Our new live album is available at iTunes! If you have the album write a review of it on iTunes or CDBaby. Customer reviews are a great way to spread the word and even if you hate the music, it still makes us feel good that someone actually sat down and listened to it.

peace,

shoji | email

3.2.08

Maz, Kris and Kelvin returned from North Carolina on Sunday. Sounded like the residency was quite a trip. They did three lecture demos a day for a week the topped the whole thing off with a performance at the end of the week. A huge thank you goes out to everybody at the ArtsCenter who made bringing On Ensemble out to North Carolina a possibility.

They also had a chance to connect with Triangle Taiko with a workshop in the middle of the week. It's really amazing how you can go almost anywhere in the country and find a taiko group not too far away. The community keeps growing and growing and it's a great thing to be a part of.

peace,

shoji | email

2.28.08

On Ensemble is in North Carolina! After a week of workshops in the Carrboro area Maz, Kris, Kelvin and our favorite Canadian percussionist Patrick Graham will be performing at the ArtsCenter. The concert is tomorrow Friday the 29th at 7:30pm. Come check us out if you are in the area!

Kelvin's family is actually from North Carolina and I'm a bit bummed I won't be meeting them this trip. Guess I'll have to wait till the next North Carolina trip.

It's been a busy start of the year with two trips out to the East Coast in two months and we're finalizing our next tour up the West Coast in May. I'll post more details soon...

Peace,

shoji | email

2.17.08

We are really excited about our two new releases! The first is our new DVD "Live at the Cerritos Center". It features our sold-out performance with members of the Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble at the Cerritos Center of the Performing Arts in March of 2007.

The second is our first live album "Ukiyo Live", which was recorded over the summer at our annual home concert series. It features our two amazing guest artists, New York based fue specialist Kaoru Watanabe and Montreal based multi-percussionist Patrick Graham.

It really helps to have user reviews of our CDs and DVDs so if you've got either of the new albums be the first to post a review on CDBaby.com!

Peace,

shoji | email

2.16.08

We just finished a great residency with Stanford Taiko that culminated in a concert performance. The performance went very well and we ended the concert by performing a piece that Kris had written for Stanford Taiko with members of ST. We had a great audience and as always we have many people to thank. A big thank you goes out to the Stanford Department of Music, the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts, Steve Sano and Linda Uyechi for providing the funding and for making this residency possible. Thank yous go out to Jun Daiko, Talisman A Cappella, Mark Applebaum, John Arima, Jonathan Berger, Mario Champagne, Mark Dalrymple and Sascha Retailleau for all of their support. A huge thank you goes out to Stanford Taiko for being such wonderful hosts and for all their help in promoting the concert. A very very big thank you goes out to our loyal group of friends, fans and family (you know who you are) who come out to support us every time we are in the Bay Area and who even end up helping us pack our equipment and load the van!

Peace,

shoji | email

2.9.08

Upcoming Stanford University Performance

Our next performance will be at Stanford University this coming Friday the 15th. We're looking forward to being back in the Bay Area and sharing the stage with Stanford Taiko. Stanford Taiko is where I met Kris and where I met my wife so I always feel a special connection to the group and the University. Tickets are available at: 650 725-2787. Hopefully we'll see some of you there!

Peace,

shoji | email

2.9.08

On Ensemble has been off to a very busy start this year. Kris and Mas drove cross country to showcase at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference in New York. Along the way they taught twelve workshops for taiko groups from Los Vegas to Toronto. They also had a performance at the Loft in Brattenboro with Kelvin and Patrick. Maz kept a blog of their travels on our MySpace page, you can check it out here.

Also just a quick note about an upcoming taiko performance happening at the Japan America Theater here in Los Angeles. We haven't seen him perform before, but Shuichi Hidano, a taiko soloist from Japan, will be performing with a number of other musicians on Feb 16 at 8pm. More information at http://jaccc.org/hidanosupertaiko.htm.

Peace,

shoji | email

2.8.08

Hi all. This year has been off to a very unreal start. As some of you know Emi and I have been dealing with the loss of our baby Sophie Maiyu Kameda who died in utero on January 1st of this year. It's been a hard month for us but we've been extremely grateful of the support and love we've received from our friends and family. We'd like to thank all of you who have reached out to us. Your thoughts and words of support have meant a lot. Thank you.

Peace,

shoji | email