A gifted multi-instrumentalist and practitioner of the Zen Buddhist shakuhachi tradition, Rodrigo Rodriguez emerged in the early 2000s with a sound rooted in classical, new age, and world music. His albums include Across the East (2007), Shakuhachi Meditations (2010), and The Classical Music Legacy of Japan (2018). Born in Argentina and raised in Spain, Rodriguez took to the complex world of classical music at a very young age. He rigidly applied himself to the study of classical guitar until the age of 22, when he discovered traditional Japanese music. Looking to incorporate those sounds into his ever-growing repertoire, Rodriguez traveled to Japan and began studying under the lineages of Katsuya Yokoyama with the Master Kakizakai Kaoru in the International Shakuhachi Kenshu-kan School. He inked a deal with Los Angeles-based record label Gemini Sun in 2006, where he began to carve out a career as one of the more notable purveyors of new age, world, and contemporary music, releasing a string of albums (Beyond the Times, Inner Thoughts, and Music for Zen Meditation [Shakuhachi Japanese Flute]) and performing countless shows in both the West and the East. In 2018 Rodriguez issued the single "Shakuhachi: The Zen Flute (The Distant Call of the Deer)," a collaboration with his teacher Kohachiro Miyata. His eighth full-length effort, The Classical Music Legacy of Japan, appeared later that year. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi