this is my color, this is what I look like, this is what I?m playing.

JEANNIE: The finances are always tough but that?s true for everyone but we do manage to survive here and people appreciate what we do. There are very few Asians although we are increasingly seeing more and more. It?s mostly a white population

RUSSEL: It was like a calling. Because we know what it meant to us. We still struggle here. But we realize drumming is essential in a community. Here I see people searching for something and when they find something like taiko it really makes a difference in any person?s life.

MUSIC ? INTENSE DRUMS

MUSIC ? FASTER DRUM

JEANNIE: The taiko drums themselves are made out of wood and animal skins and air. When you play the taiko you try to connect with all those spirits. It?s something almost sort of primordial in a way.

RUSSELL: Drumming is real primitive. It?s a root back to the earth and it?s simple, you have a drum, you have a stick and you?re hitting it. So that?s kind of a rebellion against all the computer technology and all those kinds of things.

JEANNIE: I?ve been doing it for what, 33 years now so that says something I think. Like now, I?m considered a senior citizen you might say but I think taiko?s kept me young and creative, I think is good for anybody. Yeah, I?m going to continue to do taiko as long as I physically can.

MUSIC ? DRUMS BUILD AND END

HOST: Jeanne Mercer and Russell Baba continues to tour the country and hold classes through Shasta Taiko. Their son Masato, a student of taiko since the age of six, performs with the On Ensemble and Taiko Project in Los Angeles. For more info go to CrossingEast.org

This Crossing East music features was produced with Sara Caswell Kolbet and is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. I?m DMR.

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