A new life began for Nelson Lee when he heard the sound of the shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute. That sound led him to a Japanese master musician in San Francisco, then to Japan, and finally, back to California, where he shares his passion for shakuhachi with local audiences. He has never looked back.

“The first time I heard shakuhachi, I thought it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard,” said Lee. “I knew right then that I wanted to play that instrument.” When he picked up the instrument for himself, Lee fell deeper in love with it. He practiced whenever he could, studied and read about the music, and took lessons with Masayuki Koga-sensei in San Francisco for four years. In 1996, he left his native San Francisco to travel to Japan and pursue an intensive course of study under the well-known master Tadashi Tajima-sensei. Lee rented an inexpensive room in the countryside, from which he traveled for several hours each way to Yokohama, where he took his lessons with Tajima-sensei. When he was not taking lessons he was playing his flute, practicing from early in the morning to late at night every day.

“I love to play this instrument -- there is simply nothing I like better in this world. When I’m playing, I feel intensely alive. I feel that this is what I was meant to be doing,” Lee said. “There’s only one thing I like better than practicing shakuhachi at home by myself, and that’s playing shakuhachi for an audience.”

The shakuhachi is one of the most difficult instruments in the world to learn to play. The Japanese say that when one learns the shakuhachi, “it takes three years to shake your head.” This refers to the difficulty of creating beautiful sounds on the instrument, since most vibrato, pitch control, and other techniques are accomplished with subtle movements of the head that must be executed just right in order to produce the desired effect. In fact, for most people, it takes many months just to make a sound from the shakuhachi, and learning to produce a stable, consistently good sound is a constant struggle for many shakuhachi players.

It is believed that the shakuhachi was derived from a six-hole Gagaku-shakuhachi flute that was imported to Japan from China about fifteen hundred years ago. Over time in Japan, the instrument became the five-holed shakuhachi that is played today.
The shakuhachi is basically a bamboo stalk, cut from underneath the ground, at the root level. The life of a shakuhachi player mirrors the life of the bamboo, polished and hardened over time, but maintaining its essential simplicity.

Nelson Lee is just such a player. Working every day, polishing his pieces, Lee is what the Japanese call kimben. Kimben is a word for which there is no English equivalent, but it translates roughly as integrity and hard work.

“The player makes the music,” says Lee. “You can have all the fancy equipment in the world, but if the player is not present, the audience will know it.“Humility is also an important part of shakuhachi music. The type of music Lee plays, honkyoku, also known in America as "Zen music,” comes from the ancient tradition of the komuso (priests of nothingness), who wandered the countryside of Japan wearing straw hats over their faces. These mendicant monks were well known for playing the shakuhachi as they traveled. The monks regarded the shakuhachi as a spiritual aide rather than a musical instrument and knew that the act of playing the flute soothed their bodies and souls, helping their meditation. The honkyoku repertoire is meant to express the pure-hearted, selfless devotion of these wandering monks, which is why all the honkyoku pieces are anonymous.

In the 18th century, a komuso named Kinko Kurosawa was commissioned by the Ichigetsu-Ji Fuke Temple to travel to the various other temples to collect honkyoku pieces. Kinko spent three years on the road, collecting and revising a group of 36 pieces. These 36 pieces have been preserved and are still being played today.
The honkyoku pieces take their audience to a different place, as each phrase is questioning and haunting, as well as mellow and meditative. The sounds are wild and unstructured, and they include tones and tonguing techniques that are meant to imitate the sounds of nature. Honkyoku pieces are often played at a slow, unhurried pace that sends the listener into a trance.

In honkyoku, silence is as much a part of the music as is sound. This is one difference between honkyoku and Western music. “In Western music, the music is only in the sound, but in honkyoku, the music is both in the notes and between them,” Lee said.

Because shakuhachi music is so dependent on the individual player, each performance is different. The repertoire is not large, so the same pieces tend to be played over and over again, but they vary so much from player to player and from performance to performance that they always seem distinct and fresh. Also, the shakuhachi is made of natural materials, and thus the sound can vary considerably depending on conditions, such as the temperature or humidity of the air. Lee feels that honkyoku, with its solemn character and its haunting, questioning phrases, appeals to listeners who have had difficulties in their lives. “Honkyoku attracts people who have gone through hardship or are searching for something,” he said. “The music brings out the sensitive, spiritual side of people, which is why people who are overcoming challenges in life are particularly attracted to it.”

Although it is ancient music, honkyoku is particularly appropriate for modern Western audiences, according to Lee, because of its soothing, stress-reducing effect. “As you listen to the music, allow it to enter your consciousness gradually, and watch your worries float away like a puff of smoke,” Lee said. “You’ll leave with a renewed feeling of serenity.“Lee comes from a distinguished line of shakuhachi players. His teacher is the well-known player Tadashi Tajima-sensei, who is famous for his mastery of honkyoku and for playing long shakuhachis. Tajima-sensei’s teacher is the famous master Katsuya Yokoyama-sensei. Yokoyama-sensei studied under the idiosyncratic priest Watazumi-sensei, who used very long flutes and who added a lot of breathiness to the resulting sound.

Lee’s playing is a mixture of elements taken from the various players in his lineage. It has some of the gentleness of Tajima-sensei’s sound, but Lee has added a wild, breathy element that is more reminiscent of Yokoyama-sensei’s playing. “The shakuhachi lineage is sacred; it is the result of 500 years of artistry, skill, and hard work,” said Lee. “When I play, I try to remember the past of this instrument and keep up the traditions with respect.”

For more information about Nelson Lee or his music, please contact: Nelson Lee at neljen@sbcglobal.net or call (707) 822-1755.