Kazutoki Umezu
Kazutoki "Doctor" Umezu ( Japanese 梅 津 和 時 , Umezu Kazutoki ; born October 17, 1949 in Sendai , Miyagi Prefecture ) is a Japanese musician of creative jazz (clarinets, alto and soprano saxophone, percussion, composition).
Live and act
Umezu learned the clarinet when he was thirteen. He studied at the Kunitachi College of Music. During this time he performed in a duo with the pianist Yoriyuki Harada . In 1974 he moved to New York City , where he explored the loft scene and worked with David Murray , Lester Bowie , Arthur Blythe and Oliver Lake , but also with John Zorn , Barre Phillips and Peter Brötzmann . Back in Japan he played from 1977 with Toshinori Kondō and Masahiko Togashi . He founded his own groups. In particular with his Doctor Umezu Band , which presented a humorous variant of free jazz , he also had great international success; He appeared with this band at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 1980 and made two guest appearances at the Moers Festival and at other European festivals. He also worked with the rather comedic-oriented large-format Seikatsu Kōjō Iinkai Orchestra ( 生活 向上 委員会 大 管弦 楽 団 ) and the band DIVA, which, apart from him, consisted only of women. In 1989 he founded the sextet Shakushain ; with Tom Cora and the percussionist Samm Bennett he worked in the trio Third Person , which also recorded with the singer Tetsuhiro Daiku. Projects with Masahiko Satō , Kazumi Watanabe and Nobuyoshi Ino also took him to Australia in 1990. In 1992 he founded a Japanese klezmer band ( Betsuni Nanmo Klezmer ), with which he is currently still performing (2007); he also experimented with a fusion of arabesque and jazz in the band Nazo . In 1999 he founded his Doctor Umezu Kiki Band , with which he released three CDs and toured Europe and Southeast Asia. He is also a member of the Dutch saxophone sextet De Zes Winden . He can also be heard on albums by Mal Waldron and Yosuke Yamashita . He also worked with Marc Ribot , George Lewis , Ned Rothenberg , Wayne Horvitz and Kenny Wollesen , but also with David Sanborn and BB King .
Discographic notes
- Shin Myong (1992)
- Eclecticism (1994)
- Pandora's Cocktail (1999)
- Shinohkubo Gentleman (1999)
Lexigraphic entries
- Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 .
- Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Umezu, Kazutoki |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 梅 津 和 時 (Japanese); Umezu, Doctor; Umezu, Kappo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese jazz musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 17, 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sendai , Miyagi Prefecture |