Toshi Makihara

• December 2007:
  Raoul Bjorkenheim - Toshi Makihara Duo
  Thu 12/20, 8PM at The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street Philadelphia
  
  
  Free Admission!
  I will have an opportunity to do a duo concert with Raoul Bjorkenheim. Raoul's guitar playing is often described as a force of nature, the conventional traits usually associated with jazz or rock having given way to a more visceral, expressionistic approach to creating timbre and velocities. Experimenting with various tunings on 6 and 12 string guitars, Raoul makes full use of the subtleties offered by electronics and the deft touch of his fingers, creating startling textures that imitate everything from birds, opera singers or flutes to heavy industrial machines, string orchestras or butterfly wings. Constantly discovering new sonorities on his guitar, he has created a uniquely personal language which speaks to audiences all over the world through his concerts and recordings. Also featured will be Ivo Perelman (saxophone) - Dominic Duval (double-bass) Duo. Produced by ArsNova Workshop.

• December 2007:
  FAYETTEVILLE SONIC ARTS FESTIVAL
  
  
  FAYETTEVILLE SONIC ARTS FESTIVAL, organized and hosted by The University of Arkansas Department of Music and the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, is a 3-day music festival on December 7-9. Billed as "A Weekend of Free Improvisation and Experimental Music," the free event will feature musicians from Chicago, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Fayetteville. Guest musicians will include 3 Pups Music from Nashville, who are John "Pantha" Hughes and Brad "Newbie Brad" Smith. Guest musicians from Philadelphia include Jon Barrios on bass, Toshi Makihara on percussion, and Jack Wright on saxophone. Guest musicians from Chicago are Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Keefe Jackson on saxophone. Also featured is Galactic Gutbucket, a local band featuring Gerald Sloan on trombone, Garrett Jones on bass/piano, and Drew Packard on bass/guitar/miscellaneous. Press Release

• November 2007:
  Three Performances in Tokyo
  
  During this visit to Japan, I performed 3 times in the Tokyo area. The concert featured the familer collaborators Maki Hachiya (voice) and Ken'ichi Matsumoto, as well as the first meeting with percussionists , Osamu Nomura and Takashi Itani. Some of the performances can be seen on YouTube: Here's the Link.

• October 2007:
  Boram-Makihara Duo (BoraMaki)
  
  
  Tom Boram - Toshi Makihara Duo. The return of Improv Sonic Visual Extravaghanza!

• September 2007 - August 2008:
  Collaboration with Merian Soto
  
  
  New collaboration with the Philadelphia based choreographer, Merian Soto in 2 projects: Wissahickon Park Project and "States of Gravity & Light #2" to be presented at Philadelphia LiveArts Festival. States of Gravity & Light #2 strikes a delicate balance between gravity and weightlessness, motion and stillness, thriving on the energy of nature. Bessie Award-winning choreographer Merian Soto developed her intriguing series of Dances with Branches as an improvisational movement practice, using the natural environment of Wissahickon Valley Park as inspiration. Dancers Noemi Segarra and Jumatatu Poe gracefully capture the organic rhythms of Sotofs vision. The piece is performed within a videoscape of the park, shot in a hand held style that emphasizes the relationship between the gaze and the movement of the body. Wissahickon Park Project is a year-long outdoor site-specific project comprised of 16 performances throughout four seasons in beautiful Wissahickon Park.
  Wissahickon Project Homepage
  Review on Chestnut Hill Local Newspaper

• June 2007:
  GATE: Leah Stein Dance Company
  
  
  
  Fri, Sat, Sun 6/8,9,10,15,16 & 17 at Eastern State Penitentiary, Fairmount Ave & 21st Street, Philadelphia (215)236-3300, featuring Leah Stein Dance Company with original sound score composed and performed live by Daniel Peterson (woodwinds) and Toshi Makihara (percussion). GATE is an original on site dance project located in several areas in Eastern State Penitentiary. The performance, in the words of Leah Stein, "illuminates, activates, and animates the site as a living and breathing location, full of history, and experience." Sound resonates from a range of locations near and distant. Film is projected onto the textured surfaces of the building. The dancers appear and disappear, integrate into the architecture, and take cues from the physical surroundings.
  "GATE" Information Page
  Preview by Deni Kasrel (Philadelphia City Paper)
  Review by Lisa Kraus (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• April 2007:
  Peterson-Barber-Makihara
  Wednesday April 11th at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street Philadelphia (Free Concert). This is a new Jazz trio which is not bound by any particular musical styles. Daniel Peterson is a multi-instrumentalist performer on most woodwinds, including saxello, saxophones and clarinets. He is well known in Philadelphia, because of his involvement with groups led by Odean Pope, Bobby Zankel and the Puzzlebox Experiment. Mike Barber has been studying music for over 25 years. A Canadian currently living in West Philadelphia, Barber describes himself as a free-jazz bassist who seeks to merge Zen meditation with his playing: "Zen practice and music practice are the same. Playing is meditation, meditation is playing." The concert also features Calvin Weston's Big Tree and Grass Hair Duo

• February 2007:
  Nels Cline - Toshi Makihara Duo:
  On Friday February 9th at Avant Gentlemen's Lodge, 4028 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, Nels Cline and I will be performing a duo concert. I toured Pacific Northwest with Nels back in 2001, and this will be the first meeting in more than 5 years. The concert will be produced by ArsNova Workshop, and I will be playing a full drum-kit for this one.