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is a Japanese guitarist who is known for his work with
Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Deep Purple. During his career, Turner fronted and played guitar with pop ro ...
.


Biography

Kajiyama's first commercial band was Precious which was formed by Mandrake Root Records in 1987 to promote him. The band dissolved after its only full-length album in 1991. Kajiyama became regarded as a guitar legend in the Japanese hard rock/ heavy metal scene. In 1998, Kajiyama and former
Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
vocalist Yukio Morikawa released a tribute album celebrating
Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
in the name of . As a result, he became acquainted with
Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Deep Purple. During his career, Turner fronted and played guitar with pop ro ...
who guested on the album. After that, Turner invited him to appear on his album "Under Cover, Vol. 2". Since then Kajiyama occasionally took part in Turner's albums and Japan tours. Kajiyama and Morikawa formed Goldbrick in 2003.


Style

Kajiyama is influenced by artists such as
Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...
,
Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...
,
Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as ' ...
,
Laurie Wisefield Laurence Mark Wisefield (born 27 August 1952) is an English guitarist, best known for his contributions to Wishbone Ash during the 1970s and 1980s. Early career Prior to his stint in Wishbone Ash, Wisefield performed with the progressive rock b ...
. He is extremely precise at shredding with
alternate picking Alternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs alternating downward and upward strokes in a continuous fashion. If the technique is performed at high speed on a single string or course voicing the same note, it may be referred to ...
, which was his style from Precious. However, Kajiyama denies he was ever a shredder. He says that the shredding style was requested by his record label, as
Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label founded in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. History Guitarist Marty Friedman (formerly of Megadeth and Cacophony), one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album ''Unsu ...
also did at that time.


Discography


Precious

*''Crazy For Your Love'' (EP, 1987) *''Blasting Your Head'' (EP, 1988) *''To Glory We Steer'' (1991) *''Early Days'' (demo tracks, 1996) *''Secret Live'' (rehearsal tracks, 1999)


*''Niji Densetsu'' (1998, re-mastered in 2003)


With Joe Lynn Turner

*'' Under Cover 2'' (1999) *''
Holy Man ''Holy Man'' is a 1998 American television satirical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Herek, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston, Robert Loggia, Jon Cryer, and Eric McCormack. The film was a ...
'' (2000) *''
Slam Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
'' (2001) *''
The Usual Suspects ''The Usual Suspects'' is a 1995 neo-noir mystery thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, and ...
'' (2005) *Akira Kajiyama + Joe Lynn Turner - ''
Fire Without Flame ''Fire Without Flame'' is a hard rock album by Akira Kajiyama and Joe Lynn Turner. This is the first release under both their names. ''Fire Without Flame'' is more of a return to ''Slam'' era sensibilities: a blistering blues infused hard rock alb ...
'' (2005)


With Hughes Turner Project

*'' HTP'' (2002) *'' Live in Tokyo'' (2002)


Goldbrick

*''Goldbrick'' (2003) *''Live! Groovy Nights 2003'' (2003) *''Goldbrick II'' (2004) *''Max Body Groove -Goldbrick Live 2005-'' (2005)


With Takenori Shimoyama

*''Singer'' (2006)


External links


Official Akira Kajiyama Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kajiyama, Akira Living people Musicians from Yamaguchi Prefecture Japanese rock guitarists Japanese heavy metal guitarists Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese guitarists