Music Music is a golden thread that continues to weave itself through my artistic
life. Koto - the Japanese harp - is my primary instrument, bringing with
it a link to my childhood in Japan and the rich history of oriental music.
At the same time the koto for me has always been a bridge forward into
jazz and new age music, and I create new tunings and styles each time
I play. The koto allows me to play on the World Music stage with some
remarkable collaborators. Check out our projects! You can download samples,
or purchase CDs. I hope you enjoy the evocative koto sounds as much as
I do!
Collaborations with GORDONDANCE Lonny Joseph Gordon (aka Lon Gordon) is an internationally acclaimed choreographer, dancer, and professor. He's also a master performer of the ancient art of Kabuki, and the only Western artist ever accorded the honor of actual apprenticeship at Tokyo's Kabukiza. Through the years, I've had the honor of collaborating with him, creating music for some of his breakthrough dance creations. Our first collaboration was "Back Door," which we performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Our second was Autumn Complexing Images" which Lon choreographed to a composition Marilyn Harris and I created for our CD "Koto Keys," and which I performed with Lon's dancers at the University Nevada, Las Vegas.
Our NEW work "Ka-bu-ki: Leaning Out of the Ordinary" will be performed in January 2009 as part of the New Mexico Revolutions Theatre Festival, produced by the Triplock Theatre Company in Albuquerque. 2008
|
| The New York City Ballet presented a revival of the unique Jerome Robbins autobiography in dance with musicians Mara Purl on koto. Steve Gorn on Indian flutes. |
 |
| Learn more about Watermill at www.nycballet.com |
| Tzadik Records produced the long-awaited
CD of Teiji Ito's ground-breaking, critically acclaimed and now classic score |
 |
 |
| Mara and colleagues record the music for "Watermill" |
| The Japan Society and Tzadik Records founder John Zorn produced a Teiji Ito Retrospective, featuring a live performance of the Watermill music |
 |
| Mara and colleagues rehearse for the Japan Society concert |
The sound files found below designated by the musical note are in WAV format and are a little over 100KB. The RA Symbol indicates a Real Audio file. These files are around 15KB, but require the free Real Audio Player for playback. Enjoy.
New for the
Holidays...
"A Koto Keys Christmas"
|
| the traditional carols...as you've never heard them before.... |
|
|
 |
"Distant Thunder" | |
 |
"Distant Thunder" | ||
|
"Mukashi Modern" | ||
|
"Mukashi Modern" | ||
One day while looking through my attic, I found a treasure box. It was full of recordings of music I'd created mostly for dance concerts -- New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Lonny Joseph Gordon Dance Company among them. With co-producer and collaborator Marilyn Harris, I listened to them carefully and realized they flowed together to describe two things musically: first, the seasons; second, a geographic progression from coast to high desert. Then I discovered that "Kist" is a Celtic word for treasure box. Cambria Records released this classic collection as KOTO KIST. "I am a big fan of the album Pathless Path. I love the
work you did on it! Where and how can I buy Koto Kist? Thanks!" |
Check out the review of "Koto Kist" at Heartsong.
|
| In the late '70s, Charles Lloyd and I collaborated on a beautiful project. Originally it was released on vinyl as "Koto." Later it was re-released as "Pathless Path." Believe it or not, we continue to get mail about this album even now. It became a "cult classic." Cambria Records is ready to release it again as "Koto", this time on CD -- but so far we have not been able to track down the legal information required to do so. The original record label is long gone. So, for now, we're preparing to offer the following samples! |
|
|
"New York Times" | |
|
"New York Times" | ||
|
"Rescue" | ||
|
"Rescue" | ||
| Home
· Author ·
Performer · Producer
· Educator
· Music ·
Awards Milford-Haven · Photo Gallery · Family & Friends · Interviews · Resumes · Calendar |
— David
Whelpley