Jody began collaborating musically with Kimo in 1987. After their marriage in 1990, they formed the gospel-reggae group Kaona. They produced the album "Rhythms of the Earth" in 1992, and performed in Hawaii, Japan, and New Zealand. Their current group "Ranga Pae" combines their love of cultural music with jazz, pop, and other western forms of music. Their first CD Like Rain was produced in 1997. They released their second CD Full Circle in May 2004. |
Jody’s interest in music began at
a young age. She started playing guitar when she was 8 years old and studied pop/rock,
jazz, and classical music. Applying her knowledge of music and theory, she also learned to
play the electric bass, western flute, Japanese koto (13-stringed
zither), and Balinese tingklik (bamboo xylophone).
Jody did her first
performance on classical guitar at the age of 10. When she was 15, she made her club debut
as the lead guitarist for the rock band "The Stepmothers" in Los Angeles.
Throughout high school and college she performed in numerous bands including the all woman
jazz trio "Jasmine" and the contemporary Christian band "Donna Kaye &
Company."
While studying anthropology at UCLA,
Jody saw the Japanese - American jazz band "Hiroshima" in concert which was the
start of a new musical journey. In 1989, she moved to Miyazaki, Japan and studied the koto
with renowned sensei Mutsuko Miyata. While living in Japan, she had the opportunity to
perform with her teacher, and as part of a large ensemble including koto, shamisen, and
shakuhachi. She continued studying the koto with 