updated Jan. 4, 2012

2012 sees the launch of two new exciting projects among many others: a new trio featuring Aaron Darrell and Devin Drobka, with compositions contributed by each band member. and the rebirth of TEETH with long-time collaborator Dan Drohan as an experimental rock band! also, new sounds on soundcloud... -> http://soundcloud.com/kenjiherbert

updated Sep. 18, 2011

blog is up!

updated Jan. 13, 2010

Kenji is chosen to be part of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute! read more

Guitarist Kenji Herbert is set to leave a dinstict mark on the musical landscape of today. An inaugural member and recent graduate of Berklee College of Music's prestigious Global Jazz Institute, he has been mentored by world renowned artists and leads a busy schedule performing world-wide with a wide array of projects. Born in 1987 to a Japanese mother and an Austrian father, Kenji's beginnings in music were through the violin at the age of 6. Picking up the guitar at 14, and initially being largely self-taught, he has been rapidly evolving since. In 2006, Kenji left his native Japan to study with Wolfgang Muthspiel for two years at the Music Academy in Basel, Switzerland. Upon receiving a scholarship, he continued his studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where his instructors Mick Goodrick and David Tronzo proved to be influential in consolidating his concept and approach to the guitar. In 2010, he was selected as one of 14 students to be part of Berklee's newly established Global Jazz Institute, under the artistic direction of Danilo Perez. The visiting artists at the institute included Danilo Perez, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Ben Street, Terri Lyne Carrington and David Liebman to name a few. Kenji performed with its ensemble at the Panama Jazz Festival, Blue Note New York, Dizzy's Jazz Club at the Lincoln Center, WGBH Boston, Conservatorio de Musica Puerto Rico, Siena Jazz Foundation in Italy and opened for Wayne Shorter at the Berklee Performance Center celebrating the Institute's first anniversary. While still a student, Kenji has also toured Europe, Japan and the U.S. as a leader and sideman with various bands like his quintet with Takeshi Ohbayashi or his Europe based trio "UpDog". He graduated Berklee summa cum laude in May 2011, and is now preparing for his upcoming project featuring his original compositions.

07/13/11 7pm Bond Experiment (Langham Hotel) - Boston, MA with Jesse Scheinin.

07/13/11 9pm Precinct - Boston, MA with Megan Lui.

07/16/11 House Concert - Boston, MA with Jesse Scheinin Band and Adrianne Lenker.

07/20/11 Boston, MA details TBA with Jesse Scheinin Band.

07/23/11 Cafe 939 - Boston, MA with Jesse Scheinin Band.

08/07/11 Jazz On Top - Osaka, Japan Trio with Ryo Shibata & Jun Miyagaw

08/08/11 Born Free - Kobe, Japan Trio with Ryo Shibata & Jun Miyagawa

08/09/11 Star Eyes - Nagoya, Japan Trio with Ryo Shibata & Jun Miyagawa

09/08/11 Berklee Performance Center - Boston, MA with Jörn Bielfeldt

09/08/11 Berklee Performance Center - Boston, MA with TRS

09/16/11 10pm Johnny D's - Cambridge, MA with M.Lui

09/17/11 8pm Dominion - New York, NY with M.Lui

09/21/11 8pm Pianos - New York, NY with Hannah Read

09/22/11 Cafe 939 - Boston, MA with M.Lui

　

10/05/11 8pm Goodbye Blue Monday - Brooklyn, NY with Jake Henry & Devin Drobka

10/13/11 9pm Local 269, New York, NY with Jesse Scheinin Band

10/21/11 7pm CMJ Festival - New York, NY - with M.Lui

　 　

10/30/11 Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY - with Hannah Read / M.Lui

11/25/11 Falcon - Marlboro, NY - with Jesse Scheinin Band

11/26/11 Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY - with Jesse Scheinin Band

12/03/11 Yes Oui Si Art Space - Boston, MA - with Jesse Scheinin Band

12/13/11 5pm - 5th Estate - Brooklyn, NY - with Devin Drobka and Dave Miller

01/07/12 7pm - Caffe Vivaldi - New York, NY - with Lana Cencic

01/25/12 Pianos - New York, NY - with Jesse Scheinin Band

02/16/12 - Yes Oui Si Art Space - Boston, MA - with Aaron Darrell & Devin Drobka

02/21/12 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA - with Hannah Read Band

02/27/12 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY - with Hannah Read Band

04/15/12 - 04/23/12 Japan Tour with UpDog (details TBA)

05/25/12 - Falcon - Marlboro, NY - with Jesse Scheinin Band

Objects in Space by kenjiherbert

for now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltZ-9bZ-2gk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62ofdYae194

"At a gala concert at the Teatro Nacional, the torch was passed in dramatic fashion from the BGJI faculty to its students... Standouts included... Japanese-Austrian guitarist Kenji Herbert, who exuded a relaxed confidence at the head of the first group." April 2010 issue of Downbeat (Perez Masterfully Plays, Organizes Panama Jazz Festival)

Interview conducted for Global Jazz Institute's first anniversary concert-

Review of a concert by "UpDog" (article in German)

Peter Herbert uncle & bassist extraordinaire - www.azizamusic.com

Wolfgang Muthspiel's wonderful label - www.materialrecords.com

Wolfgang Herbert - Dad - www.edv-consult.com/drwolf/

more coming soon

kenjiherbert (at) gmail.com

(1) 617 999 6513