Born in Manzanar, California and raised in Southwest Los Angeles, George Abe began his musical training in Los Angeles city schools on the clarinet, oboe and saxophone. Upon graduating from college, he developed what has become a lifelong interest in Japanese bamboo flutes, especially the shakuhachi and the shinobue. 

He is a founding member of the Kinnara Taiko Group, one of the first taiko (Japanese drum) groups to form here in the United States. As a member of Japanese Festival Sounds he has performed on the taiko and bamboo flutes at schools throughout California (on the rosters of Los Angeles County Music Center On Tour and From the Center, Orange County). 

He has conducted lecture performances at the Smithsonian Institution, the Japanese American National Museum and at various universities including UCLA, Cal State Northridge (CSUN) and Pepperdine University.  He now makes many of the instruments he uses in performance.