("demon drum group"), sometimes referred to as "
Za Ondekoza", is a
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese troupe specializing in
taikomeans "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming .-Types of taiko:Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide...
drumming. Founded in 1969 by Den Tagayasu, Ondekoza was influential in the rise of the
kumi-daiko (group taiko) style of taiko. Not a taiko player himself, Tagayasu helped transform taiko from a festival-based music form to a virtuosic performance art performed on stage. Ondekoza's performances in North America in 1975 was the first exposure for many Americans and helped spread interest in taiko through North America.
Part of a larger movement to rediscover Japanese
folk artFolk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic...
, Tagayasu brought together a group of young men and women to
Sado Islandis a city located on Sado Island in the Chūbu region of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004 the city comprises the entire island, although not all of its 855.26 square kilometers is urbanized...
to study and live.
("demon drum group"), sometimes referred to as "
Za Ondekoza", is a
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese troupe specializing in
taikomeans "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming .-Types of taiko:Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide...
drumming. Founded in 1969 by Den Tagayasu, Ondekoza was influential in the rise of the
kumi-daiko (group taiko) style of taiko. Not a taiko player himself, Tagayasu helped transform taiko from a festival-based music form to a virtuosic performance art performed on stage. Ondekoza's performances in North America in 1975 was the first exposure for many Americans and helped spread interest in taiko through North America.
Part of a larger movement to rediscover Japanese
folk artFolk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic...
, Tagayasu brought together a group of young men and women to
Sado Islandis a city located on Sado Island in the Chūbu region of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004 the city comprises the entire island, although not all of its 855.26 square kilometers is urbanized...
to study and live. Largely without formal musical training, the original members lived communally in an old school house while studying taiko,
shamisenThe shamisen or samisen , also called sangen is a three-stringed musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi...
,
kotoThe koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument derived from the Chinese guzheng. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about long, and made from kiri wood . They have 13 strings that are strung over 13 movable bridges along the length of the instrument...
,
minyo (folk music)Minyo may refer to:* Min'yo, a style of Japanese accompanied folk singing.* Minyo, the music of Korea....
, and
traditional danceThere are two types of Japanese traditional dance: Odori, which originated in the Edo period, and Mai, which originated in the western part of Japan. Odori grew out of Kabuki drama and is more oriented toward male sentiments. Mai is traditionally performed in Japanese rooms instead of on the stage...
. The lifestyle was austere and rigorous with most days beginning with a run before breakfast and filled with study and practice. One of the keys to the groups success was the arrangement of traditional melodies and styles into stylized, artistic musical pieces. Examples of these are their songs
yataibayashi, based on the
Chichibucan refer to:*Chichibu, Saitama - a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan*Prince Chichibu - a member of the Japanese imperial family...
festival and
hachijo and
miyake based on the drum patterns from
Hachijo Islandis a Japanese island in the Pacific Ocean, administered by Tokyo and located 300 kilometers south of the Special Wards of Tokyo. Hachijō Town governs the island....
and
Miyake Islandis an island in the Izu group, southeast of Honshū, Japan, administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan government, with an area of 55.50km². The island, 180km south of Tokyo, is located at 34.5N and 139.34E. As of January 1, 2006, the population of the island is 2884...
. Also groundbreaking was the
Odaiko (Large Drum)
soloIn music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
, a musical piece focused largely on one performer with only minimal background drumming and percussion.
History
In 1975, Ondekoza made their American debut. In one noteworthy performance, the members performed a full set after completing the
Boston MarathonThe Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual...
. The group toured America, Europe and Japan to critical acclaim.
In 1981, largely in response to a movie project that was by all accounts a financial and artistic failure, members of Ondekoza broke off to form the group Kodo while Tagayasu kept the name and most of the company's drums.
In 1986 the group performed at the
1986 World's FairThe 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo '86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communication: World in Motion - World in Touch", coincided with...
in
VancouverVancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
,
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The group spent 3 years (1990-1993) running and performing around the United States, beginning and ending their journey with performances at
Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. At the end of the journey the members had run approximately 9,200 miles (roughly 14,900 kilometers).
Den Tagayasu died in an automobile accident in April, 2001.
The group continues to tour and perform mainly in Japan and Asia. Unfortunately due to poor financial and organizational management under Mr. Tagayasu, the group has been eclipsed by groups such as Kodo and is relatively unknown in the United States today.
See also
- Gocoo
Gocoo, or GOCOO are seven female and four male Taiko drummers from Tokyo . Gocoo performed at major Blues&Roots, Rock&Pop and alternative Rock festivals, in live clubs, classic theatres and concert halls or at techno events. Lead drummer, Kaoly Asano , attracts much attention as a female Taiko...
- a seven female and 3 male Taiko drumming band from Tokyo
- Kodo (Taiko Drumming)
- Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming .-Types of taiko:Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide...