The TAIKOPROJECT: DVD is available NOW!!...
Click here to download the TAIKOPROJECT:(re)generation DVD Order Form
If you can't download it, send an email with your mailing address to bryanyamami@yahoo.com and we'll mail you one!
Click here to check out the 2004 TAIKOPROJECT Promo Video! More preview clips of the DVD coming in mid-January, 2005...
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New videos posted online! Check out Fall, 2004 TAIKOPROJECT collaborations with Leo Chelyapov at the 1st Annual Yiddishkayt Festival (courtesy of Leo Chelyapov and Martha Burr), and with Bao Han in "Paris By Night 75" (courtesy of Thuy Nga).
Happy holidays all and best wishes for a wonderful and safe holiday season. Where are the TAIKOPROJECT folks? Bryan's on the Big Island of Hawaii with family, Shoji's in Mt. Shasta with the family, MIchelle's in Akita, Japan, with her husband Toru, Maz is in Japan with Loreen, Naoko's in San Francisco with Andy & family, Yuta's in L.A. working, and Tiffany & Kelsey are hanging in Seattle with Randy & Nana.
Bryan performs (officially) for the last time today as a guest performer for the "Nisei Widows Club on Thin Ice" at East West Players in Little Tokyo.
Bombu Taiko and Kitsune Taiko end a fantastic 2004 with their 2nd Annual Bonenkai at Higashi Honganji's Social Hall. Otsukaresama deshita everyone for a great year and here's to another one in 2005! Check out photos from the gathering here!
A few new photos from our September performance at UCLA's Royce Hall are posted here! We opened for the Midori Nishizaki Dance Company, who were in town performing their latest work, "Yaobikuni."
Bryan rehearses with the cast of the "Nisei Widows Club on Thin Ice" for their upcoming holiday show at East West Players in Little Tokyo. Check out their fabulous percussion-based, rhythmic cacophony as they open the show next week! You can also check out the show on Sunday, Dec. 12, when Bryan guest performs with them at 7 pm...
If you're up in Seattle, check out our old buddy Byron Au Yong's new work, YIJU: Songs of Dislocation, a multi-media collaboration with local Seattle artists. Or...if you're in LA, check out the On Ensemble's concert tonight...if you got tickets (they've sold out--small theater!)
The Japan Expo has come and gone! Thanks to Yoko Ito for all her hard work to bring us out to the Expo and thank you to everyone who picked up a TAIKOPROJECT DVD at our booth! Photos online here!
Come check out the last TAIKOPROJECT performances of the year this weekend on November 27 & 28 at the Los Angeles Japan Expo, to be held at the L.A. Convention Center. TAIKOPROJECT performances are on Saturday, the 27th, at 1:30 pm and Sunday, the 28th, at 3:00 pm. Stop by our booth to be the first on your block to get the new TAIKOPROJECT DVD...
The last TAIKOPROJECT performances of the year are coming up on November 27 & 28 at the Los Angeles Japan Expo, to be held at the L.A. Convention Center. We will be performing Saturday, the 27th, at 1:30 pm and Sunday, the 28th, at 2:30 pm. Don't miss the TAIKOPROJECT debuts of JoAnn Cho, Courtney Deguchi, and Julia Kato! This will also be the first place you can purchase the TAIKOPROJECT Special Edition DVD!! The perfect gift for....everyone! If you pre-ordered the DVD, you can pick it up at the Japan Expo, or just wait a few more days and we'll mail them out to you right after the Expo. Come on by!!
Bryan returns from a workshop tour to Washington, D.C. to teach "Omiyage" to Nen Daiko. Thank you to Greg, Maya and the Nakamura family, Ruth Vines, and the Nen Daiko family for taking care of everything and being great hosts! We look forward to seeing your performances of "Omiyage" in the very near future!! Also, photos just in from Bombu Taiko and Kitsune Taiko's performances at the Higashi Honganji Centennial Celebration. Check it out....
Bryan works with the cast of the Nisei Widow's Club on a percussion skit for their upcoming performances at the David Henry Hwang Theater. Bryan will be a guest performer for one of the shows, on Sunday, December 12. Check the East West Players website for more info...
Be sure to check out the On Ensemble's upcoming "Works in Progress" show in Santa Monica at the beginning of December. Check out their website for more info...
Bryan returns from a successful trip to Seattle for the Pacific Northwest Regional Taiko Gathering. Check out photos from the trip here! Participants went through an extensive Advanced Omiyage workshop and a new "Doubling Up" two-drum workshop. Most of the Asano goods were sold, and we conducted some great interviews for JANM's "Big Drum" American taiko exhibition, which will open Summer, 2005. In other news, the 2005 North American Taiko Conference is set for July 15 - 17, 2005!! Mark your calendars and see you next summer!!
Six more days until one of the most important voting days in recent U.S. history. Please go out and VOTE!! And...if you're still on the fence (although how is that possible at this point), know that the TAIKOPROJECT is fully behind relieving the current "president" of his duties and moving towards a more positive American future with this tall guy.
Bryan will be heading out to Seattle in a couple of weeks for the Pacific Northwest Regional Taiko Gathering, and then in mid-November to Washington D.C. for additional workshops. In late November, at the Los Angeles Japan Expo, the TAIKOPROJECT DVD will be released, the TAIKOPROJECT will perform throughout both days of the event, and we'll be displaying new Asano Taiko merchandise for sale!
Kudos to Michael Moore for taking on Jay Leno's childish remarks on the Tonight Show yesterday. Congrats to USC for winning its 15th football game in a row. Astonishment and fury to Rupert Murdoch and Fox News for lying to the American public and being little more than a blatantly conservative Republican media outlet. Check out Robert Greenwald's documentary "Outfoxed."
The TAIKOPROJECT performs with klezmer clarinetist Leo Chelyapov in the first known taiko-klezmer collaboration at the YiddishkaytLA festival in Los Angeles! Check out photos here. Thank you to Aaron Paley and CARS for inviting us out to a great festival and for the opportunity to play with Leo! Check out Leo's website here.
Editing and collection of materials for the TAIKOPROJECT DVD continues, but adding all the special features is taking us a little more time than we thought...hence, the new release date for the DVD is now November 27, 2004. Trust us, it'll be worth the wait...and thank you to all of you who have pre-ordered the DVD already!
In the morning, Bryan, Shoji, and Yuta perform at Manual Arts High School in two special school programs, coordinated by teacher John Latsko. Check out photos here. Thanks John, for bringing us out to your school (and thank you, Title One)! In the evening, Bombu Taiko leads off the Asian American Architects & Engineers' 20th Annual Dinner. Check it out here.
Bryan sits in on a video shoot with Johnny Mori for an upcoming episode of the UPN TV show, "Girlfriends" to be aired later this Fall. Come on, you saw that one coming, right? Check out a few photos here.
Bombu Taiko plays another flawless performance at the Annual Dinner for the Asian Rehabilitation Services Dinner at Hollywood Park. Special thanks to our guy Rodney Kageyama for asking us to perform and congratulations to ARS on all their work throughout the years! Check out a few photos here.
Mich, Bryan, Shoji, Byron, and Yuta return from a successful performance over in Pittsburgh--kinda sparse and rural by the airport, but after you go through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, it's quite beautiful--the city amongst all the bridges over the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. Special thanks to Shelly Tolo and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for bringing us out!
Mich, Bryan, Shoji, Byron, and Yuta get ready to head out to Pittsburgh to play at the annual dinner fundraiser for the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh,
produced by Tolo Events at Heinz Field.
The DVD is coming soon.... The first set has been edited, the second set is on its way, the photo slideshows are being compiled, and packaging options are being considered...
Thank you everyone, who came out to see us play at UCLA Royce Hall for the opening of Midori Nishizaki Dance Company's "Yaobikuni." Thank you also to Yoko Ito for all her work to make the show happen, Ms. Nishizaki, the Director of the company, and Mr. Arai, Producer of the tour.
The 2004 TAIKOPROJECT promo video is now online! Kind of a big file, but check it out by clicking here!! Enjoy...
Rehearsals continue for upcoming performances with the Midori Nishizaki Dance Company and the Japan Expo. Bryan will be going out to Seattle for workshops as part of the 2004 Pacific Northwest Regional Taiko Gathering, and a possible East coast workshop tour. Stay tuned for the new Fall, 2004 Promo Video that will be posted in the next few days with preview footage from our forthcoming DVD...
Bryan, Shoji, and Kris attend the
WAA Conference in Spokane, Washington, to book 2005 and 2006 tours for the On Ensemble and the TAIKOPROJECT. Had lots of fun hanging in our booth and talking to a bunch of presenters, and hanging out with members of Quetzal, who showcased at the conference! We also met long-time artist pioneers Gema Sandoval and Lula Washington. Shoji and Bryan also both got mistaken on several different occasions for ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro. Come on folks, we don't really look all alike....seriously. In other news, Bryan and Shoji plan to develop a production company called "I'm Not Jake Productions." Check out photos from the trip here...
Bryan, Shoji, and Kris head out to lovely Spokane, Washington, for the Western Arts Alliance Conference. What's it all about? Basically, to promote both the TAIKOPROJECT and the On Ensemble and to try to book future shows and tours for both groups...the business side of being an artist...fun!!
Bryan conducts taiko workshops with Rev. Masao Kodani in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the 2004 Eastern Buddhist League Conference. Thanks to Todd and Connie Tsuchiya for bringing us out! Bryan also gets the rare chance to hang with Midwest taiko folks Ryan and Jen Toguri from Midwest Buddhist Temple Taiko, Lynn Harada (formerly of ucla kyodo taiko) and now back in Chicago, and East Coasters Greg "Odacious G" and Maya Nakamura.
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