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Taiko (太鼓) are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called wadaiko and to the form of ensemble taiko drumming more specifically called kumi-daiko. The process of constructing taiko varies between manufacturers, and the preparation of both the drum body and skin can take several years depending on the method.
Wajima is a city located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 January 2018, the city had an estimated population of 27,698 in 12768 households, and a population density of 65 persons per km², in 29,304 households. The total area of the city was 426.32 square kilometres (164.60 sq mi).
Ondekoza (鬼太鼓座), sometimes referred to as "Za Ondekoza", is a Japanese troupe specializing in taiko drumming.
Daihachi Oguchi was a Japanese drummer best known for popularizing taiko.
Shoji Kameda is a fourth-generation Japanese American musician and composer, and leading player of North American taiko. He is a founder and member of On Ensemble, a contemporary taiko quartet, and a former member of the jazz fusion group Hiroshima.
Seiichi Tanaka is the first Japan-trained teacher of kumidaiko, or taiko, in the United States and is largely regarded as the father of the art form in North America.
Kenny Endo is an American musician and taiko master. He is the leader of several taiko ensembles and regularly tours, performing traditional and contemporary taiko music. Endo is also the first non-Japanese national to receive a natori in the field of hogaku hayashi, Japanese classical drumming. Today Endo composes his own music and plays taiko professionally as a solo artist, with his ensembles, and in collaboration with other artists.
Patti Jo "PJ" Hirabayashi is one of the pioneers of the North American Taiko movement. She is the founder of TaikoPeace, President of Kodo Arts Sphere America (KASA), and co-founder of Creatives for Compassionate Communities-a grassroots art-ivist group originating in San Jose, California. She is also the Artistic Director Emeritus and charter member of San Jose Taiko, the third taiko group to form in the United States. Her signature composition, "Ei Ja Nai Ka", is a celebration of immigrant life expressed in taiko drumming, dance, and voice that continues to be performed around the world.
Roy Hirabayashi is a leader in North American taiko. He is a composer, performer, teacher and activist. He is co-founder of one of the seminal taiko groups in North America, San Jose Taiko, the group's former Artistic and Executive Director, and active in developing San Jose's Japantown and arts community.
Kelvin Underwood is an American musician specializing in the drum set and taiko, the art of Japanese drumming. After joining the Japanese taiko ensemble Ondekoza at age 19, he returned to the United States four years later to study at Berklee College of Music and pursue a career as a professional drummer. He is a member of the Los Angeles-based contemporary taiko quartet On Ensemble and collaborates with a variety of other artists and performers. Underwood resides in Ashland, Oregon with his son Blaise and daughter Ruby.
Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko Hawaii (琉球國祭り太鼓ハワイ支部) is a chapter of the Okinawan Eisā taiko ensemble Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko. Often called RMD Hawaii for short, the chapter has branches on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii in Kohala and Waimea. The headquarters for the Hawaii chapter is on Oahu.
Stanford Taiko is a collegiate taiko group based at Stanford University. One of the first collegiate taiko groups to form in North America, it was founded in the winter of 1992 by students Ann Ishimaru and Valerie Mih as a way to share taiko with the university community. As the founding organization of the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational, Stanford Taiko has been instrumental in the development of collegiate taiko throughout the United States, as well as the larger North American taiko community through performing at the Taiko Jam of the North American Taiko Conference. Since 2000, the group has been active in the international scene through tours and exchange concerts in countries such as Japan, China, and Thailand.
The Midwest Buddhist Temple Taiko group is a self-taught taiko group based in Chicago, Illinois, at the Midwest Buddhist Temple. The group started in 1977 based upon Buddhistic principals after the model of Kinnara Taiko in Los Angeles. The Midwest Buddhist Temple Taiko group performs for the temple, the Buddhist community, the Japanese American community, other communities, commercial gigs, business conferences, and different ethnic fairs. They do not consider themselves to be primarily a performing group, and they do service projects with the temple such as performing at the Midwest Buddhist Temple Ginza Holiday Festival.
Denver Taiko is the fourth taiko group founded in North America and the first taiko ensemble outside of California, United States. The group has a close partnership with the Tri-State Denver Buddhist Temple and performs throughout Colorado and neighboring states. In 2001, Denver Taiko received the Excellence in the Arts Award from Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. Today, Denver Taiko is an ensemble of third, fourth, and fifth generation Japanese Americans with a shared interest in honoring their Japanese American cultural heritage.
UCLA Kyodo Taiko is a collegiate taiko group specializing in taiko drumming. Founded in 1990, Kyodo is the first collegiate taiko group in the country. Kyodo is a Japanese term that means both "family" and "loud children." Many of Kyodo’s members are not of Japanese descent.
Seattle Kokon Taiko is a North American taiko ensemble based in Seattle, Washington.
San Francisco Taiko Dojo, founded in 1968 by Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka, was the first taiko group in North America, and has been seen as the primary link between the Japanese and North American branches of the art form. Additionally, Tanaka's belief that learning to play taiko only requires a genuine interest in the art form, has greatly contributed to taiko's success and growth outside Japan.
Kinnara Taiko is a Japanese American drumming ensemble based out of Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, USA. They began playing taiko in 1969 when a few third-generation Japanese Americans gathered after an Obon festival and had an impromptu experimental session on an odaiko drum.
Isaku Kageyama is an American musician, composer, producer, and educator, specialized in taiko drums. He is a member of Tokyo-based taiko ensemble called Amanojaku and he currently attends Berklee College of Music. He is famous for his fusion of traditional Japanese music with jazz, rock and club music, whereby he has collaborated with many jazz artists such as Eric Gravatt, Terumasa Hino, Toshinori Kondo, and Kazutoki Umezu, as well as a wide range of ethnic musicians.
Yatai-bayashi is a traditional taiko piece inspired by an annual festival in Chichibu, Japan. The piece been performed by many taiko ensembles, and became well-known through dramatic variations of the piece developed by Ondekoza and Kodo. Yatai-bayashi has been recognized as a piece that requires great physical endurance.
References
- 1 2 Sojin Kim (2005). "All in the Drum: Building Taiko in America". Archived from the original on 2010-06-13.
- ↑ "Taiko Summit Colorado: Featured Artists". 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- ↑ "Home". Musical Instrument Museum.
- ↑ "Philosophy". www.miyoshidaiko.com.
- ↑ "National Endowment for the Arts". Archived from the original on 2008-11-06.