Makoto Kuriya & Koichi Osamu & Hiroyuki Noritake
Biography Makoto Kuriya & Koichi Osamu & Hiroyuki Noritake
Makoto Kuriya
studied and taught music with his mentor, American professor and music historian Nathan Davis, at the University of Pittsburgh. “He taught me how to play, how to listen, how to swing. I owe him a lot,” the musician said. Makoto praised Davis for launching an outreach music program that included tours in many countries, including Ghana, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan.
Makoto is one of a few Japanese artists who are trying to put their own cultural imprint on the music. He is now devoting his efforts to authenticating Japanese jazz, maintaining a distinctive cultural identity and bringing a Western-free localized Japanese jazz music from Nippon, the Land of the Rising Sun, to the world.
During the past 10 years, Makoto has performed in many countries, especially in Europe, but he noticed that people wonder how a Japanese man came to play American jazz. He says he didn’t want to people to see him as copying his American influences.
Koichi Osamu
Japanese double bass player and leader. He received piano lessons from the age of three, took up guitar at age 13 and electric bass guitar the following year, and changed to double bass when he was 19. Later he performed with Sadao Watanabe, Motohiko Hino, the pianist and keyboard player Makoto Kuriya, and the guitarist Toshiki Nunokawa, with whom he recorded the album ...
Hiroyuki Noritake
began his professional career in 1985 by joining the renowned Japanese fusion group "The Square". They won the Japan Gold Disc Award ten times. In 1999, he released his first solo album "Dreams Can Go". which displayed his ability as a composer. Since leaveing "The Square" in 2000 he has performed with different artists in a variety of genres including J-Pop, and he gave highly acclaimed performances with several orchestras such as the Orchestre Lamourex. In 2004, fe formed the twin drum group "Synchronized DNA" with Akira Jimbo. In Unit Asia, Noritake displays his versatile and well-honed performance ability, and his groovy drumming breathes life into this group.
