indigo jam unit
Formed in Osaka, Japan, in 2005 indigo jam unit consists of Yoshichika Tarue (piano), Katsuhiko Sasai (double bass) Isao Wasano (percussion & drums), and Takehiro Shimizu (drums). indigo jam unit's releases include nine full length CD albums, starting with "DEMONSTRATION" in 2006, all selling more than 10,000 copies each in Japan. Other releases include the 2009 "Vintage Black" collaboration with label mates Flexlife, and from the same year, "re:common from indigo jam unit", the band's remixes of some of hip hop star Common's songs behind his original voice tracks. indigo jam unit is releasing their eleventh and last original album, "Lights", on December 9, 2015. Check out their full discography here.
indigo jam unit's unique sound truly rests on the combination of the four members. Tarue's melodic classical-latin-jazz piano up front intertwined with Sasai's solid and groove driven basslines, all standing on the explosive and versatile rhythm section formed by Shimizu and Wasano. Being devoted live musicians, indigo jam unit records all their work in single takes. No overdubs, no edits, and what you hear on the recording is pretty much what happened in the studio during that particular take.
On November 1, 2015, indigo jam unit announced that they will disband in summer of 2016.
Yoshichika Tarue - Piano
Born 1974. Difficult to believe to most, Tarue had never played the piano or any other musical instrument before the age of 20. This natural piano talent began taking lessons while attending university and soon thereafter started making his own music. While playing a lot of classical piano, he also started his own jazz quartet and made excursions into latin music to widen his musical palette further.
Tarue has released two solo albums through basis records, "Rain Man's Story" in 2010, a ten track piano solo performance and the follow up in 2012, "Rain Man's Story - Tale of Two -", together iwth renowned jazz bassist Tomokazu Sugimoto. He can also be heard on Bottom Rhythm Jam's "Encounter".
Katsuhiko Sasai - Double Bass
Born 1976. Began playing synthesizer at age 14 and picked up the electric bass a year later. Mainly working within the Japanese funk and fusion scenes he ventured into double bass with the start of indigo jam unit. Sasai has supported internationally renowned musicians such as Mike Stern, Eddy Henderson, and Booker T Williams.
He also appears on Kosuke Tsuji's first album on basis records, "Enda Safari - Bottom Rhythm Jam", and flexlife's "Flower".
Isao Wasano - Percussion/Drums
Born 1979. Wasano first got his eyes set on percussion through the high school brass band and later took up drums when joining indigo jam unit. Apart from supporting a range of Japanese artists such as Orange Pekoe and others, he also appears on Percussion Session's "TRI▲GROOVE" and flexlife's "Flower". Wasano is also a recurring live member behind Asafestoon and of the yearly event "A Hundred Birds".
Other basis records releases where Isao Wasano appears are flexlife's "FLOWER" and Percussion Session "TRIGROOVE".
Takehiro Shimizu - Drums
Born 1983. Began his drum career at age 12 with big band drums before devoting himself to jazz. Shimizu has supported and collaborated with Japanese artists like Orange Pekoe, Sadao Watanabe, Terumasa Hino, Hitomi Nakayama, Naoko Sakata, Finnish jazz trumpeter Jukka Eskola among others. A winner of several jazz drummer awards, Shimizu currently divides his drumming time between New York, NY, and indigo jam unit's home base in Osaka, Japan.
Other basis records releases where Shimizu appears on are Percussion Session's "TRI▲GROOVE", Bottom Rhythm Jam's "Encounter" and Kosuke Tsuji's "Enda Safari - Bottom Rhythm Jam".
Piano - Yoshichika Tarue
Double Bass - Katsuhiko Sasai
Drums - Takehiro Shimizu
Drums, Percussion - Isao Wasano Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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