my -- i've been fortunate enough with my experiences, which have all been in the san francisco bay area, to have the ability to go and to listen to a lot of different music and to perform, to go and listen, and i can't say enough what events like this do for young folks for myself who have to negotiate through the pressure of a dual identity. i can remember way back going to the irish arts festival that used to be at ft. mason and in the same day being able to hear kila and angela mcnamera. it was a sonic history lesson in a day. the best thing was, you could talk to any of the people who were there and you could have that history lesson expanded for you. being able to interact with

folks like photographer karen rich, who is sitting in the audience right now, being able to interact with kong on his album, bridge across the blue, these events i really don't think that can be taken lightly. for urban american indians we have powwow which are intertribal events that revolve around a shared repertoire of songs and dances like some of the singing you have heard me do here today. it's a time for people to be able to come together, not for the casinos, not for that part. talk about fighting stereotypes, that's a stereotype for us. yes, we have casinos, but that all of our culture? no. it's not all we are here to be defined by. for most people, especially in urban areas, powwows are places to go to reconnect. powwows are places you go to see people you haven't seen in a long time and to make new

friends, new connections, nothing different than what's going on here, nothing difrplt than what was going on at the old festival at ft. mason. with that, i wanted to play also for you a little bit of cedar flute. if you've heard cedar flute you've heard youngblood and cedar flute has become emblematic of american indian in the singular, american indian culture. i wanted to play it for you to give you an example of what might be considered traditional style because after this i'd lake to bring up two guests and play two arrangements that were created especially for this festival that bring in both the irish american and the urban indian. so this is a cedar flute song

for you. (playing flute) so now that you

have a little bit of powwow and a little bit of cedar flute in your ears, i would like to invite two guests up to perform for you, two arrangements which i made especially for today. first, rita lindall, rita and i are both in the same cohort as the music program at uc berkley and we've been saying for 4 years, we need to play music. so we finally made it happen.

so, rita lindall, and then masuro koga. mas and i have been playing together for a very long time, so much so that we wore the same shirt without having to talk to each other about it. mas is in high demand both as a teacher and as a session side man, having played with everybody from anthony brown's asian american orchestra to wane wallace's newest cd. who haven't you played with lately? yeah, he's played with everybody. you can find mas on a lot of different cd's from the local jazz community. this song we're going to do is an air called the brown-haired girl. when i was recording, when i was fortunate to be able to

record bridge across the blue, i was telling them i got this air, i got it off the chieftan's album, i'm going to do it on the electric base. he looked at me and said, you're nuts. people are going to go crazy but if you can do it, i'll help you. he gave me this book of airs and went, figure it out, figure it out. it never quite jelled on the base but when hillary called today, i started to think more about the cedar flute. i said, i wonder if this particular air can fit? well, here we go. (instrumental music).

>> thank you very much. i guess what i want to say about an arrangement like that is that it's not meant to use

the cedar flute as a bit of exotica, but what the panelists have been speaking about. it's the use of all of it together is a way of trying to address, hopefully not in a way that homogenizing anything, hopefully not in a way that takes anything away from any of the traditions incorporated within it. we all come from jazz backgrounds, which is inherently about mixing in and of itself. but if you let that start to become homogenized, if you let that start to become blank, then i think you begin to suffer from this idea of cultural invisibility. who is who and what is what? i don't want to lose that in the music, just as the way the authors who formerly so eloquently spoke.

that's what i'm trying to do when i put these songs to the. with that, i would like to give you the second arrangement and last song. i was taught pala singing. we tune because we care. i was taught how to sing by a man named dr. barney horner, who is the great grandson of chief john grass from standing rock reservation in south dakota. one of the songs he gave me before he passed on, on indigenous people's day in 1995, was a song that he called the blue horse special. the blue horse special is the song that i have been fortunate enough to be able to play in a lot of different performance contexts. it's a song that was made by a

man named matthew too bold, a very well respected elder whose wife, ellie, just recently passed on. both of them were very well respected for their singing skills. when i thought about doing an arrangement for today, the blue horse special came to mind. i thought i wonder if i can bring a cedar flute into an air, i thought, i wonder if i can take a pala song and turn it into a reel. what i will do is sing you the original pala song, so you can hear that, then we will go into an arrangement that also includes a little something at the end for my grandparents.

(singing)

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>> good afternoon i'd like to begin. thank you and welcome to todays performance of dacugo in english. as most of you know is a comical one man story telling that uses very limited stage

set and instruments and thus it's a japanese tradition performing arts that requires special and traditional and highly trained skills. >> today's story. the hunter. 300 decadesing an in japan there was a man who liked hunting. he told a lie to a bird. or a small light. small harrons make good friends or not. you might find the answer in my story. >> good afternoon. what are you up to these days anything exciting? yes, i have an idea. >> are you going to be the

hunter in >> you told on me you're going to be unicorn hunter. it's a kind of snake kind of hunt er japan. you ever seen them. it was a stupid idea. just the one. the japanese proverb says. my prompt cart. please listen. okay. go ahead. i go to where many harrons come to feed. i walled out to one of him in a loud voice like this.

[yelling] hello mr. onin. what will the herring think? well i wonder what he wants. i understand he wants to capture me. well, what should i do. no. i can get away easy any time but i think silly man. i don't know this him and so just before he catches me. i can escape. this is going to be fun. i need to get closer to him and call word to him.

hello mr. harold will think. i need to get closer and closer to the herring and call to him in this way. hello mr. herring. the herring will think. that is strange, if you want to catch me, why is he getting further away. i don't understand. do you under stand? actually i'm going to be getting closer and closer to the herring and i make my voice smaller and smaller, so the herring will think i'm going away. it's very interesting and what will happen next.

i sneak up just behind the herring and i say, what. what will you say? i can't hear anything. >> that's idea i make my voice smaller until i make no sound at alright. so the herring will think, he's gone. well, no fun today i guess but any way i am safe. and at that moment i capture him. what do you think of my wonderful idea. great. very good. very interesting. i'd like to see you try it. thank you and can you suggest a good place to catch and find

many snow herrings. sure. into the temple. why don't you go there. thank you. i go now. going into the temple, the temple gate is closed for the night and the temple wall is too high for me to climb over. i have to look for away inside, okay. what is he doing but to leaning against the wall. it must have been a gardener that left this. okay. i use this.

i found many snow herrings. they were all sleeping. each of them standing on one skinny leg. so, i will capture them. wait. wait. wait. i know. snow herrings are very expert so take your time to watch them. so, watching them. they're sleeping.