is 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 ...

pianist and composer.

Life and career

Yamamoto was largely self-taught as a pianist, although he did have piano lessons as a child. He attended

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

. As a student there, he played professionally, first as an accompanist to pop singer Micky Curtis; they toured Europe in 1967. In 1974, he became house pianist at Misty, a Tokyo jazz club. He also made his recording debut as leader that year. He played major international festivals in the late 1970s. He also "lived in New York for a year, when he performed with

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

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, Sam Jones,

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, be ...

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, and

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, among others."

Playing style

Commenting on Yamamoto's 2008 album ''What a Wonderful Trio!'', Audiophile Audition noted that "Yamamoto seems to favor the very highest reaches of the treble keyboard with great gusto".Henry, John (14 March 2009
"Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio – What a Wonderful Trio! – First Impression Music DXD"
. Audiophile Audition.

Discography

An asterisk (*) after the year indicates that it is the year of release.

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Tsuyoshi 1948 births Japanese jazz pianists Living people Nihon University alumni 21st-century pianists