Masahiko Satoh (佐藤 允彦, Satō Masahiko, born 6 October 1941) is a Japanese jazz pianist, composer and arranger.
Masahiko Satoh | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Masahiko Satoh (佐藤允彦, Satoh Masahiko) |
| Born | 6 October 1941 Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, arranger |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Years active | Late 1950s–present |
| Website | www.mmjp.or.jp/m_satoh/English |
Early life
editSatoh was born in Tokyo on 6 October 1941.[1] His mother was Setsu and his father, who owned small businesses, was Yoshiaki Satoh.[2] The house that his family moved into in 1944 contained a piano; Masahiko started playing it at the age of five.[2] He began playing the piano professionally at the age of 17,[2][3] "accompanying singers, magicians and strippers at a cabaret in the Ginza district".[2]
Later life and career
editBy 1959 Satoh was playing in Georgie Kawaguchi's band, together with alto saxophonist Sadao Watanabe and tenor saxophonist Akira Miyazawa.[2] Satoh graduated from Keio University.[4]
At the age of 26, Satoh moved to the United States to study at the Berklee College of Music.[5] He stayed for two years,[3] during which he read about composing and arranging.[2] He earned money working in a food shop and playing the piano in a hotel.[3] In 1968 he wrote the music for, and conducted, a series of pieces that were combined with dance and performed in New York.[6] After returning to Japan, he recorded Palladium, his first album as leader, and appeared on a Helen Merrill album.[4]
In his early career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Satoh played in a free, percussive style.[7] Satoh played at the 1971 Berlin Jazz Festival as part of a trio; he used a then-unusual ring modulator to alter the sound.[8] Also in the early 1970s, he recorded with Attila Zoller, Karl Berger, and Albert Mangelsdorff.[4] He wrote the psychedelic music for the 1973 anime film Belladonna of Sadness.[9]
Satoh has written arrangements for recordings led by, among others, Merrill, Kimiko Itoh, and Nancy Wilson.[4] He also arranged for strings and quartet on Art Farmer's 1983 album Maiden Voyage.[4]
In 1990 Satoh formed a large group, named Rantooga, that combined various forms of folk musics from around the world.[10] In the early 1990s he composed music for a choir of 1,000 Buddhist monks.[11] In the early 1990s he was reported as stating that 70% of his time was spent on arranging and composing, and the rest on playing and recording.[2]
Compositions
editSatoh has composed for film, television and advertisements.[2] For instance, he made the music of Kanashimi no Belladonna, a film in which the sound is very important; all the songs of this movie are performed by his wife, Chinatsu Nakayama.
Some of his compositions are influenced by the space in the works of composer Toru Takemitsu.[12] Satoh has also composed for traditional Japanese instruments, including the shakuhachi and biwa.[13]
Discography
editAn asterisk (*) after the year indicates that it is the year of release.
As leader/co-leader
edit| Year recorded | Title | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969* | Palladium | Express | Trio, with Yasuo Arakawa (bass), Masahiko Togashi (drums) |
| 1970 | Holography | Nippon Columbia | Solo |
| 1970 | Astrorama | Liberty | Co-led with Jean-Luc Ponty. Quintet, with Ponty (keyboards, vocals), Yoshiaki Masuo (guitar), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), Motohiko Hino (drums) |
| 1970 | Kayobi No Onna (火曜日の女) | Toho | with Yoshiko Goto (vocals), Kiyoshi Sugimoto (guitar), Kunimitsu Inaba (bass), Yasuo Arakawa (bass), Akira Ishikawa (drums) |
| 1970 | Piano Deluxe Album | Polydor | Solo |
| 1985 | Amorphism | Epic Sony | Trio, with Eddie Gomez (bass), Steve Gadd (drums) |
| 1985 | As If... | Nippon Columbia | Trio, with Eddie Gomez (bass), Steve Gadd (drums) |
| 1988 | Double Exposure | Epic Sony | Trio, with Eddie Gomez (bass), Steve Gadd (drums) |
| 1990 | Lunar Cruise | Epic Sony | Duo, with Midori Takada (percussion) |
| 1990 | Randooga: Select Live Under The Sky'90 | Epic Sony | Live at the Yomiuriland open theatre East in July 1990. Special guest: Wayne Shorter. |
| 2002–03 | Masahiko Plays Masahiko | Ewe | Solo piano |
| 2005 | Voyages | BAJ | Co-led with Joelle Leandre (bass); in concert |
| 2007 | Nyozegamon | Ohrai | Solo piano |
| 2007 | Rocking Chair | BAJ | Solo piano |
| 2009 | Summer Night | Studio Songs | Solo piano |
| 2010 | Afterimages | BAJ | Duo, with Je Chun Park (percussion) |
| 2011 | Edo Gigaku | BAJ | Trio, with Shinichi Kotoh (bass), Hiroshi Murakami (drums) |
| 2011 | Yatagarasu | Not Two | Co-led with Peter Brötzmann (alto sax, tenor sax, tárogató, clarinet), Takeo Moriyama (drums); in concert |
| 2013 | Spring Snow | PNL | Co-led with Paal Nilssen-Love (drums, percussion); in concert |
| 2013 | Doushin Gigaku | BAJ | Trio, with Shinichi Kotoh (bass), Hiroshi Murakami (drums) |
| 2013 | Serendip | BAJ | Duo, with Pradeep Ratnayake (sitar) |
| 2017 | Miku Hatsune sings Osamu Tezuka and Isao Tomita | Nippon Columbia | A series of arrangements and remixes of Isao Tomita's compositions for Osamu Tezuka's works sung by Miku Hatsune |
As sideman
edit| Year recorded | Leader | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Helen Merrill | S'posin | Storyville |
| 1973 | Anthony Braxton | Four Compositions (1973) | Denon |
| 1985 | Eddie Gómez | Mezgo | Epic |
| 2003 | Joëlle Léandre | Signature | Red Toucan[14] |
| 2011 | Peter Brötzmann | Long Story Short | Trost |
| 2012 | Ken Vandermark and Paal Nilssen-Love | Extended Duos | Audio Graphic |
In popular culture
editA fictionalized version of Masahiko Satoh appears in Izumi Suzuki's short story "Hey, It's a Love Psychedelic!" as the narrator's love interest.
References
edit- ^ "Masahiko Satoh". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Schofield, John (8 October 1991), "Pianist Infuses Jazz with Japanese Spirit", The Wall Street Journal, p. A20.
- ^ a b c Minor 2004, p. 46.
- ^ a b c d e Iwanami, Yozo; Sugiyama, Kazunori "Sato, Masahiko". The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2nd ed.). Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 February 2015. (Subscription required).
- ^ Minor 2004, pp. 45–46.
- ^ "Library Programs Include Art Talks" (12 May 1968), The New York Times, p. 53.
- ^ Minor 2004, p. 49.
- ^ Minor 2004, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Brenner, Robert (4 May 2016) "Movie Review: Belladonna of Sadness". Huffington Post.
- ^ Minor 2004, pp. 49, 51.
- ^ Minor 2004, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Minor 2004, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Minor 2004, p. 54.
- ^ Shoemaker, Bill (April 2003) "Joelle Leandre/Masahiko Satoh/Yuji Takahashi". JazzTimes.
- Bibliography
- Minor, William (2004). Jazz Journeys to Japan: The Heart Within. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11345-3.
- Suzuki, Izumi (2023). Hit Parade of Tears. Verso. ISBN 978-1-83976-849-1.