AMP Concerts & Bushido Kenkyukai Taiko present
As part of the Kenny Endo 40th Anniversary Tour
Kenny Endo Contemporary Taiko Trio
Kenny Endo | Kaoru Watanabe | Abe Lagrimas |
Photo credit: Darian WongThis is not a traditional Taiko performance. Kenny Endo will be performing as a trio, with Taiko, melodic instruments and additional percussion. The ensemble takes influences from jazz, funk, Afro-Cuban, Hawaiian and many other sources.
Schedule of events |
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| Reception for Kenny Endo at BK Taiko Dojo | ||
| November 13, 2015 | 7:30 pm | Albuquerque, NM |
| BK Taiko Dojo | 9911 Southern Blvd SE, Unit F | View map |
| Please email to RSVP. Event is free but we would be grateful for any donations. | ||
| Kenny Endo Contemporary Taiko Trio Performance | ||
| November 14, 2015 | 7:30 pm | Santa Fe, NM |
| Scottish Rite Temple | 463 Paseo de Peralta | View map |
| Tickets are $17, $22 and $27 (including all service charges) | ||
| Purchase tickets online. | ||
| Kenny Endo Workshop at BK Taiko Dojo | ||
| November 15, 2015 | 11:00 am | Albuquerque, NM |
| BK Taiko Dojo | 9911 Southern Blvd SE, Unit F | View map |
| Please email for more information and registration form. | ||
| Kenny Endo Contemporary Taiko Trio Performance | ||
| November 15, 2015 | 7:30 pm | Albuquerque, NM |
| South Broadway Cultural Center | 1025 Broadway Blvd SE | View map |
| Tickets are $17, $22 and $27 (including all service charges) | ||
| Tickets can be purchased at South Broadway Cultural Center or online. | ||
For more information: , www.BKWoW.com or AMPconcerts.org.
Photo credit: Darian WongAbout Kenny Endo
KENNY ENDO is one of the leading artists in contemporary percussion and rhythm. He is the vanguard of the taiko genre, continuing to pave new paths in this Japanese style drumming even after thirty-five years as a career taiko player. A performer, composer, and teacher of taiko with numerous awards and accolades, Kenny Endo is a consummate artist, blending Japanese taiko with rhythms influenced from around the world into original melodies and improvisation.
Originally trained as a jazz musician in the Asian American cultural renaissance of 1970s California, Endo began his taiko career first with L.A.’s groundbreaking Kinnara Taiko, and then with the renowned San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the first kumi daiko group outside of Japan. In 1980, he embarked on a decade-long odyssey in his ancestral Japan, studying and performing with the masters of ancient classical drumming, traditional Tokyo festival music, and ensemble drumming. Endo has the honor of being the first non-Japanese national to have received a natori (stage name and masters degree) in hogaku hayashi (classical drumming). In the hogaku world, Endo is known as Mochizuki Tajiro.
In the greater musical world, “Kenny Endo” has become synonymous with “taiko.” He is arguably one of the most versatile musicians in the genre, crossing easily between the classical Japanese style and his own neo-classical, globally-inspired variety. Among his many distinctions are an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, an artist residency at the Lincoln Center Institute in New York, his own “Kenny Endo Day” proclaimed by the Mayor of Honolulu, and certificates of honor from the House and Senate of the State of Hawaii and Honolulu City Council.
Endo has recorded five CDs of original taiko compositions, and was a featured artist on the PBS special “Spirit of Taiko.” He has performed for musicians Michael Jackson and Prince as well as Princess Diana and Prince Charles. He opened for The Who, performed a duet with singer Bobby McFerrin, and is featured on the soundtracks for Kayo Hatta’s film “Picture Bride” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” He also recorded in motion capture suit for James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Endo’s taiko skills have taken him to the Microsoft Global Meeting in Atlanta, the Smithsonian, the National Museum of American History, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Theatre de Champs-Elysee in Paris, the Kabukiza and National Theater in Japan. He has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, and the Tokyo Symphony, traveling across Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, the former Soviet Union, and the Americas in his effort to share taiko with the world.