Taku Hirano

Taku Hirano, one of the top percussionists on the touring and recording circuit, has been referred to by Grammy Award-winning rock legend Mick Fleetwood as the "Secret Weapon" for good reason. Trained in Classical percussion as well as traditional Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, West African, Middle Eastern, Japanese, and Indian styles and instruments, his client list is made up of luminaries spanning practically every genre. Taku has toured the world with Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Stevie Nicks, Lionel Richie, Isaac Hayes, Lindsey Buckingham, Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire), Italian popstar Giorgia, and Japanese pop superstar Utada Hikaru. The multiple tours that he has done with these artists have been documented on live albums and concert DVDs. His list of live performance credits also include Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, John Mayer, Usher, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx, Josh Groban, LeAnn Rimes, Patti Labelle, Barry Manilow, Kenny Loggins, Chaka Khan, Brandy, The Neville Brothers, Don Henley, Travis Tritt, Sheila E., Joe Zawinul, Yolanda Adams, Cece Winans, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Cirque du Soleil. Taku has recorded with artists as diverse as Dr. Dre, Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, The Temptations, Nelly Furtado, Stevie Nicks, Jason Mraz, Josh Groban, and Lionel Richie, in addition to working on numerous major motion picture and television scores and soundtracks. He also acted as a consultant to Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails for the "Lights In The Sky- Over North America 2008" tour. As co-founder of the production duo Tao Of Sound, he has worked as a producer and programmer of commercial sound libraries, and remixer for artists such as Hip-hop superstar Kanye West and Grammy Award-winning New Age pioneer Kitaro. Tao Of Sound's debut album, Metro, was released by Domo Records in 2010. Their sophomore album, Ronin- EP, was released in December 2012 EP and, in September 2013, they will release the full-length Ronin album. Taku was most recently on tour as a percussionist and soloist with Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour and also has been performing concerts with John Mayer.