Shoji Kameda is a fourth-generation Japanese American musician and composer, and leading player of North Americantaiko. He is a founder and member of On Ensemble, a contemporary taiko quartet, and a former member of the jazz fusion group Hiroshima.
Kameda started playing taiko when he was 8 years-old. His first teachers were Russell Baba and Jeanne Mercer, former students of Seiichi Tanaka and members of San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Kameda and friend, Masato Baba, were two of the original members of Shasta Taiko, one of North America's earliest children's taiko groups. Both Kameda and Baba were featured in the video documentary, "Shasta Taiko", winner of the 16th annual National Cable ACE Award in cultural affairs. Soon after enrolling at Stanford in the fall of 1994, Kameda joined Stanford Taiko where he was a member from 1994 to 1996 and 1997 to 1999, taking a gap year during the 1996/1997 academic year to study with Kenny Endo in Honolulu, Hawai'i and perform with the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble. Once back at Stanford, he served as artistic director and composer for Stanford Taiko. In 1998, Kameda was a driving force behind the group's ability to present their first concert of all original compositions. Following his graduation from Stanford, Kameda played briefly with San Jose Taiko, then moved to Japan in 2000 for two years to study traditional Japanese music. While there he studied hogaku hayashi with Saburo Mochitsuki, edo bayashi with Kyosuke Suzuki, and played kumidaiko with Nihon Taiko Dojo. While in Japan, Kameda, Masato Baba, and Kris Bergstrom performed in Hakodate on August 2001, planting the seed that was to become on Ensemble, the group currently composed of Kameda, Baba, Bergstrom, and Kelvin Underwood. In 2005, Kameda produced the ensemble's first CD, Dust and Sand which was met with critical acclaim. In 2009, he produced Ume in the Middle, a recording noted for its "boundless imagination" with "truly interesting and innovative" tracks Since 2004 Kameda has toured and recorded with the jazz fusion group Hiroshima. Their latest release, Legacy, was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award. Kameda has been active in a number of other projects as well. In 2008, Kameda appeared with Stevie Wonder at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In 2009, he worked with Khoomei Taiko Ensemble, appearing at the Kennedy Center and at the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle
In 2006 Kameda was selected to participate in the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange at UCLA's Center for Intercultural Performance and appeared in "one of the most perfectly realized group pieces". In 2009 Kameda was again recognized by the Center for Intercultural Performance and chosen to be a U.S. Fellow to Indonesia
Works
God of Love, Stereo Alchemy, 2012
Yamasong, Sam Hale. 2010.
Ume in the Middle, On Ensemble. Turtlefield Music, 2009.
