Alcvin Takegawa Ryuzen Ramos is a professional shakuhachi

Shakuhachi

The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...

 teacher and performer. Born in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Ramos has also lived in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. As of 2001, he resides in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada where he is founder and director of the Shakuhachi Society of British Columbia.

Ramos studied shakuhachi in Japan under several teachers, including Kaoru Kakizakai

Kaoru Kakizakai

Kaoru Kakizakai is an internationally renowned player and teacher of the shakuhachi, a traditional vertical bamboo flute of Japan....

, Teruo Furuya, Atsuya Okuda

Atsuya Okuda

Atsuya Okuda is a Japanese-born master teacher and craftsman of the jinashi shakuhachi, an unrefined bamboo flute. Prior to dedicating his efforts to the bamboo flute, he was a professional jazz trumpet player from approximately 1965 until 1985.Since the death of Watazumi Doso in 1992, some regard...

 and more recently Yoshinobu Taniguchi. He received his shihan

Shihan

- Title of "Master" is a Japanese Honorific Title, Expert License Certification used in Japanese martial arts for Master Level Instructors. The award of the Expert License Certification is if designated by the qualification by virtue of endorsement by the [A] Association of Chief Instructors or [B]...

 (master) title from Katsuya Yokoyama. Ramos received his Dai Shihan (grand master) license from Yoshinobu Taniguchi, taking the new name, "Ryuzen" (Dragon Meditation) making him the first Canadian and one of only a handful of non-Japanese to receive this esteemed honor. He also cites Watazumi Doso

Watazumi Doso

Watazumi Doso Roshi was a master of the end-blown Japanese bamboo flute. He studied Rinzai Zen, attaining the title of roshi...

, teacher of Yokoyama, and his Dokyoku honkyoku

Honkyoku

Honkyoku are the pieces of shakuhachi or hocchiku music played by mendicant Japanese Zen monks called komusō. Komusō played honkyoku for enlightenment and alms as early as the 13th century. Honkyoku is the practice of suizen...

 repertoire as a strong influence.

In addition to teaching and performing, Ramos is a shakuhachi flute craftsman, specializing in the hocchiku

Hocchiku

, sometimes romanized as hocchiku or hochiku, is a Japanese end-blown flute , crafted from root sections of bamboo. After cleaning and sanding, the heavy root end of the bamboo stalk reveals many small circular knots where the roots formerly joined the stalk...

 variety of jinashikan (natural bore flutes, "without ji" or paste).

Ramos also plays biwa

Biwa

The is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto....

 (a Japanese lute

Lute

Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....

 and shinobue

Shinobue

The shinobue is a Japanese transverse flute or fue that has a high-pitched sound. It is found in hayashi and nagauta ensembles, and plays important roles in noh and kabuki theatre music. It is heard in Shinto music such as kagura-den and in traditional Japanese folk songs...

' (a Japanese lside-blown flute.

Discography

• "Japanese Traditional Koto and Shakuhachi Music". Satomi Saeki (koto
  Koto (musical instrument)
  The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
  
  ) & Alcvin Takegawa Ramos (shakuahchi). Oliver Sudden Productions Inc. 2005.
• "Japanese Traditional Flute for Meditation ; Zen Shakuhachi Vol.1 ". Alcvin Takegawa Ramos Oliver Sudden Productions Inc. 2007.
• "Japanese Traditional Flute for Meditation ; Zen Shakuhachi Vol.2". Alcvin Takegawa Ramos. Oliver Sudden Productions Inc. 2008.
• "Ontophony".http://www.songlines.com/ontophonycontent.html Mearingstone, Uzume Taiko, Alcvin Takegawa Ramos, & Duncan Miller. 2006.

External links

• Biography at Bamboo-In
• Biography from 2004 New York Shakuhachi Festival
• Review and interview with Ramos from Georgia Straight, August 11 2005.
• Shakuhachi Society of British Columbia
• http://www.oliversudden.com/cd_japan.html Oliver Sudden Productions