Saiichi Sugiyama (born 1960 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan) is a British-based guitarist, singer and composer, best known for his writing and performing collaborations with

Pete Brown Peter Ronald Brown (born 25 December 1940) is an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 80 Bro ...

, the lyricist for

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

since 2002 to date. His previous bands in 1990s featured Mike Casswell and Phil Williams of Walk on Fire, Andy Smith of Hot Chocolate,

Zoot Money George Bruno Money (born 17 July 1942) is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was drawn ...

, Boz Burrell of Bad Company, John Cook of Rory Gallagher band as well as the guitarist,

Paul Wassif Paul Wassif (born 1963 in Bristol, England) is a British musician, guitarist, and singer songwriter. Early career Paul Wassif's early career included a brief spell with Punk music, Punk/Rock band The London Cowboys. This was followed by various ...

. Sugiyama's self-published studio albums in 2000s featured Clem Clempson of

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

(who co-wrote and co-produced the albums),

and Ben Matthews of Thunder. Sugiyama plays a

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

guitar and Marshall amplifiers. His guitar style has more than a passing resemblance to that of Peter Green and has a vibrato technique similar that of

Paul Kossoff Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist, mainly known as the co-founder and guitarist for the rock band Free. He was ranked number 51 in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All ...

. Sugiyama collaborated with Mark Horiuchi, the former lead singer of the Japanese rock band Garo who had a number of chart hits in the Japanese chart in the early 1970s, and the duo recorded several tracks that were included in the album ''So Am I'', released in Japan in 2004. Sugiyama moved from Tokyo to England in 1980 and has lived in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. In January 2014, the Saiichi Sugiyama Band released the live studio album ''The Smokehouse Sessions'', featuring Sugiyama, Rietta Austin (vocals), Ben Reed (bass guitar) and Mune Sugiyama (drums).

Discography

*''Saiichi Sugiyama'' (November 1994) *''So Am I'' (July 2004) *''SAIICHI'' (May 2005) *''The Smokehouse Sessions'' (vinyl edition – November 2013; CD edition – January 2014; Saiichi Sugiyama Band)

References

1960 births British blues guitarists Japanese composers Japanese guitarists Japanese male composers Japanese male singers Living people Singers from Tokyo {{Japan-musician-stub