Yōsuke Yamashita

is a Japanese jazz pianist, composer and writer. His piano style is influenced by free jazz, modal jazz and soul jazz.

Since the late 1980s, Yamashita's main performing group has consisted of Cecil McBee (bass), Pheeroan akLaff (drums), and often Joe Lovano (saxophone).

Early life Yamashita was born in Tokyo, Japan, on 26 February 1942. He had violin lessons between the ages of nine and 15, and switched to piano in his teens.

Later life and career Yamashita first played piano professionally in 1959, at the age of 17, and attended the Kunitachi College of Music and studied classical composition from 1962 to 1967. In the early 1960s, he "was part of a group, with Terumasa Hino and Masabumi Kikuchi, that met at a jazz club called to play and discuss jazz every night".

Yamashita is in charge of visiting professor of Jazz course in Kunitachi College of Music since 2010.

Legacy Critic Marc Moses, writing for The Japan Times in 1990, commented that "It is not an exaggeration to say that Yamashita is probably more responsible than any other individual for broadening the horizon of the creative Japanese jazz scene."

Awards In 1990, he was awarded the Fumio Nanri award. In 1999, at the Mainichi Film Concours he was awarded "Best Film Score" for Dr. Akagi. In 2003, he was awarded the for his contributions to the arts and academia.

Discography Jazz albums As leader/co-leader (self released, 1969) – the first live recording at Waseda University with Seiichi Nakamura and Takeo Moriyama Concert in New Jazz (Teichiku/Union Jazz, 1969) - the first professional live recording with Seiichi Nakamura and Takeo Moriyama Mina's Second Theme (Victor, 1969) – studio, trio with Seiichi Nakamura and Takeo Moriyama (Victor, 1970) – studio, trio with Seiichi Nakamura and Takeo Moriyama April Fool: Coming Muhammad Ali (URC, 1972) – studio, trio with Seiichi Nakamura and Takeo Moriyama with Masahiko Sato, Piano Duo (Columbia, 1974) – live at Asahi Seimei Hall, Clay (Enja, 1974) – studio, trio with Akira Sakata, Takeo Moriyama Yosuke Alone (Bellwood, 1974) – solo with Manfred Schoof, Akira Sakata, Takeo Moriyama, Distant Thunder (Enja, 1975) – live Breathtake (Frasco, 1975) – solo Chiasma (MPS, 1976) – with Akira Sakata, Takeo Moriyama, recorded in 1975 Banslikana (Enja, 1976) – solo, recorded in 1975 with Yasutaka Tsutsui, (Frasco, 1976) – recorded in 1975–76 A day in Music (Frasco, 1976) – duo with Adelhard Roidinger Montreux Afterglow (Frasco, 1976) – trio live at Montreux Jazz Festival (Frasco, 1976) – with Gerald Oshita, Umbrella Dance' (Frasco, 1977) with Adelhard Roidinger, Inner Space (Enja, 1977) Wave Song (Frasco, 1977) – with Adelhard Roidinger with Yasutaka Tsutsui, (Victor/Super Fuji Discs, 1978) (Frasco, 1978?) Invitation – Yosuke In The Gallery (Frasco, 1979) First Time (Frasco, 1979) with Haruna Miyake, Exchange (Victor, 1979) Vol. 1 and Vol.2 (Frasco, 1981) Picasso - Live, And Then... (Columbia, 1983) - recorded in 1982. CD reissue in 2015. (Columbia, 1983) It Don't Mean a Thing (DIW, 1984) – solo with Hozan Yamamoto, Masahiko Togashi, Breath (Denon, 1984) It Don't Mean A Thing (DIW, 1984) with Ruri Shimada, Goji Hamada, V.A., Winter Music (Locus Solus, 1985) Sentimental (Kitty, 1985) with Mal Waldron, Piano Duo Live At Pit Inn (CBS/Sony, 1986) with Kodō, In Live (Denon, 1986) Rhapsody in Blue (Kitty, 1986) with Hozan Yamamoto, Bolero (Enja, 1986) Plays Gershwin (Kitty, 1989) Crescendo - Live At Sweet Basil (Kitty, 1989) Sakura (Verve, 1990) – with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Sakura Live (Verve, 1991) – with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Kurdish Dance (Verve, 1992) – with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Dazzling Days (Verve, 1993) – with Joe Lovano, Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Asian Games (Verve Forecast, 1993) – with Bill Laswell and Ryuichi Sakamoto Playground (Verve, 1993) Ways of Time (Verve, 1994) – with Tim Berne, Joe Lovano, Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Spider (Verve, 1996) – with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Canvas In Quiet - Homage To Morio Matsui (Verve, 1996) Stone Flower - Homage To A.C. Jobim (JVC, 1997) Duo Live in Warehouse with Eitetsu Hayashi (King/Raijin, 1998) - live in Tokyo Ballads For You (Trial, 1998) - live in Fuji, Shizuoka Golden Circle "6" (Trial, 1999) - live in Hamamatsu Fragments 1999 (Verve, 1999) – with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Resonant Memories (Verve, 2001) – solo. recorded in 2000. Graceful Illusion (Universal Music, 2004) Delightful Contrast (Universal, 2011) – with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff Yamashita, Yosuke Trio (DIW, 2012) - recorded in 1973 Grandioso (Universal, 2013) – with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff (JamRice, 2014) – with special bigband (Velvet Sun, 2014) – with (JamRice, 2015) - with special bigband In Europe 1983 -complete edition- (Columbia, 2015) - recorded in Germany 1983 with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff (Verve, 2018)As chamber ensemble “”(with Shigeharu Mukai and Yahiro Tomohiro) (Zizo, 2002)

Other appearancesAs sideman Masahiko Togashi & Masayuki Takayanagi, (TBM, 1972) - the first recording in 1963 Isso Yukihiro, (King, 1990) , Gathering (Sony, 1991) - live Nobuyasu Okabayashi, Made in Japan (Toshiba EMI, 1992) Magokoro brothers, (Sony/"Ki/oon", 1992) Kim Dae-hwan, Black Roots (nices, 1993) - live in Seoul, recorded in 1991 Sachi Hayasaka & Stir Up! 2.26 (Enja, 1994) - live, recorded in 1992 Kazumi Watanabe, (Universal/domo, 1994) Shuichi Murakami, Welcome to My Life (Victor, 1998) Black Out (Jazz), 1999/2.26 Live (Nbagi, 1999) Yuki Maeda, Jazz Age: Gershwin Song Book (ewe, 1999) T-Square (band), (SMA, 2012) Toshi Ichiyanagi, Piano Concerto No.4 "Jazz", Piano Concerto No.5 "Finland", Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra (Camerata Tokyo, 2013) Saki Takaoka, Sings - Bedtime Stories (Victor, 2014) Bennie Wallace, Brilliant Corners (Denon, 2015) - recorded in 1986 Nobuyasu Okabayashi, Requiem – The Heart of Misora Hibari (EMI Music Japan, 2010) Nao Takeuchi, Obsidian (What's New, 2010) Shinnosuke Takahashi, Blues 4 Us - Live at Shinjyuku Pit Inn (Pit Inn, 2011) Akira Horikoshi & , Lotus Position (Waternet Sound, 2016) Asako Motojima, Melodies of Memories (Greenfin, 2017) Nobuyasu Okabayashi, (DIW, 2018)Omnibus Albums Jazz in Tokyo '69 (Tact, 1969) Memories of Bill Evans (Victor, 1999) Gets Gilberto + 50 (verve, 2013)

Soundtrack (Tokuma Japan, 1986; re-issue 2002) Dr. Kanzo Original Soundtrack / Yosuke Yamashita on Cinema (Verve, 1998) Vengeance for Sale Original Soundtrack (Vap, 2002) Soundtrack (Ultra-Vybe, 2008) - recorded in 1972 Shirō Sagisu, (King, 2013) (Avex Classics, 2018) - with Minami Kizuki(vo) (Avex Classics, 2018) - with Minami Kizuki(vo)

Selective classical compositions "Yōsuke Yamashita: Piano Concerto No.1 ENCOUNTER for Improviser" in Yōsuke Yamashita, Yutaka Sado and RAI National Symphony Orchestra Yōsuke Yamashita: Piano Concerto No.1 ENCOUNTER (Avex Classics, 2007) and Yōsuke Yamashita, Yutaka Sado and Rhapsody in Blue (Avex Classics, 2014)

"Yōsuke Yamashita: Piano Concerto No.3 EXPLORER" in Yōsuke Yamashita, Yutaka Sado Explorer×Sudden Fiction (Avex Classics, 2008) - with Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

ReferencesBibliography'