HIROKI, Koichi (guitar,composer)
Koichi
HIROKI was born 17 August, 1956 in Kawasaki, JAPAN. As a boy he played trumpet,
switching to guitar at the age of 18. He studied jazz guitar with Masayuki
Takayanagi and soon his skills had developed remarkably. In 1978 he joined
Ryojiro Furusawa Quintet and later that same year went on to record his vinyl
debut with Furusawa's Band. Throughout the 1980s Hiroki performed and recorded
with such leading musicians as pianists Takeshi Shibuya and Fumio Itabashi,
sax players Kazunori Takeda and Kosuke Mine, trombone player Shigeharu Mukai,
drummers Shota Koyama and Elvin Jones, bassist Richard Davis and harmonica
player Lee Oskar. In the late 1980s, Hiroki formed his own HIROKI BAND with
eight young musicians, with which he recorded LOVE WILL OUT, the first recording
as a leader, in 1990. That was constructed with 7 Hiroki's compositions. In
1994 Hiroki toured three countries in Asia where Thailand, Laos and Korea
as a member of Contemporary Music Concert sponsored by Japan Foundation. From
1990 to 1998 Hiroki has released 5 recordings as a leader including two acoustic
guitar solo albums, TANGO IMPROVISADO and PLAYIN' PLAIN. The former is an
album inspired by rhythm of tango and late great Astor Piazzolla. SO QUIET,
Hiroki's newest recording is an intimate musical conversation between the
guitarist and pianist Takeshi Shibuya. Hiroki's playing is clear, crisp and
with an amazing sense of rhythm. His style is based on jazz, but he gets to
incorporate Latin elements ( tango, brazilian music, andean music) into his
own music. In addition to his performing career, Hiroki has jazz workshop
for 15 years. He says that such involvement with developing musicians not
only helps them with their craft, but refreshes himself. Hiroki has also been
active as essayist and writer on jazz. Hiroki now lives in Tokyo, and continues
to teach guitar and go on tours regularly.
