Kunikazu Tanaka

Kunikazu Tanaka on JodyJazz Mouthpieces

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Kunikazu Tanaka's Biography in English and Japanese

Kunikazu Tanaka is a Japanese saxophonist and a composer born in 1966.
Although he is best-known as a saxophonist from soprano to baritone, he also plays woodwind instruments. Learning saxophone during high school years and all the way to college, he showed a prominent talent in performing the instrument. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he once became a company employee. However, spending a few years as a company man, he re-realised his passion and desire to music and decided to become a full-time musician. Ever since, he has been involving with a wide range of music such as jazz, pops, rock, film music, improvisation and more and has been performing with various musicians from young to big-name besides from solo performance. It has been said of his performance, “Tanaka has his own style of overlooking music which resulted from his perspective trying to pursue his own sound in any genre of music”. Collaborating with various singers who value the importance of melody and composition, and improvising in order to pursue the potential of each instrument, he has been establishing a unique musical world both physically and cerebrally, which can be listened in his recordings. (solo and large instrumentation) Besides from performances at major domestic jazz clubs and concert halls, he has performed at festivals inside and outside the country such as Fuji Rock, Monterey, London and New York. In recent years, he is showing a great interest in Japanese instruments as well as Middle Eastern folk instruments and started to take them into his performance.

田中邦和
学生時代に楽器に親しみ、その後数年のビジネスマン生活を送った後に
フルタイムのミュージシャンとなる。
当初より独学で楽器を修め、あらゆるサックス(そして他の木管楽器)を演奏する。
ジャズ、ポップス、ロック、映画音楽、即興演奏等の
幅広いジャンルに関わり続け、そのすべてにおいて若者からビッグネーム達と共演を重ねる。
自分のサウンドを追求したいという姿勢はすべての現場において、独自のスタイルで
多くを俯瞰すると評されるまでになる。
メロディ、楽曲を大事にする歌手とのコラボレーション、楽器の可能性を追求する即興演奏等、
身体と脳の描く世界を大切に築き上げて来ており、その成果はソロから多種編成にわたる録音作品においても聴く事ができる。
日本国内のメジャーなジャズクラブ、コンサートホールでの演奏以外にも、
フジロック、モンタレー、ロンドン、ニュヨーク他の国内外のフェスティバルにも参加している。
近年は邦楽器、中東の民族楽器の演奏にも興味をもちはじめ演奏を始めている。

 

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