Kalani Das, also known simply as Kalani (birth name Michael Bruno), is an American classically trained

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, author, and educator. He has recorded percussion with numerous artists including

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis (; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthand that he developed as a child, blending jazz, clas ...

and

Suzanne Ciani Suzanne Ciani (; born June 4, 1946) is an American musician, sound designer, composer, and record label executive who found early success in the 1970s, with her electronic music and sound effects for films and television commercials. Her career h ...

, and has won several awards, including #1 Rock/Pop Percussionist through ''DRUM! Magazine''.Black, Dave. 1993
Michael "Kalani" Bruno: on the Road with Yanni
Modern Drummer. December 1993, pp 96-97. He has published several instructional books and DVDs, teaching a variety of percussion instruments, including hand drums and small percussion.

History

Kalani Das received two

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degrees from

California State University Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

, one in percussion performance (1986) and another in Music Therapy (2010). He has received seven awards from ''DRUM! Magazine'' for his work as a performing artist, author, percussion clinician, and group drumming leader. He has toured and/or recorded with such artists as

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina (musician), Jim Mess ...

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop music, pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My ...

John Mayall John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...

, Chante Moore,

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

, and

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

, and

Benise Roni Benise, is an American guitarist who describes his style as "Spanish guitar" or "nouveau flamenco." After growing up on a small farm near Ravenna, Nebraska, Benise moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue rock stardom. After hearing f ...

. Kalani has completed five major concert tours with

including the " Reflections of Passion", " Revolution in Sound", " Dare to Dream", " Yanni Live, The Symphony Concerts 1993 and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

" concert tours and is the featured percussionist on the multi-platinum concert film ''

Live at the Acropolis ''Live at the Acropolis'' is the first live album and concert film by the Greek keyboardist, composer, and producer Yanni, released on March 1, 1994, on Private Music. It was recorded at the Herodes Atticus Theatre in Athens, Greece during his ...

''. He has performed on numerous other live recordings including ''Suzanne Ciani and The Wave'', and Benise's ''Nights of Fire''. Kalani is also featured on recordings for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, Tri-Star Pictures,

Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio i ...

, The Nature Company, and

Jim Henson Records Jim Henson Records was an American record company established in 1992 by The Jim Henson Company in an agreement with Bertelsmann Music Group. Robert Kraft was selected to run the label. The first album released by Jim Henson Records was the soundtr ...

. Kalani has authored several books for

Alfred Publishing Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, two of which, ''Together in Rhythm'' and ''The Amazing Jamnasium'', have been honored with peer-reviewed iParenting Awards. He has also released instructional DVDs to include methods for

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

, and

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

Discography

*''Pangea'' *''Insights'' *''Murumba'' *"Rhythm Spirit"

Videography

*''Kalani's Ultimate Djembe Jam'' *''Kalani's Ultimate Conga Jam'' *''Kalani's Ultimate Bongo Jam''

Bibliography

*Das, K. 2011. The Way of Music: Creating Sounds Connections in Music Therapy. Sarsen Publishing. . *Kalani. 2002. All About Jembe. Alfred Music. . *Kalani. 2003. All About Bongos. Alfred Music. . *Kalani. 2003. All About Congas. Alfred Music. . *Kalani. 2004. Together in Rhythm: A Facilitator's Guide to Drum Circle Music. Alfred Music. . *Kalani. 2004. The Amazing Jamnasium. Alfred Music. . *Kalani and Camera R. 2007. West African Drum & Dance: A Yankadi-Macrou Celebration- Teacher's Guide. Alfred Music. . *Kalani. 2008. All About Hand Percussion. Alfred Music. . *Kalani. 2009. Recorders in Rhythm ~ Caribbean!: A Spicy Blend for the Latin Percussion Ensemble. Alfred Music. .

References

* * * *

External links

Kalani Das Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalani American male drummers American percussionists California State University, Northridge alumni Music therapists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American music educators