Keisuke Kishi is a drummer and composer currently based in Hawaii and New York City. He was born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1988 and began learning drums at the age of 7. Keisuke discovered jazz at the age of 20 and participated in various jam sessions, influenced by Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, and Art Blakey. In 2009, he began his professional career in Osaka, Japan, where he organized a jazz fusion band from 2012 to 2017. The band toured Japan, performing at venues like Billboard Osaka and Tower Records Japan, and participated in the Takatsuki Jazz Festival each year.

 

Keisuke’s performances have taken him around the world. In 2016, he learned traditional Gogo Zawose music from Julius Zawose, son of the legendary Gogo musician Hukwe Zawose, and performed with Zawose’s original instruments, Ngoma drums, and Ilimba, in Tanzania, Africa. He also performed his own live shows in Indonesia, Thailand, and beyond.

 

Since 2017, Keisuke has been working with Pearl Musical Instrument Co. as a director, organizer, and composer. Currently, he performs with pianist Jun Sugiura as the duo band “drizzle” and creates music as a composer in the USA, spanning genres such as jazz, electro, and alternative. He has collaborated with legendary musicians such as Gerry Eastman, Carlton Holmes, Roy Campbell, Baba Andrew Lamb, Hilliard Greene, and Takaaki Otomo. Additionally, he organizes his own live shows and teaches drumming to students.

 

In March 2021, Keisuke released his first album, “Elsewhere,” recorded in New York with musicians Ben Paterson, Rod Williams, Nori Naraoka, Jun Sugiura, Msafiri Zawose, Masaharu Shimizu, Calvin Johnson, and Eishin Nose.

 

His second album, “Midpoint Cafe,” inspired by a road trip through Texas, Arizona, and Utah, was released on February 15, 2024, featuring Nori Naraoka, Andrew McGowan, Calvin Johnson, and Jun Sugiura.