Yasushi Nakamura

Yasushi Nakamura is praised for imaginative, quicksilver bass lines that deepen the groove. His blend of guitar-like precision and gut-level blues has sparked collaborations with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Hank Jones, Dave Douglas, Steve Miller, etc. With his charismatic stage presence and artful, hard swinging melodic touch, Nakamura is a first-call performer capturing new audiences and fans around the world.

Born in Tokyo, Nakamura moved to the United States at age 9, and considers both places home. He began with clarinet and tenor saxophone, but his older brother’s study of guitar and drums drove him to pick up the bass. His love of rock and funk aside, the music of Charlie Parker, Ray Brown, Miles Davis were a potent influence on him. Nakamura received a BA in Jazz Performance from Berklee School of Music in 2000, and was awarded a full scholarship to The Juilliard School for his Artist Diploma in 2006. He credits Myron Walden as an early champion, and keeps close ties to Juilliard mentors Victor Goines, Wycliffe Gordon, and Carl Allen, Ben Wolfe all of whom maintain him in their bands.

It's About Time

By Adrian Cunningham

Label: Arbors Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Song for Wycliffe; Summertime; Julia; Free Flight; Fake News; For Those We��ve Lost; Computer Says No; Pamela; Battle Hymn of the Republic; Irish Goodbye.

Shadows and Silence: The Erik Satie Project

By Tessa Souter

Label: NOANARA Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: A Song For You (Gnossienne No. 1); Mood (Musica Universalis); Holding On To Beauty (Gnossienne No. 3); Peace (Gnossienne No. 2); Avec le Temps; D'Ou Venons-Nous (Gymnopedie No. 3); I Kiss Your Heart/Vexations; Never Broken (ESP); Rayga's Song (Gymnopedie No.1); If You Go Away/Ne Me Quitte Pas.

The Big Room

By Joe Farnsworth

Label: Smoke Sessions Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Continuance; What Am I Waiting For?; All Said and Done; I Fall in Love Too Easily; You Already Know; Prime Time.

Prime Time

August 25, 2025

Album: The Big Room
By Joe Farnsworth
Label: Smoke Sessions Records
Released: 2025
Duration: 03:46

Meet Alto Saxophonist Erena Terakubo

by Sanford Josephson
August 2, 2025

For many years, trumpeter/educator Tiger Okoshi has been directing the Hokkaido Grove Jazz Camp during summers in Sapporo, Japan. At one of his first camps, he met a 12-year-old alto saxophonist named Erena Terakubo."She was shining, and she knew it," he recalled. “She was determined, driven, and already sounded like a young Charlie Parker."

New Music from the Zhengtao Pan Jazz Orchestra, Remembering Hal Galper, and Darius Jones

by Hobart Taylor
July 30, 2025

Welcome the Zhentao Pan Jazz Orchestra, Plus new music from Lauren Henderson, Joe Farnsworth, Ohad Talmor and Remembering Hal Galper.Playlist Lauren Henderson “Vida" from Sonidos (Brontosaurus) 00:00 Hal Galper Reggie Workman Rashied Ali “ Stella by Starlight" from Art-Work (Origin) 4:19 Host Speaks 13:38 Waitiki 7 “Cave of the Tarpon (live)" from Exotica Reborn: ...

A Song For You (Gnossienne No. 1)

June 27, 2025

Album: Shadows and Silence: The Erik Satie Project
By Tessa Souter
Label: NOANARA Records
Released: 2025
Duration: 04:54

Tessa Souter: Making Connections Between Erik Satie, Jazz, and Personal Identity

by Victor L. Schermer
June 11, 2025

New York-based vocalist Tessa Souter is deservedly treasured among jazz fans, critics and musicians alike. Equally effective performing live and on her several fine recordings, she is a jazz singer who combines the sonority, vocal range and discipline of a classical mezzo soprano with subtle and sultry jazz inflections. Everything she sings is well thought out ...

Cecile Mclorin Salvant Quartet at SFJAZZ

by Ronald Davis
May 10, 2025