Amazing fusion guitarist (also owner of his own record label where he produced many artists), Ryo Kawasaki was born on February 25th, 1947 in Koenji, Tokyo, Japan.
Ryo played in several Japanese jazz and fusion bands, before he emigrated to USA in 1973,
USHIO SAKAI GROUP
This was the special lineup for Ushio Sakai that recorded the double live album Jam in Yokota in April 1973:
|
USHIO SAKAI GROUP #? |
1973 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ushio Sakai keyboards | Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Tetsuo Fushimi trumpet | Ken Muraoka sax | Hidehiko Matsumoto † sax | Teddy Adams trombone |
Motohiko Hino † drums |
| Other info on members of Ushio Sakai Group (I know up to 7 members) | |
|---|---|
| Not enough info (6): | Teddy Adams, Tetsuo Fushimi, Motohiko Hino, Hidehiko Matsumoto, Ken Muraoka, Ushio Sakai |
JOE LEE WILSON GROUP
Ryo Kawasaki was a member of Joe Lee Wilson Group around 1973 but cannot find the proper details. Help!:
|
JOE LEE WILSON GROUP #? |
1973-? |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joe Lee Wilson † vocals | Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Yoshiaki Masuo guitar | Ronnie Boykins † bass | Monty Waters sax | + maybe others, unknown to me. Help! |
| Other info on members of Joe Lee Wilson Group (I know up to 16 members) | |
|---|---|
| Already covered (1): | Joe Lee Wilson |
| To be covered (6): | Stafford James, Kirk Lightsey, Yoshiaki Masuo, Danny Mixon, Steve Watts, Dave Wickins |
| Not enough info (8): | Ronnie Boykins, Rod Kelly, Ray McKinley, Bob Ralston, Napoleon Revels, Terry Seabrook, Nigel Thomas, Monty Waters |
GIL EVANS ORCHESTRA
This was the great Gil Evans Orchestra around May/June 1976:
|
GIL EVANS ORCHESTRA #? |
1976 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gil Evans † conductor, keyboards | Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Keith Loving guitar | Jeff Berlin bass | Lew Soloff † trumpet | Kunitoshi Shinohara trumpet |
George Adams † sax, flute | Kohsuke Mine sax | Tom Malone trombone, keyboards | Peter Levin french horn, keyboards | Bob Stewart tuba | Warren Smith percussion |
Sue Evans drums |
| Other info on members of Gil Evans Orchestra (I know up to 107 members) | |
|---|---|
| Already covered (5): | Herb Geller, Gerry Niewood, Al Porcino, Lew Soloff, Derek Watkins |
| Old pages (1): | Ray Russell |
| To be covered (100): | John Abercrombie, George Adams, Tex Allen, Benny Bailey, Dave Bargeron, Guy Barker, Joe Beck, Jeff Berlin, David Binney, Charles Blenzig, Hamiet Bluiett, Arthur Blythe, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Hermann Breuer, Dean Brown, Delmar Brown, Hiram Bullock, Herb Bushler, Mino Cinelu, John Clark, Billy Cobham, Johnny Coles, Steve Cooke, Rob Crowder,... up to 100 musicians. |
LIFETIME
Ryo Kawasaki played in Lifetime, but don´t know when (maybe 1976?):
After rehearsing for one month, Tony Williams left for Europe and the band folded.
|
LIFETIME #? |
? |
|
|---|---|---|
|
êSantana |
||
Tony Williams † drums | Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Doug Rauch † bass |
After rehearsing for one month, Tony Williams left for Europe and the band folded.
| Other info on members of Lifetime (I know up to 13 members) | |
|---|---|
| Already covered (1): | Allan Holdsworth |
| To be covered (9): | Juini Booth, Jack Bruce, Ted Dunbar, Webster Lewis, John McLaughlin, Alan Pasqua, Doug Rauch, Tony Williams, Larry Young |
| Not enough info (2): | Tequila Logan, Tony Newton |
CHICO HAMILTON GROUP
Ryo Kawasaki was a member of Chico Hamilton Group, but don´t know the complete lineup or period (1976 maybe?):
|
CHICO HAMILTON GROUP #? |
? |
|
|---|---|---|
Chico Hamilton † drums | Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | + others unknown to me. Help! |
| Other info on members of Chico Hamilton Group (I know up to 61 members) | |
|---|---|
| Already covered (4): | Buddy Catlett, Jim Hall, Chico Hamilton, Fred Katz |
| To be covered (56): | Abdullah, John Abercrombie, Kathy Adair, Jim Aton, Arthur Blythe, George Bohanon, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Garnett Brown, Dennis Budimir, Jeremy Carlstedt, Thomas Chapin, Buddy Collette, Marc Copland, Larry Coryell, Curtis Counce, Nick Demopoulos, Cary DeNigris, Eric Dolphy, George Duvivier, Barry Finnerty, Alex Foster, Matt Garrison, Hal Gaylor, Nathan Gershman, Dexter Gordon,... up to 56 musicians. |
TARIKA BLUE
Tarika Blue was a project led by keyboardist Phil Clendeninn. There were different lineups, and Ryo Kawasaki played in their two albums. Cannot find proper info about lineups, but this is the one featured in the album The blue pearl circa 1976:
|
TARIKA BLUE # |
? |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phil Clendeninn keyboards | Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Barry Coleman bass | Marvin Blackman sax | Bradie Speller percussion | Kevin Atkins drums |
| Other info on members of Tarika Blue (I know up to 10 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (1): | Justo Almario |
| Not enough info (8): | Kevin Atkins, Marvin Blackman, Phil Clendeninn, Barry Coleman, Irene Datcher, James Mason, Dolores Smith, Bradie Speller |
ELVIN JONES GROUP
This was the Elvin Jones Group around 1977:
|
ELVIN JONES GROUP #? |
1970 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Elvin Jones † drums | Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Pat LaBarbera sax | Chico Freeman sax |
| Other info on members of Elvin Jones Group (I know up to 53 members) | |
|---|---|
| Already covered (2): | Frank Foster, Freddie Hubbard |
| To be covered (47): | Dayne Armstrong, Darron Barrett, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Ray Carless, George Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Chick Corea, Richard Davis, Robin Eubanks, Thadeus Expose, Joe Farrell, Sonny Fortune, Chico Freeman, Jimmy Garrison, Steve Grossman, Dave Holland, Marvin Horne, Chip Jackson, Javon Jackson, Brad Jones, Elvin Jones, Kent Jordon, Fumio Karashima, Steve Kirby, Pat LaBarbera,... up to 47 musicians. |
| Not enough info (3): | Marcus Roberts, Reginald Veal, David Williams |
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP
This was the lineup announced as Ryo Kawasaki & The Golden Dragon in October 1980:
Ryo Kawasaki also toured with Joanne Brackeen as a duo, but don´t know when:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Trio in 1988:
This was the new lineup for Ryo Kawasaki now as a quartet:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
1980 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Ilana Morillo vocals | Lincoln Goines bass | Buddy Williams drums |
Ryo Kawasaki also toured with Joanne Brackeen as a duo, but don´t know when:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
? |
|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Joanne Brackeen keyboards |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Trio in 1988:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
? |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Yoshio Suzuki bass | Cecil Monroe † drums |
This was the new lineup for Ryo Kawasaki now as a quartet:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
? |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Yoshio Suzuki bass | Masayoshi Yoneda keyboards | Cecil Monroe † drums |
AND THEN...
In the eighties, Kawasaki parked his musical career to spend a few years writing music-relasted software. Oh, my two passions together... :) He came back to the musical scene in 1991.
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP (again)
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in August 1995:
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki & His NY Band around 1996:
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group around 1999:
In March 2007, we find Ryo Kawasaki playing as a duo with Yoshio Suzuki on bass:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in March 2008:
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Trio in April 2008:
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group in April 2011:
A live album was released, Live in Beirut 2011.
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki in July 2014:
This was the lineup as trio for Ryo Kawasaki Group in August 2014:
This was the lineup as duo for Ryo Kawasaki Group also in August 2014:
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group in December 2014:
This was the new lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group in January 2015:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in April 2015:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group from June to August 2015:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in October 2015:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group during November & December 2015:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group from January to April 2016:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group from October to December 2016:
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki & Level 8 from January to July 2017:
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in July 2017:
Sadly, Ryo Kawasaki passed away on April 13th, 2020 in Tallinn, Estonia, where he lived for the last years. He was 73. Thanks for your music, maestro!
8 BANDS (WITH 35 SELECTED RECORDINGS):
4 ALBUMS AS PRODUCER:
2 ALBUMS FOR 1 BANDMATES AND FRIENDS:
1 COLLECTIVE ALBUMS:
18 SESSIONS (FOR 15 ARTISTS):
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
1995 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Ilana Morillo vocals | Dakota MacLeod vocals, percussion | Steve Brown guitar | Keith Lambeth † bass | Ray Naccari keyboards |
Everalo Brown percussion | Doud David Williams percussion | Victor Jones drums |
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki & His NY Band around 1996:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
1996 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Lincoln Goines bass | Ray Naccari keyboards | Everalo Brown percussion | Victor Jones drums |
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group around 1999:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2008 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Tom Mackenzie bass | Ray Naccari keyboards | Victor Jones drums |
In March 2007, we find Ryo Kawasaki playing as a duo with Yoshio Suzuki on bass:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2007 |
|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Yoshio Suzuki bass |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in March 2008:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2008 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Toivo Unt bass | Tetsuya Kuwayama accordion | Aivar Vassilijav drums |
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Trio in April 2008:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2008 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Toivo Unt bass | Aivar Vassilijav drums |
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group in April 2011:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2011 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Arthur Satyan keyboards | Fouad Afra drums |
A live album was released, Live in Beirut 2011.
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki in July 2014:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2014 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Toivo Unt bass | Vladimir Vossotski keyboards | Lembit Saarsalu sax | Eno Kollom drums |
This was the lineup as trio for Ryo Kawasaki Group in August 2014:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2014 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Toivo Unt bass | Brian Melvin drums |
This was the lineup as duo for Ryo Kawasaki Group also in August 2014:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2014 |
|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Toivo Unt bass |
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group in December 2014:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2014 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Jaanika Ventsel vocals | Toivo Unt bass |
This was the new lineup for Ryo Kawasaki Group in January 2015:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2015 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Toivo Unt bass | Aleksander Paar sax | Brian Melvin drums |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in April 2015:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2015 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Aleksander Paar sax | Brian Melvin drums |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group from June to August 2015:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
Jun 15-Aug 15 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Jaanika Ventsel vocals | Toivo Unt bass |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in October 2015:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2015 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Raun Juurikas keyboards | Brian Melvin drums |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group during November & December 2015:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2015 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Jaanika Ventsel vocals | Toivo Unt bass |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group from January to April 2016:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2016 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Kaarel Liiv bass | Raun Juurikas keyboards | Brian Melvin drums |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group from October to December 2016:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2016 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Jaanika Ventsel vocals | Toivo Unt bass |
This was the lineup for Ryo Kawasaki & Level 8 from January to July 2017:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
Jan 17-Jul 17 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Kaarel Liiv bass | Raun Juurikas keyboards | Eno Kollom drums |
This was the Ryo Kawasaki Group in July 2017:
|
RYO KAWASAKI GROUP #? |
2017 |
|
|---|---|---|
Ryo Kawasaki † guitar | Kaarel Liiv bass | Eno Kollom drums |
| Other info on members of Ryo Kawasaki Group (I know up to 30 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (7): | Joanne Brackeen, Lincoln Goines, Victor Jones, Dave Liebman, Brian Melvin, Yoshio Suzuki, Buddy Williams |
| Not enough info (22): | Fouad Afra, Everalo Brown, Steve Brown, Raun Juurikas, Eno Kollom, Tetsuya Kuwayama, Keith Lambeth, Kaarel Liiv, Tom Mackenzie, Dakota MacLeod, Cecil Monroe, Ilana Morillo, Ray Naccari, Aleksander Paar, Lembit Saarsalu, Arthur Satyan, Toivo Unt, Aivar Vassilijav, Jaanika Ventsel, Vladimir Vossotski, Daoud-David Williams, Masayoshi Yoneda |
Sadly, Ryo Kawasaki passed away on April 13th, 2020 in Tallinn, Estonia, where he lived for the last years. He was 73. Thanks for your music, maestro!
8 BANDS (WITH 35 SELECTED RECORDINGS):
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
| Gil Evans Orchestra | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Chico Hamilton Group |
| |||||||||
| Elvin Jones Group | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Ryo Kawasaki Group | 26 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Lifetime |
| |||||||||
| Ushio Sakai Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Tarika Blue | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Joe Lee Wilson Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
4 ALBUMS AS PRODUCER:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||
| Camila Benson Group | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
| Carolling Carollers | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
| Sam Morrison Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
2 ALBUMS FOR 1 BANDMATES AND FRIENDS:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||
| Joanne Brackeen Group | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
1 COLLECTIVE ALBUMS:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS |
| VVAA | 1 RECORDINGS:
|
18 SESSIONS (FOR 15 ARTISTS):
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
| Ailana | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Gato Barbieri Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| John Clark | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Ted Curson Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Clint Houston Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Jiro Inagaki Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Teo Macero Group | 4 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Keitaro Miho Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Hiroki Miyano Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Mobius | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| New Direction | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Potter And Tillman | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Sapporo | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Masahiko Satoh Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Clive Stevens Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
RELATED WEBSITE LINKS: 3
Official site(s) - tell them you saw the link here:
From the great site DME (by Dmitry M. Epstein), we have fantastic interviews:
RELATED MUSICIANS:
Ryo Kawasaki mostly worked with these musicians: (name + number of credits)
Buddy Williams (10)
Lincoln Goines (8)
Ilana Morillo (7)
Dave Liebman (6)
Phil Clendeninn (5)
Kiyoshi Itoh (5)
Teo Macero (5)
David Baker (4)
Rubens Bassini (4)
Herb Bushler (4)
Page created by Miguel Terol on: 30/April/2020 - Last modified on: 30/April/2020. If you want to contribute with info, please write to: molympus1@gmail.com
Please, note than you can check the indexes (musicians, bands, obituaries) at the top of this page.
