Luna Watanabe and the Fuji Five Lakes Jazz Festival Band
Luna Watanabe（sax）

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Born November 28, 2002 at the foot of Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanakako Village of the Fuji Five Lakes area. From a young age, she showed interest in various activities such as taiko drumming, piano, hula dancing, and classical ballet. She encountered the alto saxophone in her middle school jazz band and awakened to jazz. In her second year of middle school, she received the Outstanding Player Award and the President's Award of the Student Jazz Festival 2017 East Japan tournament. She also won the Best Play Award at the 26th Hamamatsu Jazz Week Student Jazz Festival. She served as the lead alto and MC with the Fuji Gakuen High School Jazz Band and the Moon Inlet Sounds Orchestra performing 70+ shows per year. She received the Asakusa Jazz Award at the 39th Asakusa Jazz Contest. She has performed with renowned musicians, including a performance in Singapore with the Blue Note Tokyo All Star Jazz Orchestra led by world-famous trumpeter Eric Miyashiro. She appeared on TV Asahi's 'Music Without a Title' as part of Eric's band and participated in performances and recordings with Masato Honda's B.B. Station and Toshiki Kadomatsu's tours. During her third college year, she studied abroad in Australia. At the 54th Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest, she won the Grand Prize as part of the Showa Music University Lilly Jazz Orchestra and became the first woman in history to receive the Outstanding Soloist Award. After graduating from the Showa Music University Jazz Course last year, she pursued her career in becoming a professional musician.

Makoto Kuriya(p)

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Piano, Composer and Arranger. After graduating from West Virginia University in the United States, he worked as a jazz pianist on the East Coast. He has collaborated with many masters, including Grammy Award-winning Chuck Mangione, and performed with artists such as James Moody and Donald Byrd. He is currently based in Tokyo and performs worldwide, including various European countries, Australia, Brazil, India, Morocco, Egypt, Indonesia, and Taiwan. He also arranged and composed music for pop artists such as Ken Hirai and Aki Yashiro, as well as TV theme songs and film music. He is in charge of the theme song for BS-TBS's "News 1930" as well as BS Nittele's "Tonight☆Jazzy!" He is also known as one of the pianists for the soundtrack of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series.

Sanshiro（sax）

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Saxophonist (composer, arranger, vocalist)
After graduating from Berklee College of Music, he expanded his street performance activities based in New York, performing in Boston, Paris, and London. In Japan, his street performances in Shibuya gained national attention and were featured on television. He made his album debut with CBS/Sony. Since then, he has released 30 CD album titles. He also played and released albums in Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Currently, he continues to perform nationwide while producing albums and contributes in music education.

Brent Nussey(b)

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Born in Canada. Bassist. Graduated Berklee College of Music in Boston. Studied under Wit Brown and Ray Brown. Moving to New York, he performed with various renowned musicians such as James Williams, Diana Krall, Javon Jackson, and Eddie Henderson. In 1997 he landed in Japan, and since then he has been active among jazz musicians including Akiko, Yoichi Kobayashi, Yoshihiro Arita, Hideaki Yoshioka, and Seiichi Nakamura, as well as classical performers such as Shigenori Kudo, Masayo Amatani, and Masahiro Saito. He has collaborated with popular musicians such as Kazuhiko Kato, Konosuke Sakazaki, and Koichi Matsuda 'Ari', and has energetically performed with visiting musicians including Lou Tabakin, Benny Powell, Sophie Milman, and Nicole Henry.

Daniel Baeder（dr）

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Born in São Paulo, Brazil. Joined the famous Brazilian rock fusion band "O TERÇO" at the age of 19. Participated as a drummer in Cirque du Soleil's first Brazilian work, "OVO," touring around the world. Later, toured across the United States as the first Brazilian bandmaster drummer of Cirque du Soleil. Later moved to Japan, where he is currently developing his own projects. While performing in jazz clubs throughout Japan, he is also developing connectivity and multimedia works using Ableton, Max, Lemur, and VDMX for the entertainment industry. He works as a videographer, arranger, composer, and performer.

The Bean Tones

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A vocal jazz quartet that performs original arrangements and a variety of classic and contemporary music covers. Founded in 2018 while studying at Berklee College of Music, they started as a barbershop quartet and later transitioned to primarily perform vocal jazz arrangements. In 2022, they served as the opening act for the legendary vocal group The Four Freshmen at an international convention. Currently based in Los Angeles, a video they created in 2023 with their own arrangement of the forgotten jazz song "A Trout, No Doubt" generated buzz on the social media circuit with over 3 million viewers. This led them to gain 90,000 followers, and their new videos are complimented each time they are posted on TikTok and Instagram, with a cume viewership reaching hundreds of thousands into the millions. While inheriting traditional vocal styles of the 40s and 50s inspired by The Beach Boys, The Hi-Lo's, The Pied Pipers, and The Four Freshmen, they blend their unique charm and sound to create a new musical experience.

EYRIE

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Eyrie is a music project that explores music beyond genres, through piano duet and drums by Eiko Suzuki and Rina Kohmoto. After their debut live performance at Fuji Rock 21 music festival, they have participated in music festivals throughout Japan, resonating with a diverse audience from rock, metal, to jazz through their aggressive performances and unique style of switching between genres. In 2024, they made their major debut with the album "Phoenix" to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix" series.

Japan Aviation Academy Taiko Group

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Since its inception, the Japan Aviation High School Taiko Club has celebrated their 45th anniversary. Their main performance pieces are original compositions based on the school spirit of "Freedom and Discipline". They also arrange and perform popular tunes incorporating traditional Japanese Taiko drums. Major awards received by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award and the Agency for Cultural Affairs Director-General's Award at the National High School Arts and Culture Festival organized by the Yamanashi Prefectural High School Cultural Federation. In addition, they won Japan's best in "Taiko Festival Japan Championship" organized by the Taiko Association six times for five consecutive years. Each beat is played with passion and devotion.

Yamanakako Junior High School BLUE LAKE BEAT

BLUE LAKE BEAT is the only junior high school big band in Yamanashi Prefecture. This marks the 27th year since they became active in playing jazz. Their main activities include an annual concert held each summer, performances at local events, student jazz contests, and other music festivals. They strive to provide a performance that the audience enjoys, a blessing on account of daily practice.

Fuji Gakuen Junior High and High School Moon Inlet Sounds Orchestra

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Established in 2003 as the first high school jazz club in Yamanashi prefecture. Primarily centered around the 'Recital' held in autumn, they run five events a year. They actively participate in contests and nationwide jazz festivals and made seven appearances in the finals of the 'Asakusa Jazz Contest,' winning both the 'Gold Prize' and the 'Asakusa Jazz Prize.' At the 29th event, they became the first high school band to receive the highest award, the 'Grand Prize.' They were also invited to perform at the '40th Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest.' They have experienced significant shows such as the performance for His Imperial Highness and participated in the Japan-ASEAN Special Leaders' Summit program, collaborating with many famous musicians such as the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and Hiromi Uehara. They received the '52nd Yamato Kai Award,' 'Fujiyoshida City Cultural Encouragement Award,' and '20th Fuyo Cultural Award.' In recent years, they have been invited to perform at 'Tokyo Big Sight' venue and 'Japan Medical Association Hall, as well as a joint live show with 'Katsuhira Uchibori Big Band' at Akasaka B-flat.

Institute of Science Tokyo Los Guaracheros

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Los Guaracheros is a Latin jazz big band circle affiliated with Tokyo University of Science. Latin jazz is music that originated in Central and South America, infused with jazz elements such as improvisation and complex harmonies. Los Guaracheros incorporates Latin percussion instruments like Bongos, Congas, and Timbales into the typical big band arrangement, delivering a vibrant and lively performance.

Yokosuka Honmachi Big Band Orchestra

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Formed in June 2024 by members active in Yokosuka. They made a spectacular debut at the 2024 Fuji Five Lakes Jazz Festival. Since then, they have appeared at local events and live club circuits around Yokosuka, with rave reviews.

RB-REUNION

Based in Tokyo, RB-Reuniona is a male-female twin vocal happy band RB-Happy’s, and the mellow fusion band Uno, Dos, Tres, from the Kansai region paying tribute to David Sanborn. They will perform along the Lake Yamanaka shoreline. What kind of sounds will emerge from these members who all 'love music, drinks, and friends'? RB-Happy’s performs classics with a focus on R&B, Soul, Latin, and AOR.