photo by June Yun

Kanoa Mendenhall is a New York City-based acoustic and electric bassist.Kanoa was born in Japan, but spent most of her youth on the Monterey Peninsula in California. She grew up surrounded by music - her father is a jazz musician and educator, and her mother is a piano teacher. At age 10, she started taking classical cello lessons, but gravitated towards the bass at age 12. Kanoa began her professional career at age 13, performing in Monterey and the San Francisco Bay Area with esteemed local musicians such as Bruce Forman, Vince Lateano, and Dick Whittington. During high school, she studied with the great Bay Area bassist John Shifflett.After completing high school, Kanoa moved to New York City to begin her studies at Columbia University and the Juilliard School. She studied bass with Ben Wolfe and participated in studio classes taught by Ron Carter at Juilliard for two years. While Kanoa was a student at Columbia, she was an early morning jazz radio programmer on WKCR-FM, a non-commercial radio station providing high quality programming in the New York area and streaming online worldwide. She graduated from Columbia in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures.Since graduating from college in 2019, Kanoa has performed across the U.S., Europe, and Canada as a member of vibraphonist Joel Ross' Good Vibes and with saxophonist/vocalist María Grand's trio. She has performed at North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, SFJAZZ Center, Blue Note NY, Monterey Jazz Festival, and was part of the house band of the 2020 NEA Jazz Masters Ceremony led by Terri Lyne Carrington. In 2019, through The Jazz Gallery's Mentorship Series, Kanoa was given the opportunity to learn from and perform with acclaimed drummer and bandleader Kendrick Scott for two months, and got to perform with musicians such as Dayna Stephens, Aaron Parks, Charles Altura, Marquis Hill, John Ellis, Shai Maestro, and Mike Moreno. She has worked/taught at Jazz Camp West, Stanford Jazz Workshop, and has adjudicated at the Next Generation Jazz Festival.Kanoa enjoys gardening and meeting Shiba Inus.Contact Kanoa

UPCOMING EVENTS:

DATE	TIME	GROUP	VENUE	CITY
DEC 1	10:30PM	DIDA PELLED	CLOSE UP	MANHATTAN
DEC 3	8:30PM	JOEL ROSS GOOD VIBES	SEEDS	BROOKLYN
DEC 5	8PM & 10PM	MILENA CASADO	CLOSE UP	MANHATTAN
DEC 16	7PM	JOSÉ JAMES	THE DAKOTA	MINNEAPOLIS
DEC 17	7PM	JOSÉ JAMES	THE DAKOTA	MINNEAPOLIS
DEC 18	7:30PM & 9:30PM	JOSÉ JAMES	REGATTABAR	CAMBRIDGE
DEC 19	6PM	JOSÉ JAMES	KEYSTONE KORNER	BALTIMORE
DEC 20	6PM	JOSÉ JAMES	KEYSTONE KORNER	BALTIMORE
DEC 21	5PM & 7:30PM	JOSÉ JAMES	KEYSTONE KORNER	BALTIMORE
DEC 23	7:30PM	JOSÉ JAMES	JAZZ AND BLUES MARKET	NEW ORLEANS
JAN 10	7:45PM	WINTER JAZZ FEST: ALDEN HELLMUTH	ISOLA	BROOKLYN
JAN 10	10PM	WINTER JAZZ FEST: JOEL ROSS GOOD VIBES	SUPERIOR INGREDIENTS	BROOKLYN
JAN 12	8PM	KALIA VANDEVER	SIGNATURE THEATER	MANHATTAN
JAN 20	-	MILENA CASADO	UNTERFAHRT	MUNICH, DE
JAN 21	-	MILENA CASADO	PARADOX	TILBURG, NL
JAN 22	-	MILENA CASADO	BRUSSELS JAZZ FESTIVAL	BRUSSELS, BE
JAN 23	-	MILENA CASADO	DE DOELEN	ROTTERDAM, NL
JAN 24	-	MILENA CASADO	JASSMINE	WARSAW, PL
JAN 25	-	MILENA CASADO	BLUE NOTE	POZNAN, PL
JAN 27	-	MILENA CASADO	SUNSET SUNSIDE	PARIS, FR
JAN 28	-	MILENA CASADO	SUNSET SUNSIDE	PARIS, FR
JAN 31	6-9PM	HARLEM OF THE WEST	HEALDSBURG WINTERFEST	HEALDSBURG
FEB 1	-	JOEL ROSS GOOD VIBES	HEALDSBURG WINTERFEST	HEALDSBURG
FEB 2	-	JOEL ROSS GOOD VIBES	KUUMBWA JAZZ CENTER	SANTA CRUZ
FEB 3	-	JOEL ROSS GOOD VIBES	LIBRETTO	PASO ROBLES
FEB 5	-	JOEL ROSS GOOD VIBES	THE CONRAD PREBYS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER	LA JOLLA
FEB 10 - 15	8PM & 10PM	JOEL ROSS GOOD VIBES	VILLAGE VANGUARD	MANHATTAN