Joji "George" Kawaguchi (川口譲二) (June 15, 1927, Fukakusa,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

- November 1, 2003, Tokyo) was a Japanese

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

drummer and bandleader. Kawaguchi was raised in

Dairen Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

, at that time a Japanese-occupied territory. He played in his father's ensemble as a teenager, and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

moved back to Japan, where he embarked on a career in jazz. He played first with an ensemble called the Azumanians, then joined the Big Four with

Hidehiko Matsumoto Hidehiko "Sleepy" Matsumoto (松本英彦) (October 12, 1926, Okayama – February 29, 2000, Tokyo) was a Japanese jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Matsumoto played bebop in Japan in the late 1940s with the group CB Nine, then joined The Six Jos� ...

Hachidai Nakamura was a Japanese songwriter and jazz pianist. Biography Hachidai Nakamura was born in Tsingtao, Republic of China, to Japanese parents, before moving to Kurume at a young age, where he attended high school. He graduated from Waseda University in ...

, and Mitsuru Ono; this ensemble played intermittently into the 1980s. He played extensively with

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

on tour in the 1980s. He recorded extensively as a leader; his sidemen included

Isao Suzuki was a Japanese jazz double-bassist. Biography Born in Tokyo, Japan, Suzuki learned to play bass on United States military bases, and played early in his career with Shotaro Moriyasu, Hidehiko Matsumoto, and Sadao Watanabe. He led his own ense ...

Motohiko Hino Motohiko "Toko" Hino (January 3, 1946 in Tokyo – May 13, 1999) was a Japanese jazz drummer. Hino's father, who was a dancer and musician, taught Hino and his brother, Terumasa Hino, tap dancing as children.Takeshi Inomata Takeshi Inomata ( jap. 猪俣猛, ''Inomata Takeshi''; born February 6, 1936, Takarazuka) is a Japanese jazz drummer and bandleader. Inomata moved to Tokyo in 1956 and there played in the Six Joses and the West Liners. He worked as a leader reg ...

Donald Harrison Donald Harrison Jr. (born June 23, 1960) is an African-American jazz saxophonist and the Big Chief of The Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Berklee Col ...

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...

Norio Maeda was a Japanese jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it h ...

Tatsuya Takahashi Tatsuya Takahashi may refer to: * Tatsuya Takahashi (saxophonist) (19312008), Japanese jazz saxophonist * Tatsuya Takahashi (engineer) (born 1983 or 1984), Japanese music engineer {{hndis, Takahashi, Tatsuya ...

, and

Nobuo Hara Nobuo Tsukahara, better known as Nobuo Hara (November 19, 1926 – June 21, 2021) was a Japanese jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Hara was born in Toyama. He played in a military band during World War II and in a Tokyo officers' club after the wa ...

. On July 22, 1966, he played with the

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

quintet in Tokyo while the group was touring Japan.

References

*"George Kawaguchi". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawaguchi, George 1927 births 2003 deaths Japanese jazz bandleaders Japanese jazz drummers People of Manchukuo