newjerseynewsroom.com

Yamato Drummers, the Japanese troupe of 10 drummers, will bring their highly-charged rhythm to McCarter Theatre (91 University Place, Princeton) on Friday, November 6 at 8pm.

Yamato was founded by Masa Ogawa in 1993 in Nara, "the land of Yamato" which is said to be the birthplace of Japanese culture. Presently based in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture, Yamato travels all over the word with Japan's traditional Wadaiko drums, putting its very souls into the unusual instruments, whose sound stirs the hearts of people everywhere. Its family-friendly performances are infused with the idea that the drumbeat, like the heartbeat, is the very pulse of life.

Yamato travels with several dozen large and small drums, including an O-daiko made from a huge 400-year-old tree). Every performance is a mesmerizing display of the instruments' versatility and instinctive appeal. Yamato has played to more than a million people, giving over 1,000 performances in tours to Asia, South America and Europe. Yamato is making its fifth cross-country tour of the U.S. in the fall of 2009.

The UK's Telegraph newspaper raved, "Phenomenal skill and ferocity somewhere between the seriousness of samurai and the crazed exhibitionism of heavy-metal rock drummers."

Tickets start at $35 with $12 student tickets with valid ID. To charge by phone, call the McCarter Theatre ticket office at (609) 258-2787; visit online at www.mccarter.org; or in person at 91 University Place, Princeton.

— ANDY LAGOMARSINO, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM