is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

who participated in some of Japan's more well known fusion bands. He was a former member of jazz-fusion band

Casiopea , now known in its fourth iteration as Casiopea-P4, is a Japanese jazz fusion band formed in 1976 by guitarist Issei Noro, bassist Tetsuo Sakurai, drummer Tohru "Rika" Suzuki, and keyboardist Hidehiko Koike. In 1977, keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya ...

Biography

In 1979, he joined a fusion group called Guitarist Creek. They participated in Cross-Wind (a large fusion concert also known as East-West). Masaaki met Casiopea at this time and they became good friends. He also met

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� ...

and his group. He played with the jazz vocalist Henri Kanno, Mikio Masuda, jazz pianist, and other jazz groups. In 1990,

Tetsuo Sakurai is a Japanese bassist. To date, he has released a total of 37 albums as a member of Casiopea and Jimsaku and solo artist, and has also made 3 bass instructional videos. History Tetsuo Sakurai started playing bass when he was 13 years old. In ...

and

Akira Jimbo , is a Japanese jazz fusion drummer who combines electronic drum technology and acoustic drums. Aside from his solo work, he was the drummer for the Japanese jazz fusion band Casiopea and had participated in side projects with Keiko Matsui, Sh ...

left Casiopea to form

Jimsaku is a Japanese drum and bass duo formed by Akira Jimbo and Tetsuo Sakurai in 1990, after they left the jazz/fusion band Casiopea , now known in its fourth iteration as Casiopea-P4, is a Japanese jazz fusion band formed in 1976 by guitaris ...

. Yoshihiro Naruse and Hiyama joined Casiopea. In August 1992, Masaaki resigned from Casiopea under doctor's advice due to health issues because of his smoking habit. Masaaki recorded four albums with Casiopea.

After Casiopea

After regaining his health, he returned to jazz. He joined a music school that was dedicated to teaching. Today, Masaaki participates in both rock and jazz fields in his drum project along with band members. His nickname, given to him by Yoshihiro Naruse, is "The Godfather".

References

External links

Takagi's home music studio and music lessons that he is the part of teaching drum

His Picture on nowadays
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiyama, Masaaki 1959 births Japanese male musicians Japanese musicians Living people Japanese jazz drummers Casiopea members