TAIKOPROJECT
About this Artist
TAIKOPROJECT was founded in 2000 in Los Angeles, California by a group of young, emerging taiko drummers led by Bryan Yamami and Masato Baba. They were seeking to create a truly American style of taiko, blending traditional forms in which they were raised, with an innovative and fresh aesthetic approach to the Japanese drum. Over the past 24 years, they have garnered critical acclaim from all over the world and amassed an impressive resume.
TAIKOPROJECT first made waves when they became the first American taiko group to win the prestigious Tokyo International Taiko Contest in 2005, beating out all the Japanese taiko groups in attendance. That same year, they were cast in the Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial, the first and only national ad campaign to prominently feature taiko. They followed that up with performances in some of America's highest profile events, including the 2009 Academy Awards and the 2011 Grammy Awards.
In 2012, TAIKOPROJECT performed for the televised National Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, DC, the Fall X-Factor semi-finals, Syfy's Face/Off, and was honored with the annual Visionary Award from East West Players. In 2013, TAIKOPROJECT was featured in rock band 30 Seconds to Mars' epic "Up in the Air" music video and appeared with the band on Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the iHeartRadio Music Festival. They have also garnered national recognition by receiving major arts grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the MAPFund, the LA Arts Recovery Fund/America’s Cultural Treasures Initiative, and the Japan Foundation.
TAIKOPROJECT has performed and recorded with some of the world's most well-known musical artists, including Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, A.R. Rahman, John Legend, Kanye West, Sean Paul, producer Squeak E. Clean, as well as international stars such as Greek singer Antonis Remos, Persian singer Mansour, and DJ Tiesto. TAIKOPROJECT’s recent activities include collaborations with Chieko Kojima and Ryutaro Kaneko of KODO, Grammy Award-winning Chicano rock band Quetzal, and Kabuki expert David Furumoto. TAIKOPROJECT members and students have recently appeared in trailers for Food Network’s Iron Chef Gauntlet, Nickelodeon’s “This is Me” campaign, the 2018 MTV Music and Movie Awards, and Playing for Change’s 2020 release of “Biko.” In 2021, the ensemble recorded tracks for the Opening Ceremonies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2023, TAIKOPROJECT performed with J-pop group Atarashii Gakkou at the Coachella Music Festival and for Ubisoft Forward’s reveal of the highly-anticipated Assassin’s Creed: Shadows video game.
TAIKOPROJECT is sponsored by the Asano Taiko Co., Ltd. www.asano.jp
For more information, visit TAIKOPROJECT.org