Album Notes

Daiki Yasukagawa, bass
http://yasu.office-gen.com

A native of Nishinomiya (between Kobe and Osaka), Daiki took up piano as a child.

He began playing bass at 18 when he joined the Meiji University Big Sounds Society Jazz Orchestra, and studied the instrument with Katsuhiko Makishima, Hiroshi Yoshino and Shu Yoshida.

He quickly became one of the busiest jazz bassists in Japan.

While still in his 20s, he was selected to tour Japan with Marlena Shaw, and later went on to earn a spot in drummer Motohiko Hino's quintet, appearing on the band’sDouble Chantalbum (1998, EWE).

Since then, he has been in constant demand as a sideman. He has appeared on over 100 recordings by domestic and international artists, and played at numerous festivals within and outside Japan (Mt. Fuji, Tokyo Jazz, New Zealand’s Christ Church Jazz Festival, etc.).

He is consistently ranked among the Top 10 Japanese jazz bassists by Swing Journal magazine.

Daiki has also launched several projects as a leader. In 2001, Daiki began his unaccompanied solo activities and started his own trio. These endeavors bore fruit the following year in the EWE's, "Let My Tears Sing" and "Loco", respectively.

In 2006, Daiki formed the Far East Jazz Ensemble (FEJE), a nine-piece band consisting of top bandleaders in the Tokyo jazz scene.

In 2007, the group appeared at the Matsue Jazz Festival with trumpeter Eddie Henderson as guest soloist, and released is eponymous first CD on the Skip Records label.

Since 2003, Daiki has also toured and recorded in the US and Japan with the Cross-Pacific jazz quartet NYTC, co-led by Dave Pietro and Jonathan Katz.