AT THE Subzero Festival in June, South First Street was packed with hundreds of people craning for a glimpse of the main stage, where local hip-hop producers the Bangerz were floating the dramatic opening synth notes of “Robot Remains,” the song that had recently debuted to millions of viewers around the world on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew.
As the sharply dressed Bangerz, ties against crisp white shirts, attended to their turntables and control panels, crouched behind four drums onstage in front of them were San Jose Taiko performers. As the song’s industrial riff kicked in, the drummers jumped up to beat their drums, twirling, windmilling and hammering, hammering at the beat in sync. When their flags went up midway through, so did the fists of a crowd stunned by a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
“It wasn’t until we did ‘Robot Remains’ that folks got it,” says incoming San Jose Taiko artistic director Franco Imperial of the summer’s epic hip-hop–taiko collaboration. He and his wife, Wisa Uemura, SJT’s new executive director, are longtime members who met through the group, and they take over at a time when the group has risen to a new level of acclaim for an adventurous spirit that has practically redefined the taiko art form. Their recent collaborations, not only with Bangerz but also with the Chidori Band and the Abhinaya Dance Company, have been fascinating, innovative creative couplings that have challenged and expanded the popular notion of what taiko can be.
Both Imperial and Uemura credit the group’s edgy spirit to another husband-and-wife team, outgoing executive director Roy Hirabayashi, who co-founded the drumming group in San Jose’s Japantown in 1973, and artistic director P.J. Hirabayashi.
In typically unpredictable form, the group’s annual showcase event, the “Rhythm Spirit” shows Sept. 10–11 at Campbell Heritage Theater, will actually feature a piece written about the impact on the group of the transition, which has been planned for the last seven years.
“They’re like parents, you think they’re always going to be there,” says Uemura of the Hirabayashis. “It’s a very emotional, very personal experience.”
Imperial and Uemura are also looking forward, to the younger members of the group who bring their own influences to San Jose Taiko. One of them, Rylan Sekiguchi, is San Jose Taiko’s resident hip-hop expert and was instrumental in creating the collaborative work with the Bangerz. Sekiguchi was at first a bit intimidated to be working with the esteemed hip-hop crew, but quickly realized it wasn’t the novelty of the pairing that made it work but the shared artistic sensibilities and how well they complemented each other musically.
“I think people are drawn to taiko partly because of the sound of the drum itself. The larger drums—the odaiko—make these deep, resonant, earthy tones that can sometimes feel like they’re vibrating your whole body,” says Sekiguchi. “In that sense, I think the match with hip-hop music is somewhat natural. After all, in terms of acoustic instruments, a loud odaiko strike is essentially as close as you can get to an 808 bass.”
For those who ask, “But is it taiko?,” Imperial and Uemura say that’s exactly the question the Hirabayashis have been asking—and transforming the answer to—for almost 40 years.
“That’s a Roy question, ‘What is taiko? Is that taiko?’ He wants you to recognize that line, so you can blur it,” says Imperial.
“I think he just likes to ask that question so we’ll discuss things,” says Uemura.
Adds Imperial: “He likes to see us squirm.”
RHYTHM SPIRIT 2010
Friday 8pm, Saturday 2 and 8pm
Campbell Heritage Theatre, Campbell; 408.866.2700
$25 adults/$20 students and seniors
