Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi

About Me

Founder of Violent Femmes Rock Band, 25 years on the road and in the studio all over the world. Concerts in over 35 different countries. 10 studio albums and numerous live and greatest hits packages. 7 years of studying shakuhachi (Japanese Bamboo Flute) in NYC with James Nyoraku Schlefer, culminating in a Jun Shihan teaching license and the professional name "Tairaku". Has recorded 3 CD’s of traditional and modern music for the shakuhachi. Leader of the "Shakuhachi Club" band with branches in NYC, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Tasmania and Reykjavik. Other interests include producing other musicians, playing as sideman or arranger on recordings and touring with various ad hoc groups. Besides Violent Femmes, sometimes member of Zen Circus, Green Mist, G.O.I.N.,Paddy on the Railway.
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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/16/2006
Band Website: brianritchie.com
Band Members: Brian Tairaku Ritchie:Shakuhachi and Iwabue--------Shakuhachi Club Milwaukee: John Sparrow- Percussion. Dave Gelting-Upright Bass-----------Shakuhachi Club NYC: Billy Ficca-Percussion, Dan Nosheny-Tuba, John Kruth-Mandolin, Tony Trischka-Banjo-------------Shakuhachi Club Reykjavik: Matthias M.D. Hemstock-Percussion, Oskar Godjonnson-Straight Tenor sax, Skuli Sverisson-Acoustic Bass Guitar--------------Shakuhachi Club San Francisco: Shig 33-Percussion, Roger Rocha-Bass, Yoon Ki Chai-Violin--------Shakuhachi Club Tasmania: Don Bate-Trombone, Tim Jones-Tuba, Konrad Park-Percussion---------Shakuhachi Club Pisa: QQRU-drums, Tomasso Novi-keyboards..... -- -- -- CDBABY LINK for BRIAN TAIRAKU RITCHIE: Ryoanji --
Influences: Steve Lacy, Watazumi, Victor Brauner, John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Marcel Duchamp, Blind Willie Johnson, Wassily Kandinski, Son House, Television, Don Cherry, The Kinks, Albert Ayler, Velvet Underground, Han Bennink, Derek Bailey, Ornette Coleman, Syd Barrett, Cecil Taylor, John Entwistle, Jin Nyodo,Fernando Pessoa, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Samuel Beckett, Dennis Charles, Charles Baudelaire, Yayoi Kusama, Mitsuhashi Kifu, Ronnie Boykins, Hamid Drake, Irshad Khan, Jimmy Giuffre, Pierre Henry, Phil Ochs, Cesar Franck, Charlie Mingus, Johnny Dodds, Brian Jones, Rashid Ali, Don Ayler, Louise Bourgeois, Hou Chun Ming, Pierre Schaeffer,Henri Michaux, Paul Klee, Josef Beuys, Nick Drake, Joaquim Rodrigo, Sidney Bechet
Sounds Like: Steve Lacy, Jin Nyodo, Watazumi, John Coltrane, Jimmy Giuffre,Violent Femmes
Record Label: Thylacine Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Benefit Concert in Sydney

Hey Sydneyside fans, I'll be playing with "Ebb Tide and the Shorebreakers" which is an impromptu surf band consisting of Rob, Jim and Martin from Midnight Oil plus yours truly. Maybe I'll blow a littl...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:18:00 PST

Explaining the new songs

I just uploaded a few new songs. Some from my CD's. The others are......."Nad Berekom" is a song I recorded with wild Croatian band Miroslav Evacic and Cardas Blues. They sent me an elaborate chart wh...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Sun, 25 May 2008 03:55:00 PST

Hillary Clinton-go bury yourself under a rock.

Normally I don't comment on political stuff but this nutcase has pushed my buttons. Saying that she won't drop out of the race, in case Obama might get assassinated, is the lowest in a long history of...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Sat, 24 May 2008 05:17:00 PST

Violent Femme-The Horse

Horse racing is a big deal in Australia. GEN stables has a filly named "Violent Femme" which will start racing next week. I think I'll bet on her. Probably a safer bet than the music industry!Check he...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Mon, 19 May 2008 03:02:00 PST

Hobart people-newspaper article

Those of you in Tasmania-I'm on the front page of the Mercury today. Inside is a two page editorial about the busking scene by yours truly. For the rest of you, here is the text:To Busk or Not To Busk...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Thu, 15 May 2008 10:27:00 PST

Article about my bamboo bike

A Milwaukee magazine wrote about custom bikes and focused on my bamboo bike. There's even some tangential shakuhachi content. http://www.mkeonline.com/story.asp?id=1403681
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Fri, 09 May 2008 03:54:00 PST

Sir Paul’s divorce-"When I’m 64"

Unfortunate that Paul had to go through all this stress at his advanced age. He did not read the first chapter of the "Bass Players Guide to the Universe" the one about "Do not marry stupid broads". L...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:09:00 PST

End of the Zen Circus tour

Hi, we just finished up with a really nice show in Rome, with a great crowd. I’d like to thank Zen Circus for inviting me again to bella Italia. They are a fine band, good people too. The other ...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:45:00 PST

Where to buy the Zen Circus and Brian Ritchie CD

The album is currently released in Italy. It will be released in other markets gradually in upcoming months. If you just can’t wait (and you can’t!, admit it) it is available in deluxe CD ...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:47:00 PST

Winding up the Italian tour.

Well, here we (Zen Circus and BR) are in Napoli, countdown to the end of a fun and successful Italian tour. 4 more gigs to go. If you are in Southern Italy, check out the ZC myspace and please come to...
Posted by Brian Tairaku Ritchie-Shakuhachi on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:44:00 PST