Profile of Yoshiaki Miyanoue
Yoshiaki Miyanoue
was born in Setagaya, Tokyo on 7 Oct. 1953. At
the age of 10, he took up the guitar. In his last year of
junior high
school, he heard a record of Wes Montgomery and became interested
in jazz.
When he was a high
school boy at Musashino High School in Tokyo, he
formed a band. After graduating from the school, he joined
the "New Group"
trio, including Joe Davis (org) and Jerry Eddy (ds), and played
at the
"N.C.O" Club at Yokota Air Base in Yokosuka for
three years. At the same
time, he had his own quartet and played at jazz night clubs
and bars in
Tokyo.
In 1977, he traveled
to New York to develop his artistic strength
and maturity. After returning home, he made his national debut
by releasing
an album "Song for Wes" (King Record), with Philly Joe Jones
as a guest
drummer, who was on a visit to Japan at the time as a member
of the Bill
Evans Trio (p). Thereafter he has released one album after
another. Among
others, "Touch of Love" (Bap Record), in which Jimmy Smith,
the greatest
organist, joined as a guest player; "Tribute to Wes Montgomery"
(King
Record), collections from his live recordings; and "Foxy Eyes"
(Toshiba
EMI), in which a strings orchestra was used to give the sound
an
easy-listening flavor, are highly appraised. In releasing
his fourth album
"Riviera" (Columbia Record) in 1981, he named his own group
"Smokin'". Up
until today, Smokin' has played at jazz night clubs in Tokyo
and toured all
over the nation. In the mean time, Smokin' appeared
on some TV and FM
radio music programs while playing at jazz concerts and festivals
overseas.
In 1988, as a guest
player from Japan, Miyanoue took part in "Jazz
Yatra," a jazz festival held every four years in India. He
also flew to
Guangzhou in China and taught Chinese musicians the essense
of jazz through
recordings.
Almost every year
from 1991, Miyanoue, together with Eiji Kitamura
(cl), performed at the "Montery Jazz Festival" in California.
In 1992 and
1993, he also played at the "Queen's Jazz Festival" in Brisbane,
Australia.
In June 1993, Miyanoue
was invited by the University of Hawaii to
the "Hawaii Jazz Guitar Festival" as the guest guitarist from
Japan.
Miyanoue never
uses a pick. His unique style of flicking the
strings only with his right thumb belongs to the school of
Wes Montgomery.
But further improving the Wes style, Miyanoue has steadily
established his
own style.
There are many
enthusiastic fans all over the nation of his sound
-- imcomparable technique and poetic phrasing -- and musicianship.
This is
proved by the fact that over 25 years, Miyanoue ranks high
in popularity
polls in the field of guitarists for the Swing Journal magazine.
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