Some of the most fiercely individualistic work in Chicago jazz has come from the cross-cultural sensibility of bassist-bandleader Tatsu Aoki.
Bridging ancient folkloric traditions of his native Japan with ever-changing currents of the Chicago avant-garde, Aoki has created major, evening-length works that are as viscerally exciting as they are intellectually provocative. Even the titles of pieces such as “Rooted: Origins of Now” (2001), “re: Rooted” (2006) and “Trans-Rooted” (2010) express Aoki’s mission: to infuse new ideas in music with the majesty of his own heritage.
This weekend, Aoki and his Tsukasa Taiko ensemble will present a three-concert marathon at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which has been a kind of laboratory for him for nearly two decades. Bringing his distinctive form of music to a theatrical stage has enabled Aoki to transcend the environment of the jazz club, a boon to anyone who values distinctive sounds boldly presented.
“At the MCA, one of the things I get to do is play with a real stage,” says Aoki of his residency there. “So not only do we play music and (create) improvisations, but I also get to use visual aspects of it as theater. … I’m happy to take it on stage and cook it.”
By that Aoki means that he’s not presenting Japanese musical traditions in a straightforward manner. Instead, he’s essentially “reinventing” those traditions, as he puts it, enlisting taiko drummers and others to thunder at their instruments, but in intricately choreographed, visually startling forms that he and his colleagues have conceived for the stage.
Aoki hastens to note that when he was growing up in Japan in the 1970s, he did not encounter Japanese taiko drumming in this way. So he really has modified this music to suit his own expressive needs, which, of course, is what artistic visionaries do.
Specifically, Aoki this weekend will offer audiences two distinct perspectives on his work.
At 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aoki will present “Taiko Legacy 11,” a family-friendly performance that features various combinations of taiko drummers delivering the jolting rhythms and startling attacks that audiences around the world admire.
“It’s kind of like a full-scale folk arts concert,” says Aoki of a work that incorporates dancers, drummers and other instrumentalists.
“I wouldn’t say that what I do with this group is exactly folkloric,” he adds, since he has altered certain Japanese musical rituals for the MCA stage. “But it’s kind of similar to what a famous group like Kodo and others do.”
In effect, these matinee performances welcome taiko novices and aficionados alike, for anyone can respond to the pulsing sounds and magisterial ceremonies of this work.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aoki will offer an updated version of “Reduction,” a jazz-based, autobiographical piece he staged last year at the MCA. Through sound and gesture, Aiko and a small group of musicians tell the story of Aoki’s artistic evolution from a teenager in Japan to his development as a significant jazz figure in Chicago.
The core appeal of this opus, as last year’s performance showed, was Aoki’s collaboration with fellow jazz improvisers who stand at the forefront of Chicago experimentation. There’s really no predicting what Aoki will invent in the company of such formidable players as woodwind virtuosos Edward Wilkerson Jr., Douglas Ewart and Mwata Bowden, flutist Nicole Mitchell, singer Dee Alexander, percussionists Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake, plus taiko drummer Eigen Aoki (Tatsu’s son).
It’s a smaller group than that in “Taiko Legacy 11,” but one that’s focused on advancing the art of taiko drumming through jazz improvisation.
“During the ’70s in Tokyo, when I was a teenager doing this work, I didn’t have the world-class jazz musicians (that) I have here,” says Aoki.
“This is my quest for what the future taiko drummer aesthetic should be, as opposed to always looking at the larger ensemble. … Today, when most people hear (the word) taiko, they think of the larger ensemble.”
In “Reduction,” by contrast, Aoki instead leans toward what he calls a “chamber tradition” emphasizing forms of improvisation universally identified with Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). The result is a music rich in complexity and technical sophistication, but driven in part by the theatricality of the taiko tradition.
There’s nothing else quite like it in jazz, Aoki having developed a difficult-to-categorize musical vocabulary that evolves from one performance to the next — and that’s well-suited to the innovative hub that is the MCA.
Also worth hearing
Paul Marinaro: The great Chicago vocalist returns to the intimate room that formerly was Katerina’s. 9 p.m. Friday at the High Hat Club, 1920 W. Irving Park Road; $10; 773-697-8660 or highhat.club
Joanie Pallatto and Marshall Vente: Singer Pallatto and pianist Vente reunite. 7 p.m. Saturday at the Back Room, 937 N. Rush St.; $20; 312-751-2433 or backroomchicago.com/cabaret-the-back-room
Benny Golson: Saxophonist Golson has composed more than his share of jazz classics, including “Whisper Not,” “Along Came Betty” and “I Remember Clifford.” 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4 and 8 p.m. Sunday; at the Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court; $20-$35; 312-360-0234 or jazzshowcase.com
Twitter @howardreich
Tatsu Aoki and Tsukasa Taiko
When: “Taiko Legacy 11” at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
When: “Reduction” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.
Tickets: $20 (for each show); 312-397-4010 or mcachicago.org
