Jon Shingetsu visits
It has been some time since my friend Jon Shingetsu has visited. He was here with one of his latest jinashi 1.8 shakuhachi that he made. It will be no surprise to many of you here that Jon is a great player and flute maker. He said he had just finished it and was getting ready to put it up for sale. I offered to list it here because it was such a nice flute. It is great for playing honkyoku and has a great buzz to it. He is only asking $250 for this flute. He harvested the Japanese bamboo himself, cured it and made the flute. It plays in the key of D. Here is a video of Jon playing it.





Here are some pictures also.





If you are interested in purchasing this flute you can contact Jon directly at: flutedojo@gmail.com
1:45 PM | Category: | 1 comments

Florida Shakuhachi Camp pictures!
Michael Chikuzen Gould Performing the last day.

Michael Chikuzen Gould Performing the last day.


Look at that embouchure!

Having fun at class!

Here are a few pictures I took at the FL Shakuhachi Camp. I was pretty busy running arund so i forgot to take more. If you were at the camp please email any good pics you have to post.
4:58 PM | Category: | 1 comments

Florida Shakuhachi Camp Completed
The Florida Shakuhachi Camp is completed and man was it a great productive time! It started out on Friday at 5pm but everyone got there early so we did some impromptu classes and playing. It was great seeing some of the beginner's faces when they were getting it and seeing them smile as the weekend went on. The players who could read the score somewhat had it down much better as the weekend went on and players who couldn't begin to read scores were playing the notation too by the end of the weekend. Everyones tone improved tremendously. One of the things Chikuzen is great at is helping people to expand their tone and really blossom as shakuhachi players. We ate most meals at the Yearling Restaurant and while there we saw Willie Green who is about as authentic a blues man as you will see. He is a 70 yr old man who plays real down home blues guitar and harmonica on a rack. Willie Green was one of my inspirations to start playing harmonica back in 2004.

He was a hit with the campers and everyone really enjoyed his playing. By Sunday everyone had a few months worth of material to work on. Some will be taking Skype lessons with Chikuzen in between camps and when they get to the next camp they will have made even bigger leaps and bounds in their playing. We will be having the next camp on Feb 19-21, 2010. We have already had some sign ups and we are open for new students. If you are interested in coming please check out the site at http://www.floridashakuhachi.com. I wil be posting pictures tomorrow and as students submit them. Thanks for stopping by, as always.

7:01 PM | Category: | 0 comments

My shakuhachi inspired license plate

I got my new license plate for my Kia SOUL a few weeks ago. I thought I would share it here. It says "SUIZEN"


2:59 PM | Category: | 2 comments

Florida Shakuhachi Camp Update...
Well, I pick up Chikuzen tonight at the airport and head out to the camp location. Tomorrow Chikuzen and I will work on getting everything ready and have some lessons and then Friday everyone arrives and the camp will be in full swing. I can't wait. It is going to be good to sit by the water and play. I will be posting from the camp as the weekend goes so check back for some pics and info.
2:21 PM | Category: | 1 comments

Sorry about the lack of posts lately...
I have just finished closing on my new house and I have been busy moving and getting ready for the Florida Shakuhachi Camp so I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I will be posting from the camp coming up soon and I will back with regular postings very soon. In the meanwhile you might want to check out my friend Shingetsu's Website and read his blog. Thaks for continuing to come by!
6:32 AM | Category: | 0 comments