Maze Daiko

In Japanese, the word mazeru means “to mix,” daiko the word for drum. Maze Daiko is a world music ensemble that continues to evolve by mixing Japanese taiko with West African drums and marimba, and European violin, creating an innovative sound. Seiichi Tanaka, the father of North American taiko, has described Maze as pioneers of the art form. Artistic director, Janet Koike trained with San Francisco Taiko Dojo, and was part of San Jose Taiko’s artistic team. The members of Maze Daiko include Kathryn Cabunoc, Tina Blaine (aka bean), Carolyn West, and Elaine Fong have many collective years of experience in taiko or musical groups including Emeryville Taiko, D’CuCKOO and Rhythmix ensemble. This mix of musicians combined with Maze Daiko’s newest member, violinist Jeannie Mckenzie, create original music with a unique cultural style. In 2008, Maze worked with First Voice (Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu) to create “the Legend of Morning Glory” combining kabuki story, jazz, and taiko. Maze was a featured at the 2015 North American Taiko Conference and has collaborated in concert with Kodo Artists, Yoko Fujimoto, Chieko Kojima and Kaoru Watanabe, Ensohza Minyoshu, First Voice (Mark Izu and Brenda Wong Aoki) and On Ensemble. In 2016 Maze created and performed the music for multi-disciplinary site specific art event, Island City Waterways.