Joseph "Pepe" Danza
Bio
I am an Uruguayan born musician presently residing in Israel. Occasionally I have been called by the media “Extreme Multi-Instrumentalist” and the “Embodiment of World Music”.
I started my musical career at the early age of eight studying guitar. By the time I was thirteen I was already playing Pop and Rock music semi professionally. I went on to study at the National Conservatory but the formal studies did not satisfy me and, combined with the fact that Uruguay was in the midst of a civil war at the time, I left my country for what turned out to be more than a decade of a musical and spiritual pilgrimage that covered more than a dozen countries.
I heard the Shakuhachi for the first time in 1978, while living in Washington DC, and was instantly hooked! Soon enough I began studying with Master Player/Ethnomusicologist Karl Signel.
After years of wandering the planet, studying, performing and practicing different traditional music and instruments (Sitar and Bansuri in India, Brazilian Percussion, African Djembe, Guitar in South America and Spain, etc.), as well as Jazz and Rock/Pop music, I finally landed in Japan, where I lived for three years dedicated intensively to the study of Shakuhachi, with Sensei Tanaka Komei, and John Kaizan Neptune. I also deepened my study and practice of Buddhism, started in North America and continued in India, with extended stays in Zen Temples.
After Japan I spent half a year in Bali, a place that I love deeply and have returned to often, studying Gamelan, Suling Flute, and co-creating a deep system of Sound Healing with musicians and sound healers from all over the world. I then traveled to Canada, which I called home for twenty five years.
I’ve had the honor of being nominated in Canada for countless awards as a performer, recording artist, and composer for theater, dance, and documentary films.
I am presently teaching Yoga, Meditation, Percussion and Shakuhachi privately, at Prana Yoga College in Tel Aviv, and internationally.
I live from the deep conviction and experience of the fact that Music is a powerful transformative force, and that Humanity and our dear Planet Earth are ready for a shift to a higher frequency. I believe Music plays a major role in that shift, and I am here to serve that Work, in whatever way, whichever place I am called.