Dōjō (Michiyo Yagi & Tamaya Honda)

Dōjō: Koto + Drums Power Duo!

Michiyo Yagi: electric 21-string koto, 17-string bass koto, electronics, voice
Tamaya Honda: drums

Hot on the heels of their controversial second album “Ni-No-Maki [Vol. II],” Dōjō makes a rare Yokohama appearance. Psychedelic jazz and ethereal vocals from the world’s most unusual power duo.

MICHIYO YAGI studied the traditional Japanese transverse harp known as the koto under the late Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai, and graduated from the NHK Professional Training School for Traditional Musicians. During her subsequent tenure as Visiting Professor of Music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, U.S.A. she premiered numerous modern compositions for koto and came under the influence of maverick American composers such as John Cage, Christian Wolff, Conlon Nancarrow, and John Zorn. Yagi’s debut CD Shizuku was produced by Zorn and released on his Tzadik label in 1999. In 2001 she recorded Yural (BAJ/ewe) with her multi-koto ensemble Paulownia Crush — this group toured Russia under the auspices of the Japan Foundation in 2004. In 2005 Yagi released Seventeen (Zipangu), entirely performed on the giant 17-string bass koto. Live! at SuperDeluxe (Idiolect), a trio performance with Norwegians Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (contrabass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), followed a year later. In 2008 Rikskonsertene, the national concert institute of Norway, sponsored a two-week tour by Yagi, Nilssen-Love, and German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, a trio that has performed internationally since 2006 and released Head On (Idiolect, 2008) and Volda (Idiolect, 2010). Reflexions (Idiolect/Bomba), an album of duets with the experimental New York guitarist Elliott Sharp, was released in 2010. Yagi’s most recent CD releases are Ni-No-Maki [Vol. II] (Idiolect, 2017), credited to Dōjō, her “power duo” with Japanese jazz drummer Tamaya Honda and featuring guests Nils Peter Molvær (trumpet) and Paal Nilssen-Love; Decayed, a live reunion session with Håker Flaten and Nilssen-Love that also features guest Henry Kaiser; Soul Stream (PNL, 2015), a quartet session with Joe McPhee (pocket trumpet, saxophones), Lasse Marhaug (electronics) and Nilssen-Love; and Angular Mass (PNL, 2015), a trio with Marhaug and Nilssen-Love. An album of ambient music co-produced by the Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset, and a trio recording with Giovanni Di Domenico (keyboards) and Chris Corsano (drums) are forthcoming. A CD of original compositions featuring Yagi’s vocals and a contemporary classical recording of written and commissioned music are also in development. An eclectic performer who continually challenges conventions, Yagi has played at the Moers, Kongsberg Jazz, Punkt, Újbuda Jazz, Musique Actuel Victoriaville, Archipel, Bang on a Can, Tokyo Summer, Vision, Instal, Jazztopad, Sengawa Jazz, Fuji Rock, and Music Unlimited festivals. Notable co-performers include Mark Dresser, Jim O’Rourke, Akira Sakata, Sidsel Endresen, Han Bennink, Alan Silva, Kazutoki Umezu, Raz Mesinai, Yoshihide Otomo, Ned Rothenberg, Knut Buen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Satoko Fujii, Håkon Kornstad, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), Masahiko Sato, Thomas Strønen, Carl Stone, Billy Bang, Keiji Haino, Mats Gustafsson, Roger Turner, Gerry Hemingway, Mani Neumeier, and Sachiko M. Yagi’s koto has been featured in ex-Judy & Mary guitarist/singer Takuya's band, and she has recorded with neo-prog rocker Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), J-pop idol Ayumi Hamasaki, and singer-songwriter Angela Aki. In addition to leading the Michiyo Yagi Trio and playing solo concerts — all with an emphasis on her original compositions, extended techniques, and unique vocals based on the traditional jiuta style — she continues to be active as the leading improviser on the koto, performing with Tamaya Honda as Dōjō and with leading improvisers from around the world.
http://www.michiyoyagi.com

Drummer TAMAYA HONDA was born into Jazz Royalty. His father, the late Takehiro Honda, was one of Japan’s most popular jazz pianists; his mother Chico Honda is a jazz singer; and his uncles are veteran bebop drummer Fumio Watanabe and the internationally popular saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. Honda’s professional career began at the age of 13 when he sat in with his father’s fusion band Native Son before several thousand festivalgoers. After spending his teens playing with Native Son, Honda gradually solidified his position as a first-call jazz drummers by working with Fumio Karashima, Shunzoh Ohno, Paul Jackson, Sadao Watanabe, Hi Tide Harris, Mal Waldron, Kazumi Watanabe, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Junior Mance, Kei Akagi and Masabumi Kikuchi. A newfound interest in free improvisation in the mid-2000’s led to sessions with Michiyo Yagi, who in turn recommended Honda to Peter Brötzmann in 2008. Although somewhat of a latecomer to free jazz, Honda has been mesmerizing audiences by combining near-telepathic sensitivity with brute force. Honda currently leads a quartet and two different trios, performs and records with Michiyo Yagi as the award-winning duo Dōjō, plays with Akira Sakata and Daysuke Takaoka as the F1 Trio, and works with just about everyone who is anyone in the Tokyo jazz/improv scene.