Album Notes

This is a gift from a Japanese seasoned jazz quartet. In this album, we can listen to their harmonious performance at a jazz club.

Tsutomu Okada quartet
Kosuke MINE (tenor saxophone)
Souichi NORIKI (piano)
Tsutomu OKADA (bass)
Hiroshi MURAKAMI (drums)

recorded in Tokyo, Japan; 2007

Tsutomu Okada : bassist
Tsutomu Okada was born December 23, 1948. He began playing jazz in his college days when met Akira Omori with whom he played together. It is also at this time when he met Fumio Itabashi. From then on, he participated in many works with artists such as Terumasa Hino and others.
When Hino moved to the United States in 1975, Okada spent several months in New York with Itabashi where he met many wonderful artists.
Upon his return to Japan, he joined Sadao Watanabe's group. During this time, his work can be found in Sumiko Yoseyama's debut album and Toots Thielemans's work. In 1990, he formed a duo with Yoshiaki Masuo with whom he had a successful Japanese tour.
He has also performed with many international artists such as Lew Tabackin for instance. In 2000, he had a successful Hongkong tour with Tsuyoshi Yamamoto. It was also during this period when he worked with the likes of Kosuke Mine or Chie Ayado and so on.
Since 2006, he has taken part on stage with Issey Ogata as well as playing in his own groups and participating in numerous other works. He has always aggressively expanded the scope of his works.
Nowadays, he still continues to perform at clubs as his main appearance.