(January 1, 1951 – March 9, 2021) was a Japanese jazz

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 ...

and

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Career

Murakami was born in Nishinomiya. He first learned to play French horn, but switched to classical percussion as a teenager before settling on the drum kit. He worked extensively as a sideman on jazz sessions in the 1970s and 1980s, with, among others, Sadao Watanabe, Yosuke Yamashita, Kazumi Watanabe, Akira Sakata, and Takashi Kako. He founded the group Ponta Box (featuring sidemen

Masahiro Sayama was a Japanese pianist, active in jazz and video game soundtracks. Sayama began playing piano as a child and became interested in jazz after seeing the film ''The Glenn Miller Story''. He studied music at Kunitachi College of Music and began pl ...

and Masatoshi Mizuno), which recorded three albums for

JVC Victor , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...

and appeared at the 1995 Montreux Jazz Festival, and has recorded several albums under his own name. He also worked as a

for J-pop stars for several decades. Murakami died on March 9, 2021 after suffering thalamic bleeding at the age of 70. A year later, a tribute concert titled "One Last Live" was held at the Tokyo International Forum, featuring Junk Fujiyama, Yo Hitoto, Fusanosuke Kondo, Maki Ohguro, Miho Fukuhara, Chisato Moritaka, Chikuzen Sato, Taeko Onuki, Mie, and

Toshiki Kadomatsu is a Japanese city pop singer-songwriter, musician, and producer. He has released many studio albums, as well as several instrumental and live albums. He has been active since at least 1981 and is still active, having released his most recent al ...

Discography

;As leader *''Introducing Ponta Murakami'' ( Toshiba, 1976) *''Tokyo Fusion Night'' (Polydor, 1978) *''Welcome To My Life'' (JVC, 1998) *''Rhythm Monster'' ( Universal Music, 2012) ;with Ponta Box *''Ponta Box'' (

JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...

, 1995) *''Desert in the Desert'' (JVC, 1995) *''NYPB'' (JVC, 2001)

References

Japanese jazz drummers Japanese session musicians 1951 births 2021 deaths People from Nishinomiya Fellows of the American Physical Society {{Japan-musician-stub