Asian Improv aRts Midwest brings “Reduction 10” and “Taiko Legacy 21” to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Edlis Neeson theater Dec. 14.
“This is one of the most elaborate taiko concerts that you are ever going to see from a community group in the Midwest,” said creative director and founder of AIRMW, Tatsu Aoki.
Taiko means “drum” and the performances are the art of Japanese percussion. Both shows consist of music and dance performances, with about 18 performers, including three famous Chicago avant-garde musicians, Michael Zirin, Hamid Drake and Nicole Mitchell.
“Reduction” blends traditional and modern music, including improvisation of the instruments. “Taiko Legacy” focuses on original compositions, honoring geisha chamber, classical, folk, theater and festival taiko music.
“On the Taiko Legacy, basically, I am reincarnating all the songs that were played when I was younger in our taiko group in Tokyo,” Aoki said. “Then Reduction is a recreation of what the experimentalism was in Tokyo using different talents. So, I think the community taiko drumming is closer to the real shape, and reduction is evolved into Chicago music more.”
Aoki grew up around music, performing with his mother, grandparents and everyone else in his house. Later in his teens he became involved in Tokyo’s underground performing arts and music movement.
“So, part of this ethnic cultural identity that I brought from Japan to Chicago has to do with Japanese ethnic folk-art music, and myself being a musician for all my life,” Aoki said. “I started to build the not-for-profit organization that sort of specialized in our Japanese American/Japanese cultural ethnic identity.”
The composer, performer, filmmaker and educator moved to Chicago in the late 1970s. Later, he and his family moved to Oak Park, primarily for its public school system.
“It’s been a great village, a great space to live,” he said.
These performances have been a family effort, with his kids being involved for the past 20 years.
“My oldest daughter, Kioto, does both experimental performances with taiko drumming,” Aoki said. “Miyumi does the traditional one and the Japanese dance. And Miyumi and Kioto, they both play shamisen, the Japanese flute music. My son plays the improvising taiko drumming as well as the compositional taiko drumming.”
Aoki said that as he’s getting older, he’s having the younger generations take on more responsibilities for AIRMW. His children, along with performing in the shows, also help produce them and have been for the past 20 years.
“I think what is interesting for me is seeing the evolution of what kinds of things that we each take on as each iteration goes on,” said Aoki’s son, Eigen Aoki. “You know, I think we’ve kind of grown more and more into our own areas of expertise, or what we’re comfortable with when it comes to producing the show.”
According to his children, working together as a family has its upsides.
“I think there are some benefits in working with people that you are so close with, and not just within, like our siblings, but the performing crew that we’ve been together with for over a decade,” said Aoki’s youngest daughter, Miyumi Aioki. “We all kind of know each other’s quirks and how we work, and so that part kind of gets easy.”
Kioto Aoki, who is also an artist, said that being his daughter and having her own areas of expertise help her understand what he is trying to communicate and allow her to bring his visions to life.
“If you are an adventurous person, come to see dynamics of a taiko performance, come to Reduction, and if you are up for kind of like a family-friendly community gathering of the taiko drumming music, come to Taiko Legacy,” Aoki said. “Some people actually come to both of them every year.”
Tickets are $20. For tickets or more info visit airmw.org/taikolegacy
