Ghosts & Girls: Chikamatsu's unstaged masterpiece The Legend of the Morning Glory comes alive with the haunting eloquence of master teller Brenda Wong Aoki, the dynamic women drummers of Maze Daiko, the mystic melodies of Stephen Schultz, and the dance explorations by KK Aoki Izu, woven together under the musical direction of Mark Izu.

The Legend of the Morning Glory
Ghosts and Girls is a haunting love tale about a powerful samurai's daughter who falls in love with a boy from a poor family. Despite her father's attempts to have her marry one of his rich suitors, the girl is forever determined to marry the poor boy whose love poem about the morning glory blows into her boat. Needing to escape, she runs away to a world outside her father's castle and becomes the Morning Glory, an itinerant storyteller famed for her tale of lost love.

Brenda Wong Aoki has established a new genre as a contemporary storyteller. A writer, performer, and recording artist of Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Scots descent, her stories blend myth, streetlore, and real life. These dramatic presentations synthesize Kyogen & Noh (Japanese traditional theater), modern dance, and live jazz. Brenda has been the recipient of the ASCAP award, Wattis artists in residence at Yerba Buena, Rockerfeller Foundation multiarts award, and NEA theater fellowships.

MARK IZU's compositions are characterized by his seamless integration of jazz with other music traditions, his mastery of cross-cultural instrumentation, and his ability to compose in many musical disciplines. As the Artistic Director of the Asian American Jazz Festival for 18 years, Izu has gained national and international attention for developing a new musical genre --Asian American Jazz-- and has performed with jazz artists such as James Newton, Steve Lacy, Zakir Hussain, George Lewis, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Brown, Jon Jang, and Jin Hi Kim. Izu plays acoustic bass as well as several traditional Asian instruments such as the sheng (Chinese multi-reed instrument) and sho (Japanese multi-reed instrument).

KAI KANE AOKI IZU, aka KK

KK is a graduate of Nihonmachi Little Friends and currently attends 5th grade at Marin Country Day School were he sings in the chorus. He has known Mark Izu and Brenda Aoki all his life and loves to eat eggs. He made his professional 2002 debut in Hong Kong and San Francisco. KK is proud to be studying taiko with Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka and the San Francisco Taiko Dojo.Carmel Bach Festival.

Maze Daiko creates intricate rhythms that fill the stage with energetic choreography and vibrant sound. Mazeru is the Japanese word for "mix" and taiko (daiko) is the Japanese word for "drum". Maze Daiko creates an exciting mix of instrumentation and rhythms with the physical elegance and powerful sounds of taiko. Ensemble members include: Janet Koike, Kathryn Cabunoc, Carolyn West, Cristine Sato and Bean (aka Tina Blaine - also featured on djembe, dumbek and marimba), plus special guest artist, Elaine Fong, Director of Odaiko New England. Read about Mase Daiko in Alameda Magazine!