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by | Mar 16, 2018 | Hosta

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Takashi Matsunaga (松永貴志, Matsunaga Takashi, born 1986), sometimes known professionally as Takashi, is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer.

Life and career

Matsunaga was born and raised in Kobe.[1] At the age of five he first played a piano and Hammond organ that his father had.[1] His father also took him to jazz clubs.[1] After winning an electric organ competition at the age of ten, Matsunaga took lessons from Tadao Kitano, who also taught Makoto Ozone.[1] Matsunaga played his first concert as a professional when he was 15, appeared on television in 2002, then signed with Toshiba-EMI and released his first album the following year.[1] As an 18-year-old, Matsunaga was promoted by Toshiba-EMI as "the youngest pro jazz pianist in Japan".[1] Storm Zone, his 2004 release and debut album for Blue Note, contained only his original compositions.[2] In 2012, he recorded for the anime Kids on the Slope, which narrates the story of two teenagers playing jazz, one piano the other drums.

Playing style

"Matsunaga has a busy, almost frenetic, bop-based playing style, with dense clusters of notes and a profusion of riffs and melodic ideas."[1]

Composing style

A reviewer for The New York Times commented that Matsunaga composes in "various stylistic idioms, including Latin-tinged numbers [...] gentle ballads [...] and swinging tours de force".[1]

Discography

An asterisk (*) after the year indicates that it is the year of release.

As leader/co-leader

Year recorded Title Label Notes
2003* Takashi Toshiba-EMI Trio
2003* Moko Moko Toshiba-EMI
2003 Storm Zone Blue Note Trio, with Daiki Yasukagawa (bass), Junji Hirose (drums)
2004* Today Somethin' Else
2006* Inorganic Orange Somethin' Else Trio
2008* Love Makes the Earth Float Somethin' Else Trio, with Hiroaki Mizutani and Daiki Yasukagawa (bass; separately), Akira Sotoyama and Junji Hirose (drums; separately)
2013* Good News Somethin' Else

Main source:[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h McClure, Steve (3 March 2004) "A Prodigy of Piano and Japan's Jazz Master". The New York Times.
  2. ^ van Vleck, Philip (28 February 2004) "Takashi". Billboard 116.9. p. 49.
  3. ^ "Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
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