Interviews

1. Internship on a Native American reservation in Arizona

2. Differences between Kinnara and San Francisco Taiko Dojo

3. Being free of the tradition

4. Collaborating with non-taiko groups

Endo,Kenny

(b.1952) Master drummer, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific

Collaborating with non-taiko groups

I’ve done things a lot with jazz artists. When Bobby McFerrin was here, he had me come up on stage, and we just did an impromptu thing. He started singing, and I was playing drums. Then I started doing vocalizations that we do and then handed him my sticks, and we started playing. And then, we were doing stuff back and forth. So, that was just totally impromptu.

Then stuff with Honolulu Symphony. Taiko and orchestra, a piece written by Takeo Kudo. Actually about the experience of Japanese Americans in World War II in the camps is what the theme was. But it had a more universal theme of people yearning to be free. And that featured me as a soloist. Sam Wong, who’s the musical director here, also has a concurrent position in Hong Kong. So he brought me out there to do that work with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. And just next month, we’re going to do a new piece with the Honolulu Symphony called “Concerto for Taiko and Timpani,” which will feature myself and Stuart Chafetz as the head timpani player from Honolulu Symphony. So, that’s just a few of the things. I do stuff with theatre groups, with dance groups, with other things.

drum taiko

Date: March 11, 2005

Location: Hawai`i, US

Interviewer: Sojin Kim, Arnoldo Hiura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.

Interviewee Bio

Kenny Endo, internationally renowned master drummer and artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific (Oahu, HI), was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. His earliest musical experiences involved playing western drums and percussion in jazz, fusion, and rock and roll bands. After his introduction to kumidaiko in 1975, he studied and performed with Kinnara Taiko of Los Angeles and San Francisco Taiko Dojo.

In 1980, he traveled to Japan, where he spent ten years studying with masters in Sukeroku, Suwa, Gojinjo, and Chichibu drumming styles. He was the first non-Japanese national to ever receive a 'natori' (stage name) in Hogaku Hayashi (Japanese classical drumming). He continues to teach and perform internationally, working with musicians in various genres. (March 11, 2005)