Biography
When I Was a Child
My Home
I started playing the piano when I was in the third grade of elementary
school. My father was a company employee, and my mother was a beautician.
Since there were no musicians in my family, the lessons were taken lightly.
Our home was a beauty salon, so there was always music playing on the radio.
In the rooms of the live-in staff, there were stereos, and they had many
of the latest trendy records.
Piano Lessons
I didn't practice much and was always catching crayfish in the rice fields,
arriving at my lessons with muddy hands, which would cause my teacher to
smile wryly. Back then, my special skill was playing the piano while blowing
a whistle. I only took piano lessons for three years, up until I was in
the sixth grade of elementary school.
When I fell in love with music
The Rock Boy
From around the time I was in junior high school, I started listening to
rock music like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. I desperately wanted
a drum set and begged my parents for one, but they wouldn't buy it for
me. Back then, rock was considered "rebel music." Just before
I got into rock, I had seen a live performance by The Tigers (formerly
known as The Funnies) at the Mino-o Kogen Pool (now the Mino-o Onsen Spa
Garden/ Oedo-Onsen Monogatari) along with my mother and the shop's staff.
They were performing several covers of The Rolling Stones. It's an experience
I'll never forget. At the time, the lead singer, Kenji Sawada, kept repeating,
"We want to do rock in a family-friendly atmosphere," as if declaring,
"We are not rebels." Otherwise, they could never have been accepted
as rock musicians. Forbidden to play "rebel music," I bought
drumsticks and drummed on tin cans and pots instead. Eventually, I was
taught guitar by a home tutor, and I became absorbed in it. Although my
teacher was a classical guitarist, I, influenced by Eric Clapton and Jimi
Hendrix, played mostly rock and Japanese pop music.
Band Activities
When I entered high school, I formed a band. Rock, which had been opposed
in junior high, became popular after The Funnies became The Tigers, dispelling
the image of "rock = delinquency," so my parents didn't oppose
it. We copied songs by bands like The Rolling Stones, performed them, and
played guitar at cultural festivals. These band activities continued until
my first year of college. One day, a friend's sister told me while I was
playing the piano at a bandmate's house, "You are suited for jazz
piano," but I didn't pay attention to it at the time.
Jazz Research Club
In my second year of college, wanting to continue music, I decided to join
the light music club. I thought that if I joined, I could freely play rock
drums and guitar. When I told my intention to a friend who had already
joined the club, he suggested a visit first, but following him turned out
to be a twist of fate. He was indeed a member of the light music club but
was playing the alto saxophone in the jazz division. What I was led to
was not rock, but the jazz division. "We're short on pianists,"
he said, having already spoken to the seniors, and in front of me was a
keyboard. Without fully understanding the situation, I joined the seniors'
session and became the jazz division's pianist. Having known only rock
before that, I had to learn jazz from scratch. Struggling to keep up with
my seniors, I spent every day practicing and attending live houses and
concerts to listen to professional performances. It finally took shape
after about a year, but since I was playing by feeling alone without understanding
the theory, I had become quite arrogant.
When I was going back and forth between Japan and America
Deciding to Study Abroad
Just before graduating from college, my girlfriend, who was an artist and
had won prizes at major art exhibitions, suggested that studying jazz in
an American school might help my talent grow in a positive direction. She
gave me a directory of American music schools. I decided to go to Berklee
College of Music. Without any particular objections from my parents, I
found myself walking through Berklee's gates.
Berklee College of Music (First Term)
When I arrived in Boston, I moved into a dormitory. There, I found many
talented students gathered from all over the world, and my arrogance was
quickly shattered. However, the rational music education at Berklee fascinated
me. Not only the music theory known as the "Berklee System,"
but also the broad educational philosophy had a great impact on me.
In elementary, junior, and high school, I was a poor student and a dropout.
My elementary school report cards always said I was "restless,"
and in second grade, my reluctance to go to school led my teacher to scare
me by saying, "If you keep this up, you'll have to repeat the grade,"
finally getting me to attend school. Even then, I just attended, never
taking notes, never doing homework. Being bad at rote memorization, I had
no interest in studying, where I was forced to memorize things I didn't
understand without knowing why.
But at Berklee, I was taught not just to memorize but to understand the
structure of what I was learning. I was evaluated not for what I had memorized
but for what I had created using it, and suddenly studying became interesting.
I, who had always hated studying, started to face the piano for more than
five hours a day, immersing myself in practice and research. However, since
I had started music late, I needed many times more practice to absorb what
I had learned at Berklee. I took a leave of absence from Berklee before
graduating, went to New York, and while working as a jazz pianist, I devoted
myself to practice.
Activities in New York
In New York, I attended the "Brooklyn Conservatory of Music."
As I was the top student there, I was scouted by the saxophone player and
instructor Charles Haines and joined his band, performing together for
nearly a year. It was during this time that I won the gold prize in the
Baccas Music Contest. The judges told me to stay in New York and continue
playing with Charlie, so I stayed there for a while. But one day, I received
a call from a fellow Berklee student from Japan, Hisao Tanoshiro, inviting
me to his band, so I returned to Japan.
Tokyo Era
Back in Japan, I spent every day practicing and performing with Mr. Tanoshiro's
band. Later, I moved to Tokyo, set up residence in Jiyugaoka, and played
daily at piano bars and live houses in Roppongi and Aoyama. I was sometimes
praised, and sometimes complaints were made. Aside from work, I would go
out to Shibuya, Ginza, or Shinjuku and perform as a street musician with
Mr. Sanshiro (sax). Street musicians are not uncommon now, but back then
in Japan, the idea of playing music on the street was unheard of. We would
go and play after stores had closed their shutters. There was no piano,
so I would sing. I performed almost every day, racing around the bubble-economy-fueled
Tokyo, sometimes playing in two places in one day. I also started taking
students and teaching around this time. Eventually, I collapsed from overwork
and had to return to my family home in Hyogo for rest. After resting enough,
I decided to go to Berklee again.
Graduation from Berklee College of Music and New York
Having mastered what I learned during my first time at Berklee, the second
time I was neither bewildered nor struggled and was able to study with
a scholarship. This was not just because of good grades, but also because
of my activity with Charles Haines (sax) and Fernando Blanco (drums), who
played in the same band in New York. I earned the remaining credits and
graduated from Berklee. In the graduation photo, I'm shaking hands with
George Benson. I then went to New York again. The second time in New York,
my main goal was to collect music materials, so it was somewhat like sightseeing.
SPOONFUL MUSIC
Research Life
When I returned to Japan, I put my activities as a pianist on hold and
embarked on a life of research, analyzing jazz and conducting experiments
using the materials I brought back and those I acquired in Japan. Feeling
that all I needed was to eat and sleep, I returned to my family home in
Inami River Town, Hyogo Prefecture. Nestled in the mountains, rich with
nature, it was a place where I could fully immerse myself in practice.
I was learning theory and performance techniques through recorded tape
exchanges with a teacher named Charlie Banacos in Boston, and that was
my only connection to other people. Being of marriageable age and merely
playing the piano at home, I had to battle not only loneliness but also
societal judgments. I couldn't venture out during the daytime when people
might see me, and walking at night was my only respite. Even so, I wanted
to be able to play the piano, and the piano was all I had, so I continued
to play. After living this way for several years and establishing my own
theories, I decided to take students and teach jazz.
SPOONFUL MUSIC
Initially, I taught piano and vocals at a cultural center in front of Nissei
Chuo Station, then in my room at my family home, before moving on to open
"SPOONFUL MUSIC" in Osaka. Although I had intended to open the
school temporarily to eventually resume my activities as a jazz pianist,
I became enthralled with watching students grow, discovering new theories,
and realizing that music is not solely reliant on theory. I became more
and more unable to quit, which further prevented me from performing live.
But it wasn't just that; I was also captivated by watching my students
flourish. The students, who encountered jazz and freely expressed various
personalities, became my motivation. They truly taught me many things.
As a Performer
I really started to enjoy performing around the end of 2012. At first,
I only played at gigs I was invited to, but I wanted to try a solo live
show. I made an impromptu request to Bar Bonanza, located a 5-minute walk
from my school, and was graciously granted a Christmas Live on December
24th. So, I started performing there every Wednesday night at midnight,
hosting sessions, and playing live with students and alumni. Through my
performing activities, I met many wonderful musicians and reconnected with
many old friends on Facebook. I am now in the phase of materializing the
results of my research so far. I have particularly focused on recording
and was involved in the production of four albums from February 2017 to
February 2018. I intend to keep increasing the pace. Meeting new people
and reconnecting with others, I was reminded once again that music is a
"language." It enables communication, whether separated for years
or meeting someone for the first time. And I realized that I had been teaching
a "language" for dialoguing with others through something other
than words by teaching jazz. I now want to communicate with that "language"
and share it with as many people as possible. To this end, I am currently
distributing beginner-friendly introductory videos on YouTube titled "What
is Jazz?"
