Music Style Jazz, Instrumental, Psychedelic

Musical Influences Traffic; Jimi Hendrix; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Pepe Romero; Rahul Sakyaputra; Carmen Tejada; John Tejada

Similar Artists Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers of the New Millennium

Artist History Guitarist Takeshi Nishimoto embraces and expresses music from the European, Northern Indian, and American jazz classical traditions. He has performed extensively as a solo artist, as well as in collaborations with musicians that range from sitar master Rahul Sakyaputra to electronic composer John Tejada. Recently, Nishimoto stepped into the role of film composer, creating the score for Soopum Sohn's short film "I Want to Meditate," which charmed audiences last year at film festivals worldwide. He is currently completing a solo collection of original guitar music. Born in Fukuoka, Japan, Takeshi came to the United States for one primary reason-to study guitar. As a student in the famed USC guitar program, Takeshi gained a firm foundation in the classical tradition from some of the world's premiere guitar players such as James Smith, Scott Tennant, Bill Kanegizer, and Brian Head. In addition to European classical music, Nishimoto also explored jazz with Joe Diorio and David Oaks. While at USC, Takeshi's teachers encouraged him to grow beyond the bounds of the school, to bring in fresh new ideas to his playing. Recognizing Takeshi's unique talent and background, his teachers welcomed his collaborations with Sakyaputra and Tejada. In fact, Takeshi's senior recital included work with Sakyaputra, as well as an improvisational composition with a device called a Boomerang, which he used in his work with Tejada. Beyond USC, Takeshi also received personal instruction from the legendary Pepe Romero, playing in four of his master classes. What these teachers, as well his audiences appreciate in Takeshi is his relentless pursuit of musical innovation. He is very open, and that openness extends to his playing. He sees no conflict between the new and the old, and that is part of what makes his music so compelling. Takeshi is literally at the beginning of a performance career that has already taken him to across the country, from Los Angeles to New York, from the Playboy Mansion to the campaign party of Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn. Takeshi has not only gained support from guitar fans and players, but also guitar makers. The enigmatic Abe Rivera has judged Nishimoto worthy to play his instruments, which are now made only for a lucky handful of guitarists. Nishimoto also plays a 1998 "Kasha/Schneider" Concert Classical Guitar by Boaz Elkayam and George Majkowski, built according to the designs of the late Richard Schneider. Takeshi also endorses Pickup the World, a new line of high-end pickups invented by David Enke, and Austrian-based Thomastik-Infeld strings. Through it all, Takeshi continues to grow. "I suppose you can still call me a classical guitarist. To be a classical guitar player is already like a mixture of new and old. There was a time-not that long ago-when nobody took classical guitar seriously. To elevate the perception of the guitar, the players needed to be innovative in their technique. They had to take music written for other instruments and bring them to the guitar, to show that the guitar was a worthy instrument. So-when I work with the sitar, or jazz, or electronic dance music, or just solo-I feel I am continuing to expand what people perceive when they hear the guitar."

Group Members Takeshi Nishimoto, Aubrey Torres, Joe Gilster

Instruments guitar, bass, drums

Albums Coming Home

Press Reviews All-Music Guide, 2002 (USA); Stonedgods.com, 2003 (The Netherlands)

Location Los Angeles, CA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).