Saxophonist Kongo Tadashi: A journey through the Yamate landscape set to music
I've been asked to write a column on the theme of "Kanagawa and Art," and I'd like to focus on the Yamate district of Yokohama City, which is one of my favorite walking routes and where I often have opportunities to perform.
Before that, let me briefly introduce our music group.
This is a somewhat unique trio consisting of piano, cello, and my saxophone. We call ourselves the Shanti Dragon Trio, and each member lives in Yokohama and Kamakura. Each member is also involved in various other musical activities.
Shanti Dragon Trio SHANTI DRAGON 3
Piano composition and arrangement by Akemi Hayashi
Cello Christopher Satoshi Gibson
Sax King Kongo
The repertoire is diverse, ranging from world songs and Japanese songs to children's songs, folk songs, popular songs, film music, classical music, original compositions, and more.
Now, returning to the topic, along Yamate Hon-dori, the main street of the Yamate district, there are many historic Western-style houses. These include Bluff No. 18, the Diplomat's House, Berrick Hall, Ehrismann House, Yamate No. 234, Yokohama British House, and Yamate No. 111, among others. Each of these houses has its own unique structure and charm, and many of them have pianos, so our unit often has opportunities to perform there.
Bluff 18 Hall has hosted several summer concerts for us in the past. The piano there is a 100-year-old piano (a Japanese-made Matsumoto piano), and although it was made with fewer keys to fit the dimensions of Japanese houses at the time, it still produces a very lyrical tone and resonates beautifully.
At Berwick Hall, we collaborated on a performance with French cuisine. An instructor from a French cooking class held in Yokohama Motomachi prepared small plates for approximately 80 people, including the audience, staff, and performers. After the performance, everyone sampled the food. Of course, we and the staff also enjoyed it, and the food tasted especially delicious in the atmosphere of the Western-style building.
Provided by: JapanTravel.comThe neighboring Western-style building, the Ehrismann House, is located within Motomachi Park. The hall is in the basement, and performances take place while enjoying the view of the park's greenery through the windows. Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we held a concert to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Motomachi Park's opening, with the audience capacity limited to one-third.
Beyond the Ehrismann House, past the Foreign Cemetery, the Western-style building next to Harbor View Park is the Yokohama British House. We have performed here many times. The garden visible from the hall's windows is very beautiful, and the rose concerts held in the adjacent rose garden, "English Rose Garden," are fond memories. The sweet scent of roses that wafted through the air during the performances was wonderful.
Provided by: JapanTravel.comYokohama International School is located in front of the British House in Yokohama, and St. Maur International School is near the Ehrismann House. All three members of the group are involved in instrumental music lessons at each school. Incidentally, Christopher, a member of the Shanti Dragon Trio, is a graduate of Yokohama International School and later went on to attend university in the United States.
While I primarily teach the saxophone, I do have one trumpet student. After six years of lessons, she studied abroad and is now working as a successful professional. Although brass instruments are not my specialty, by the time she graduated, she was able to play Haydn's Trumpet Concerto. This is a testament to her hard work.
The history of wind instruments such as trumpets and saxophones in Japan actually began in this Yamate district. As the era changed from the Meiji period onward, the British and French armies were stationed in this area, and the army had musical ensembles. These were what we would call military bands.
The military band performed at Yamate Park, and at Myokoji Temple, located on the way down from Yamate to Honmoku, "Western music trainees" from the Satsuma Domain received instruction from the bandmaster of the British Army military band stationed in Yokohama's Honmoku district. This is considered the beginning of wind band music in Japan.
Provided by: JapanTravel.comMy previous profession involved manufacturing and researching wind instruments, so this Yamate area holds special meaning for me beyond just performing. In today's rapidly changing Yokohama, Yamate Hon-dori is one of the few places that still retains the old Yokohama character. And indeed, this Yamate area of Yokohama gives our performances a special kind of energy.
Shanti Dragon 3 intends to continue broadcasting many more captivating performances from here in Yokohama.
【profile】
Shanti Dragon Trio
Shanti means "inner peace" in Sanskrit. The dragon is not the dragon as it is perceived in the West, but rather a dragon in Asia that symbolizes powerful and auspicious forces, and is a god of water.
Shanti Dragon was originally a duo consisting of pianist Akemi Hayashi and saxophonist Tadashi Kongo, but when cellist Christopher Satoshi Gibson, who was also Hayashi's piano and solfège student, joins them, they are referred to as Shanti Dragon 3.
This trio began with a concert at the Yokohama Museum of Art Hall as part of Yokohama Art Live 2003, and the recording of the CD "Yume Futaya" (Two Nights of Dreams), featuring all of Akemi Hayashi's compositions, in the same year. They have also actively engaged in volunteer performances at facilities for people with disabilities.
Christopher Satoshi Gibson left Japan to attend university in the United States, temporarily suspending the trio's activities. However, after returning to Japan and becoming active in various scenes, he rejoined Shanti Dragon in 2019, and the group resumed activities as Shanti Dragon 3.
Pianist, composer, and arranger. Born and raised in Yokohama.
From a young age, she began playing piano and electronic organ, studying piano under her relatives, Minoru Matsutani and Midori Matsutani. Under their guidance, she was exposed to a wide range of music, from classical to contemporary, popular, pop, and jazz, and began performing while still a student at music college.
After graduating from a music university, she worked as a music instructor at Yokohama Contemporary Music Academy and other music schools, and as a solfège instructor for the Yokohama Municipal High School Wind Ensemble, before establishing Maple Piano School (Isogo Ward, Yokohama City). Utilizing her career as a piano instructor and performer, she dedicates herself to teaching students of all ages, from young children to adults.
They perform in various venues and live houses in Yokohama and Tokyo, including concerts sponsored by the city of Yokohama, concerts at Yamate Western-style houses (British House, Berrick Hall, Bluff No. 18), the Sankei-en "Moon Viewing Concert," and the Yokohama Jazz Promenade. They frequently perform original compositions, and have released over 100 original songs, including those on their CDs. They have released 5 CDs to date.
They also actively participate in volunteer musical performances.
Born in Michigan, USA. Began playing the cello at age 4. Participated in summer programs at Tanglewood, Indiana University, and Interlochen while in high school. After graduating from Yokohama International School, she enrolled at Yale University in 2005, double-majoring in philosophy and political science.
While still a student, she passed an audition with cellist Aldo Parisot and studied cello with Ole Akahoshi of the Yale School of Music, who was Pierre Fournier's youngest student and also served as Janos Starker's assistant for many years. She also studied chamber music with Wendy Sharp at the same school. In 2009, she won a prize at the FOM Competition at the same university. In the winter of 2012, when she won a prize at the International Association of Musicians Newcomer Audition, she received praise from one of the judges, violinist Narimichi Kawabata, who said her playing "allows the listener to enter the world of the music."
In 2017, under the auspices of the NPO Emotion in Motion, she held the "BACH Solo" unaccompanied cello recital series at Minato Mirai Small Hall, Tiara Koto, Tokorozawa Muse, and Suntory Hall "Blue Rose." She has collaborated with violinist Ikuko Kawai on TV Tokyo's "100 Years of Music" program recordings and concerts, and has performed at venues such as BLUE NOTE TOKYO (2020), Cerulean Tower Noh Theater (2019), and Mitsukoshi Theater (2018). She is active mainly in Tokyo, Kamakura, and Nagano.
He began playing the saxophone at the age of 12, studying under Hisatoshi Muta (President of the Japan Band Directors Association, former conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Band) and Makoto Suda (Professor at Musashino Academia Musicae). He then joined Yanagisawa Musical Instruments Co., Ltd., one of the world's three major saxophone manufacturers.
After working in instrument manufacturing, research, instruction, and management, he became independent. In 1995, he established Congo Saxophone Studio, offering saxophone repair, lessons, and performance services. In 1997, his CD "OUR TRIBAL MUSIC" won the Best New Artist Award from Jazz Life magazine. He was appointed by the Yokohama City Board of Education and served as a lecturer at Yokohama Municipal Minato Commercial High School for four years. In addition to concerts and recordings at venues such as the Yokohama Museum of Art Hall, Minato Mirai Hall, Kanagawa Prefectural Music Hall, Sankeien Garden, and Yamate Western-style Houses, he actively engages in volunteer performance activities at Yokohama City University Hospital and facilities for people with disabilities and welfare facilities in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Kyushu, and Hokuriku.
To date, she has collaborated with top Japanese musicians, visiting musicians from the UK, Italy, Switzerland, and France, as well as calligrapher Suisen Nakatani, dancer Kazuo Ohno, actor Stiart Burnham-Atkin, narrator Akira Kodama, holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property designation Bokusei Mochizuki, and many others. She has also collaborated with many people across genres. She also instructs a community saxophone ensemble that mainly performs Bach chorales.
Several CDs and DVDs have been released to date.
