I just found out about this today from a friend's site:
"October 10th, 2005 - It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I mention the passing of Shin Tanagaki of Nara, Japan. "Dynamite" Shin was a world class drummer whom I met in Los Angeles and had the honor of playing with in LA, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Shin was one of the funkiest, hard-hitting drummers I've ever played with. His groove was wide, phat and he knew how to use space like any great drummer should. He had the funk and the soul of an American black player, yet he was born far away in another culture. Music is indeed universal and all those who knew Shin and had the great opportunity to play in front of his beats will miss him deeply. He was 30 years old."
I played with Shin many nights over the years. I still remember his send-off gig when he was leaving LA to go back to Japan. The guy was a kick-arse drummer, who once finished 2nd in the Guitar Center "drum-off". And totally sweet personality. Absolutely no ego. I haven't been able to find out the details of his passing, but I suppose it doesn't really matter.
October has been a rough f*cking month...
