Name | Keisuke Kuwata |
---|---|
Landscape | Yes |
Background | solo_singer |
Birth name | Keisuke Kuwata |
Origin | Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan |
Born | February 26, 1956Chigasaki, Kanagawa PrefectureJapan |
Instrument | Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards |
Genre | J-Pop, J-Rock, Blues rock, Rock and Roll, Alternative rock, Folk |
Occupation | Musician, Songwriter, Bandleader, Producer, Film score composer |
Years active | 1978–present |
Label | Victor Entertainment |
Associated acts | Southern All-Stars, Yuko Hara |
Url | Southern All Stars |
Kuwata is known for his innovation with differing genres of Western music as well as the very popular J-pop music in his native Japan. As a musician, Kuwata performs primarily on lead guitar and lead vocals, although he has experimented with playing in a variety of positions, and released one album in which he played every instrument on the record. As of 2010, Kuwata, frontman for the band Southern All-Stars was ranked #1, and with his solo band, the Kuwata Band, ranked #12 in a list of the top 100 musicians in Japan.
Kuwata has worked as a record producer, a movie director, has recorded albums as bandleader of his own band, the Kuwata Band, and has worked on projects scoring music to film.
Kuwata's wife, Yuko Hara, is also a member of the Southern All Stars. She is a vocalist and plays keyboards. The two met while in college, where they were in the same circle of musicians. They share a love of the blues and have two sons together.
On July 28, 2010, Kuwata announced that he has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
Kuwata plays guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. For one album, Suteki Na Mirai Wo Mite Hoshii (素敵な未来を見て欲しい), Kuwata played every musical instrument and recorded the entire album himself.
Kuwata's Western musical influences are varied. Along with his wife, the band's keyboardist and backing vocalist, Yuko Hara, the couple have long been inspired by American folk music, where preferences run from Bob Dylan, The Band, Blues, and Southern rock music, to British and American influences that are arguably pure Rock and Roll; with a flattering amount of songs covered from the work of Eric Clapton.
Aside from Dylan, Kuwata's work has shown emphasis on music of the American South, including that of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Little Feat. Along with the Southern All-Stars, Kuwata has performed with Little Feat on several occasions, and recorded cover songs from the band. He was a participant and performer in a tribute concert to the late Lowell George, (their original frontman), recording a medley on video that contained his version of "Dixie Chicken".
In 1991, Kuwata began a series of concerts, similar to MTV Unplugged performances, called the "Acoustic Revolution", featuring Hirokazu Ogura on guitar, and Yoshiyuki Sahashi on mandolin, along with other musicians using acoustic instruments. Here again, Dylan's influence shone through their work choosing standards including "Like a Rolling Stone".
Kuwata also developed a love for rock music. The influence from Eric Clapton is strong and can be heard even when Kuwata performs songs in same manner and style as those that Clapton himself covered, and did not write. In addition, other artists covered have been Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Sam Cooke.
In 1994, the "On Air Music Fair", "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley was performed by Kuwata and Ann Lewis (musician).
Kuwata has been joined in benefit concerts by other bands and musicians. Most notably, is the frequent appearance of the members of Yamagu (山弦), a band currently featuring the talents of guitarists and . Both artists are master guitarists and the band shows off their talents in an eclectic combination of jazz, blues, and rock, along with their own combination of ambient experimental music. Yamagu is considered a "guitar support unit", in the same way Westerners would think of a horn section. Some of these concert songs included:
Category:Japanese male singers Category:Japanese singer-songwriters Category:1956 births Category:Slide guitarists Category:Living people Category:Aoyama Gakuin University alumni Category:People from Kanagawa Prefecture Category:Japanese multi-instrumentalists Category:Japanese guitarists
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