By DCist Contributor Paul Ghosh-Roy
Northern Virginia heard madness and murder this weekend, as jazz met Japan in Rosslyn. Billy Fox’s Kaidan Suite, as performed by improvising chamber group the Kitsune Ensemble, explored themes of Japanese ghost-story telling, jazz and tonal music, from light to dark, at the Rosslyn Spectrum.
On Saturday night the Kitsune Ensemble took the stage at the Rosslyn Spectrum to debut Kaidan Suite. Composer/director Billy Fox deftly guided the improvising chamber group through the world premiere of his 13 movement composition, receiving a standing ovation at the performance’s conclusion. The seven piece Kitsune Ensemble employed cello, piano, upright bass, clarinet and bass clarinet, flute, vibraphone, and drum kit to perform Kaidan Suite, a piece inspired by Japanese tradition, but whose dominant sounds were those of 20th century modal jazz. Clocking in at just under an hour and a half, the ensemble did not stumble as they moved through Fox’s composition. Alternating between taking his direction through the formal composition, and then taking flight into improvisation when the director stepped off stage, the musicians kept their grasp on the tonal Japanese melodic element, which made its way in and out of the performance as a guiding theme, while simultaneously demonstrating their chops in technique and creativity.
Kaidan Suite derived its theme from the Japanese Edo-era practice of hyakumongatari kaidankai, in which ghost stories were told by candle light. As each story was told, a candle would be extinguished, leaving the audience in darkness at the finale, at which point legend held that a ghost would appear. This tradition was recreated during the Kitsune Ensemble’s performance, and the theatre lights were dimmed as the ensemble finished each movement. By the end of the thirteen movements, each one representing a part of the ghost story, the hall was dark and the only light remaining was that illuminating the musicians’ charts.
Illustration by Dave Wallin from www.kitsuneensemble.org
