PERCUSSIONIST  |  IMPROVISOR  |  HUMAN BEING

Takaaki (aka, 'Taki') Masuko

An unconventional and versatile drummer, Masuko remains best known as the source of the "astonishing centrifugal force” and “breathtakingly complex rhythms” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) that made Ithaca, NY’s The Horse Flies an internationally beloved cult band. His forty+ year career encompasses solo work, recordings, live performances, and collaborations with artists ranging from David Byrne and Les Miserable Brass Band to Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura, Richie StearnsSabana BlancaTapestrythe Zamir Chorale of Boston, and Telltale Crossing, among many others.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Psst: Taki's about to launch another record, the debut recording by his free improv trio with violinist Johannes Ammon and bassist/cellist Andrew Blickenderfer, SABANA BLANCA.

6th Sense Living Room, the new release by percussionist Takaaki ‘Taki’ Masuko’s free improv trio, Sabana Blanca, will delight fans of spontaneous composition, chamber music, and world folk music alike. 6th Sense’s five acoustic sound paintings capture why this trio—completed by violinist Johannes Ammon and bassist/cellist Andrew Blickenderfer—flourished on the avant-garde fringes of Boston’s contemporary classical music scene during the late 1990s. Using a palette of percussion, strings, off-the-cuff vocalizations, and unrestrained imagination, Masuko, Ammon, and Blickenderfer blend post-modern orchestral colors with the sounds of our most primal human impulses to render an instinctively motivic conversation that will surprise listeners with its intentionality and playfulness.

Stay tuned for links and details!