Borneo Jazz 2011 – Eight Performing Groups – No. 4/8 – 徳田雄一郎 RALYZZ DIG ＠マレーシア - Yuichiro Tokuda’s RALYZZ DIG

By Anthony Tan email:anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk

Jazz seems to have established a strong footing in Japan, especially in Tokyo, and attracted a large audience. Tokyo has a large number of entertainment hangouts and its jazz clubs spin out some of the best of jazz concerts over the last few decades.

One of the best jazz joints to hang-out with top jazz groups is Shinjuku Pit Inn, a jazz and blues club for over 35 years. Most major jazz musicians have played at least once in this classic Tokyo club including Yuichiro Tokuda RALYZZ DIG’s.

Yuichiro Tokuda RALYZZ DIG, an upcoming jazz group, will be making its debut concert performance outside of Japan at Borneo Jazz 2011 on May 14 from 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at ParkCity Everly Hotel in Miri, Sarawak in Malaysia.

Tokuda, born on March 9, 1980, returned to Japan after completing his study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He plays the saxophone, a composer and a vocalist as well.

He formed the Yuichiro Tokuda Quintet on his return. Tokuda cut his first album, Initial Impulse, in August 2006 and the Jazz Life magazine reviewed it as "the cutting edge of the present progressive form of jazz".

His second album, Urban Lights or Umi Toki Kaze Iro in Japanese, was released July 2007.

In 2008, Tokuda decided to change his band’s name to Yuichiro Tokuda’s RALYZZ DIG and received an award as the “New Face of the Year in Art & Culture” from the Chiba-City Government, the first time ever for a jazz artiste.

The others members of his band are Naoto Suzuki, who plays the guitar, Kazuhiro

Tamura on the piano while Kumpei Nakabayashi plays the bass and Gaku

Hasegawa is on drums.

Yuichiro Tokuda RALYZZ DIG’s third album, Imagination Live @ Shinjuku PIT-INN, was released in May 2010.

The same year, Tokuda released his fourth album, Imagination, which spins for 73 minutes of jazz music and was acclaimed by CD Journal Japan as “enormously impressive, definitely as excellent work assured and it is ahead of a couple generations”.

2010 was a busy year for Tokuda and his band. They performed in numerous small music festivals throughout Japan and to top it all was their performance at the jazz festival, Yokohama Jazz Promenade.

In January 2011, Imagination was awarded a prize at Mike Pinder's SONGWARS 2010 song writing competition in alternative category.

If you are jazz fan and enjoy a fabulous outdoor music, Borneo Jazz is one jazz festival that you should not miss. Check out three sample pieces of Yuichiro Tokuda below.

徳田雄一郎/Yuichiro Tokuda : "Nothing There"


徳田雄一郎/Yuichiro Tokuda: "Brunei" 1/2 Dairo, Naoto Solo


徳田雄一郎/Yuichiro Tokuda : "Home"

Hope to see you at BORNEO JAZZ 2011 from 12 - 14 May at Miri City.