Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rodrigo Villanueva was born in Mexico City, Mexico on March 26, 1967 and began playing drums at age of 15, studying privately and taking classical percussion and jazz studies at Escuela Superior de Musica, Ollin Yolitztly and Escuela Nacional de Musica. In 1987, he joined the jazz group Atri 5 recording Ice Cream Concerto and Flavors of the Stars, touring Mexico and playing in several international new music festivals.
Over the course of his career Rodrigo has performed in several theater bands, television shows and studio sessions; and in the jazz/classical genre with Carlos Prieto, Roberto Limón, Marisa Canales, Ana Maria Tradatti and Takagoshi Yoshioka to name a few. He has been a member of the Contemporary Jazz Trio, Brass Explosion, Fénix and Jazztlán; and has co-led the group Espiral.
Villanueva has toured the U.S., Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia with several jazz and pop projects, has won the National Final Nescafe-Yamaha Pop Music Award Band Explosion with the group Corazón Latino, and has composed and arranged in the jazz and pop idioms including big band. He has played with his alma mater’s lab bands at the University of North Texas, performed with Charles McPherson, Eddie Gomez, Clark Terry, Wycliffe Gordon, Stefan Karlsson, Jimmy Owens and Fareed Haque amongst his list of many.
As an educator drummer and percussionist Villanueva has taught drum-set and percussion courses and master classes at different institutions in Mexico, the U.S., Perú, Korea, & Japan. He is currently an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at Northern Illinois University, coaches the NIU Jazz Lab Band and continues to play with several groups.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Masahiko Togashi was born in Tokyo, Japan on March 22, 1940 and began his musical education with the violin at age 6. It was some time later that the young man took up drums. He made his debut as a professional drummer at 14 with his father’s swing band and appeared on his first recording three years later with Sadao Watanabe’s Cozy quartet.
Togashi would go on to form his own quartet, releasing his group’s debut album, We Now Create, in 1969. However, a spinal injury in 1970 left the jazz percussionist permanently paralyzed from the waist down, and he would play the rest of his life seated in a specially designed wheelchair.
His physical disability limited his international travels and festival appearances, but frequently played with visiting musicians most notably saxophonist Steve Lacy who performed and recorded extensively with Togashi during his 12 tours in Japan, in particular Bura-Bura featuring Lacy along with Don Cherry and Dave Holland.
Drummer Masahiko Togashi passed away of heart failure at age 67 in his home in Kanagawa, Japan, on August 22, 2007. Over the course of his career, which spanned more than 50 years, the percussionist strived to broaden the exposure of Japanese jazz and bridge Western music with the traditional sounds of eastern Asia.
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