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All about the energy

Archa hosts two rousing nights of drumming
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October 17th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
BU-SHI-DO plays both traditional and contemporary beats.
Gathering of Drummers

When: Thursday, Oct. 18 at 8
Where: Divadlo Archa
Tickets: 350 Kč through Ticketpro or at the venue

BU-SHI-DO
When: Friday, Oct. 19 at 8
Where: Divadlo Archa
Tickets: 200-350 Kč through Ticketpro or at the venue

By Martina Čermáková
For the Post
Pavel Fajt remembers the moment when the drums went still at last year’s Gathering of Drummers, and how the audience walked away from it exhilarated yet relaxed, with dilated pupils.
“It’s all about the energy,” the co-founder of the annual project says, sipping steaming coffee one grayish, chilly morning recently in Prague’s Old Town. “The [musicians] come together and create a rhythm, a sound, that grows and thunders and overspills into the audience.”
There’s something special about drumming. When the drums begin to play, there’s nowhere to hide. And be they loud or subtle, the waves of energy pulsating rhythmically have their way with your heartbeat.
First Fajt and his coterie of percussionists, then the Japanese Taiko drummers BU-SHI-DO, will be at Archa Theater on two consecutive nights this week to do their thing with beats, and heartbeats.
As a drummer and percussionist well known for his unorthodox approach, Fajt is aware that intensity can be overdone, and that you must treat your audience kindly. A good performance needs a structure — a lively mix of solos, duos and trios. That’s put together just prior to his annual tour (this is the sixth) with other drum and percussion masters, who gather to experiment, let their minds roam free and perform partially improvised shows in 12 different cities throughout the Czech Republic.
“We meet up three days prior [to the kickoff], and in those three days we have to create the concert,” Fajt explains. “It’s impossible to prepare it thoroughly, but we’re able to name the compositions and more or less decide whether it will be softer, more ambient, or harder kind of stuff.”
Since the gathering is primarily a laboratory for creative musicians, sometimes things sizzle, sometimes they steam and sometimes they remain insoluble and inert. “It’s not about logic, but a click,” Fajt says, snapping his fingers. “You either hop on the wagon, or you don’t, energy-wise.”
Last year, the click between the musicians was so natural that some shows turned into three-hour-long jam sessions. “Those people were incredibly creative and professional,” Fajt says. “Foremost, Mohamed Bangoura from Guinea — he’s a master.” The djembe player remains in this year’s lineup, which Fajt kept almost unchanged to preserve last year’s chemistry.
In its first year, the gathering featured four drum sets on stage, with a few diffuse percussion effects and a hint of punk. Today, it’s less drum sets, more percussion and a southern, African feel.
“You have thousands of percussionists and each belongs to a certain part of the world,” says Fajt. “People can decode this and know that a certain sound, for instance, connects to Africa.” The sound is also closely connected to the instruments, their history, color and character. Some musicians stick within the traditional boundaries of their instruments, while others explore areas outside of those parameters.
The Japanese drumming ensemble BU-SHI-DO nibbles at this notion by dividing up their show into two distinct parts: traditional, with Japanese taiko and shamisen music played in kimonos and hakama pants, and modern, with the band’s own rock compositions performed in, well, rock star outfits.
The instruments stay the same for both parts — taiko drums and a shamisen, a three-stringed instrument that resembles a guitar. The two-headed taiko drum has a long-standing tradition in Japan, where it was first used in wars to give orders to and direct warriors, and to scare off the enemy.
“We want to show you the Samurai spirit with Japanese classical instruments,” says BU-SHI-DO drummer Ajo via e-mail. The group’s name translates to “Way of the Warrior” — a code of ethics for Samurai.
BU-SHI-DO plays with four drums, and when five sets of hands begin to pound, it’s a mesmerizing experience — not only for the sounds, but also for the drummers’ synchronized movements that mirror, in their elegance, the beauty of martial arts. The three-stringed shamisen purifies and softens the pounding while taking none of the thundering energy away.
Like the Samurai they take inspiration from, the BU-SHI-DO drummers breathe with one breath onstage. It’s a level of playing that Fajt recognizes.
“There are a lot of people who can play the drums,” he says. “But to be able to use and direct the energy created, that’s a thing for the masters.”
Martina Čermáková can be reached at features@praguepost.com


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