Tetsuo Sakurai

Japanese fusion bassist Tetsuo Sakurai, carved a niche in the industry as a fleet fingered player that could hit the groove with authority, his slap technique was as good as it gets. He has dozens of recordings to his credit as a member of the long time fusion band Casiopea, Jimsaku, and more recently as a solo artist. The music on this cd will remind of a heavier version of Casiopea, with more progressive tendancies, that remind of the band Fragile also some looping and dubs are added for a fresh contemporary sound. Lot's of heavy bass accentuations are present throughout, and the music relies on an aggresive approach. Sakurai proves to be a versatile bassist on every song, he is not one to stay in the funk realm, as he shows he has a melodic edge to him as well.

Tetsuo Sakurai (born November 13, 1957 in Tokyo) is a Japanese musician. He started playing bass when he was 13 years old. He was a member of the jazz fusion band Casiopea in 1976-1989 and Jimsaku with Akira Jimbo in 1990-1998. He has released a total of 37 albums as members of Casiopea and Jimsaku as well as solo. He also made 3 instructional videos. Now, he is composing and playing his own music as a solo artist with domestic and foreign musicians.

Ex Casiopea bassist Tetsuo Sakurai formed this power trio in 2001, releasing the hot seller,self-titled record. After its great success they released Gentle Hearts LIVE CD and DVD. The DVD is certainly one of the hottest selling DVDS in this genre. In 2010, Tetsuo, Dennis Chambers and Greg Howe have returned with the fantastic sounding new studio album of originals. Its raging hard fusion at its best.

This Explosive New Jazz Release from Tetsuo Sakuri features the very special talents of Greg Howe and Dennis Chambers. Hear modern jazz from the Far East!

In 2001, Japanese bassist Tetsuo Sakurai released an awesome hard-hitting fusion album called Gentle Hearts. This great album featured the very special talents of Greg Howe on guitar and Dennis Chambers on drums. Hear modern jazz from the Far East!

Tetsuo Sakurai - Gentle Hearts (2001)
1CD | MP3 | 320 kbps | 44,1kHz | Covers | 112 Mb
Fusion | Tracks:08 | Label: Jvc Victor

Ex-Casiopea bassist presents his power trio album with Dennis Chambers (Graffiti) and Greg Howe. EMI. 2004. –This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Casiopea is a still-active Japanese jazz fusion band that was formed in 1976 by guitarist Issei Noro and bassist Tetsuo Sakurai.The album Eyes of the Mind was released in the United States in 1981. They then released the album Mint Jams in 1982, followed by Four by Four in the same year, which is a collaborative album with some of Fourplay members.

Cassiopeia, is a Japanese jazz fusion band that was formed in 1976 by guitarist Issei Noro, bassist Tetsuo Sakurai and keyboardist Hidehiko Koike. In 1977, keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya and drummer Takashi Sasaki joined the group, leaving Hidehiko out of Casiopea. The group debuted with the self-titled album Casiopea in 1979, featuring Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker and David Sanborn as guest musicians. In 1980, Sasaki was replaced by Akira Jimbo. Casiopea has released over 35 albums to date in both Japan and the United States.