KENNY ENDO CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE 40th Anniversary Tour
“Kenny has been inspiring us for four amazing decades. His heartbeat is the pulse that guides us from the past, to the present, and into the future.” San Jose Taiko Kenny Endo brings to the ARATANI audience the mind expanding rhythms and melodies culminating 40 years of study, practice, creativity and teaching. His uncompromised love of Japanese taiko provide the foundation for a musical vision that combines Japanese and Western sounds and rhythms. Internationally respected for his love of collaboration this milestone tour brings a vast array of traditional Japanese drums with the sounds of vibes, drum set, ukulele, classical Japanese flute, and koto. Kenny has invited master artists from Japan and the US for this milestone event. With 40 years of uninterrupted concertizing, composing and teaching, Kenny Endo is recognized as a world leader in the Taiko movement. Born in LA and based in Hawaii, he trained as a jazz musician and played in L.A.’s legendary Kinnara Taiko and the San Francisco Taiko Dojo. While living in Japan he immersed himself studying and performing with the masters of classical Kabuki music, traditional festival music, and ensemble drumming. Endo has the honor of being the first nonJapanese national to have received a natori (stage name & masters degree) in hogaku hayashi (classical drumming). Endo’s professional name in Japan is Mochizuki Tajiro.