Kodo or other Taiko suggestions on redbk cd?

Thanks for the replies.

I used to hear Soh Daiko at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens' CB Festival every spring when I lived in NYC. We would sit on the grass, take in the performance, and it would literally be snowing cherry blossoms. They'd be such a natural to perform at a High End Show....

Philly's Kimmel Center had Soh Daiko's sister, NJ group perform in a courtyard during their opening celebration. It was the best thing they had during the whole week. Incidentally, they have to be the most inter-racial, inter-generational Taiko group anywhere. One soloist was about 11; maybe not Kodo, but highly enjoyable.

Try Kodo "Tataku", this cd has a variety of drum tracks with other instruments (like shakuhachi). Recording quality varies from cut to cut, but overall very good. Best listened to on a full range system.

I own three Kodo releases, Sai-So, Ibuki and a Sheffield recording from 1985 entitled Heartbeat Drummers of Japan. Sai-So and Ibuki were both released in the late '90's and contain songs that show their influence and collaboration with international artists. Very interesting and fun compositions, but I much prefer their earlier work which is much more at the root of traditional Japanese music. Maybe I'm biased by my Japanese heritage, but songs like O-Daiko just do something for my spirit.

A friend of mine received training from Ondekoza whose members were once affiliated with Kodo many years ago and is part of a troup based in Los Angeles called Zendeko. They haven't recorded anything, but give many performances throughout the year.