Harish Raghavan (bass）

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For more than a decade, bassist-composer Harish Raghavan has helped lay the foundation for a thriving generation of artists. The Thelonious Monk Competition semifinalist garners acclaim as a sound architect for myriad original projects, from Ambrose Akinmusire’s to Charles Lloyd. Other longtime collaborators include Logan Richardson, Vijay Iyer, Gerald Clayton, Eric Harland, Taylor Eigsti and Walter Smith III.

Born in Chicago, the New York-based artist transitioned from Mridanga to bass at age 16. His appetite for mingling lineages has allowed him to craft an inclusive, deeply personal artistry. Raghavan’s debut album Calls for Action (Whirlwind Recordings) reflects his development as a composer and band leader. Fifteen original tracks serve as a cohesive narrative for the album, as well as stand- alone suites on either side of its vinyl release.

Raghavan received his Bachelor of Science in Music from USC — where he studied under John Clayton and Dave Carpenter, and later with Robert Hurst — and has become a highly sought educator. Teaching credits include Stanford Jazz Workshop, The New School, Siena Jazz Workshop, Banff and Centrum Jazz Workshop. He also appears regularly on the international festival circuit.

In 2021 be on the lookout for his follow-up to Calls for Action (Whirlwind Recordings) In Tents, featuring Joel Ross on Vibraphone, Morgan Guerin on woodwinds and EWI, Eric Harland on drums , and Charles Altura on Guitar.

Joel Ross (Vibraphone)

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For the past several years, Joel Ross has been refining an expression that’s true to his sound and his generation. In 2019, the vibraphonist-composer released his anticipated Blue Note debut KingMaker to eruptive critical acclaim. He’s topped the DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star category for vibraphone and in 2017, he became one of the youngest artists to receive a coveted Residency Commission from The Jazz Gallery. With the release of Who Are You? (Blue Note, 2020), Ross shares the culmination of a year-long exercise in experimenting and risk-taking on and off the bandstand.
Inspired by mentor Stefon Harris’ empathetic, whole-self approach to articulation, Ross has adopted an entire ethos dependent on truthful, ongoing communication. Honesty persists throughout his sets. And with each release, he reaffirms a commitment to authentic discourse, particularly among the members of his band Good Vibes: Jeremy Corren, Immanuel Wilkins, Kanoa Mendenhall and Jeremy Dutton.

Aaron Parks (piano)

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Pianist Aaron Parks is a forward-thinking jazz musician who came to the public's attention during his time with trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Born in Seattle, Washington, Parks began playing piano at a young age and by the time he was 14 had enrolled in an early entrance degree program at the University of Washington. Originally, Parks pursued both science and music degrees; however, his prodigious talent won out and by age 16 he had transferred to the Manhattan School of Music. While there, he studied with noted pianist Kenny Barron and received several competitive accolades, including being named the 2001 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association. At age 18 he joined Blanchard's ensemble and subsequently recorded four albums with the veteran trumpeter, including 2003's Bounce, 2005's Flow, the soundtrack to the 2006 Spike Lee film Inside Man, and Blanchard's 2007 Grammy-winning opus A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina). Besides playing with Blanchard, Parks has performed with a variety of artists including trumpeter Christian Scott, drummer Kendrick Scott, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, and others. Parks has released several albums under his own name, including his 2008 Blue Note debut, Invisible Cinema. Parks, who has also recorded with Christian Scott, Kendrick Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, was an integral part of the James Farm Quartet with Joshua Redman, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland. Nonesuch released their self-titled album in 2011. The pianist subsequently signed to ECM and released the solo piano offering Arborescence in the fall of 2013. He also made sideman appearances on Will Vinson's Live at Smalls and Yeahwon Shin's Lua Ya, and Live in Japan with his own trio of Thomas Morgan and RJ Miller. It was recorded on the pianist's phone during a show and released for free on his Bandcamp page. Find the Way, his sophomore label date for ECM, was issued in late spring of 2017. It featured bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart in the rhythm section and was inspired in part (according to Parks) by the music of Alice Coltrane and Shirley Horn (for whom Hart played); both of whom prioritized space and subtlety in composition and improvisation.

Takuya Kuroda (Trumpet)

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First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome aboard Takuya Kuroda. 

A highly-respected trumpeter born in Kobe, Japan, Takuya is a forward-thinking musician that has developed a unique hybrid sound, blending soulful jazz, funk, post-bop, fusion and hip hop music. 

After following the footsteps of his trombonist brother playing in big bands, he relocated to New York to study jazz & contemporary music at The New School in Union Square; a course he graduated from in the mid-noughties. It was here that Takuya met vocalist José James, with whom he worked on the 'Blackmagic' and 'No Beginning No End' projects. 

Following graduation, Takuya established himself further in the NYC jazz scene, performing with the likes of Akoya Afrobeat and in recent years with DJ Premier's BADDER band (also including acclaimed bass player, Brady Watt). Premier said "The BADDER Band project was put together by my manager, and an agent I've known since the beginning of my Gang Starr career. He said, 'What if you put a band together that revolved around a trumpet player from Japan named Takuya Kuroda? He's got a hip-hop perspective and respect in thejazz field…" 

Takuya Kuroda is already incredibly prolific, releasing five albums in the past decade and fortifying a solid reputation in the global jazz scene. 2011 saw the release of Takuya's independently-produced debut album, 'Edge', followed by 'Bitter and High' the following year and 'Six Aces' on P-Vine in 2013. Takuya was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2014 for his album 'Rising Son', as well as appearing on their 2019 cover versions project, 'Blue Note Voyage'. He released his 5th album 'Zigzagger' on Concord in 2016, which also featured Antibalas on a reimagining of the Donald Byrd classic 'Think Twice'. 

Late Summer 2020, Takuya Kuroda returns with his sixth album 'Fly Moon Die Soon'. 

In his words, "this album is about the irony between the greatness of nature and the beautiful obsceneness of humanity. Melodies and grooves fly back and forth from being spiritual to bein g vulgar." 

It took two years to make this album. In 2018, I decided I just couldn't make albums the same way I had been in the past anymore. As a birthday treat to myself, I booked a studio in Brooklyn for two days, with only myself and an engineer, Todd Carder. I brought along some tracks I'd been building at home to see if we could complete them within that time. We began replacing sounds and adding texture, sampling noises from all over the studio; me sipping coffee, hitting a 26" kick drum, speeding up snares. At the end of the two days we were like "wow, I didn't know we could make tracks this good in this way". This is how the process of the full album started. Everything was based on my beats I made at home, inviting musicians in one by one, adding or replacing parts. I was very careful when developing these tracks; just note by note, part by part. I wanted to make the music effectively from a blend of two different recording methods; one very slickly produced part and one very organic part played by live musicians. I remember mixtapes from when I was kid, and wanted to make an album that wasn't just a bunch of flashy singles, trying to catch people's attention in the first 30 seconds, or full of guest features. Instead, I'm essentially just trying to let the grooves breath." 

The album consists of nine tracks of excellence. The uptempo jazz-funk of 'ABC' and 'Moody' sit alongside soulful jazz cuts like 'Fade' and 'CHANGE', also featuring Corey King on vocals. The title track is a downtempo groove lead by a heavy Moog bassline, whilst 'Do No Why' contains an infectious piano riff throughout. Aside from Takuya's original compositions, he revisits two classics from Ohio Players ('Sweet Sticky Thing' featuring Alina Engibaryan on vocals) and Herbie Hancock ('Tell Me A Bedtime Story') whilst the album closes with the epic 'TKBK'. 

Takuya Kuroda is a truly unique talent, and this album is a realisation of the evolution of his sound. 

Takeshi Ohbayashi (p & Keys)

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A native of Hiroshima, Japan, Takeshi Ohbayashi began playing piano at the age of two.
Ohbayashi studied film scoring and composition at Tokyo College of Music, but it was not until he attended a jazz piano clinic during his freshman year, that he found his calling to jazz. He was awarded a scholarship to the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he began his studies in 2007. Following this, Ohbayashi was awarded the Best Player Award and the Audience’s Favorite Award in the 2009 Yokohama Jazz Competition. In Fall 2009, Ohbayashi was selected to be a part of the opening class of the honorable Berklee Global Jazz Institute, led by Danilo Perez. During his time in the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, Ohbayashi performed and taught alongside world class musicians in music clinics around the world.
Ohbayashi graduated from Berklee in 2011 and currently resides in New York City where he leads his own trio and co-leads the New Century Jazz Quintet, with Grammy award winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. Ohbayashi quickly garnered reputation as an in demand pianist/keyboardist between world class jazz musicians in New York City. Some of the notables that Ohbayashi has played with internationally include Takuya Kuroda, Jose James, Terri Lyne Carrington, Hailey Niswanger, Charles Turner III, Felix Peikli. Ohbayashi performs both as a sideman and leader regularly at New York jazz staples such as: Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Small's and Smoke, to name a few. Frequently on tour, Ohbayashi has traveled domestically and internationally to over 30 different countries with a myriad of NYC based artists. In 2016, Ohbayashi received 1st place at the Jacksonville Piano Competition, being the first Japanese pianist in history to do so. That same year, New Century Jazz Quintet won the DCJazzPrix at the DC Jazz Festival. 
In addition to his illustrious performing career, Ohbayashi is also an accomplished and reputable educator. He travels abroad to perform and teach with the tour organized by Jazz at Lincoln Center, JazzReach.
Ohbayashi has released 5 records as a leader. His most recent release, “Manhattan”, has received “Jazz Japan 2016 Album of the Year”

Tomo Kanno (d)

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Born and raised in Japan, Tomoaki began to play the piano at an early age. After years of trying different instruments, he found his passion in the drum-set at the age of 14. Tomoaki started studying music seriously after graduating high school in Japan, and decided to move to New York in 2000 to attend the New School University Jazz and Contempory Music Program. There he studied with people such as: Michael Carvin, Reggie Workman, Richard Boukas, Lenny White, and Jojo Mayer.
After graduating in 2005, Tomoaki has become known for his diversity in jazz, funk, blues and rock. He has shared the stage with Gordon Edwards, Jason Linder, Sam Yahel, Grant Green Jr., Marco Benevent, also played in venues and Jazz festivals such as the Blue Note, 55 Bar, Sweeth Rhythm, High Line Ballroom, Rochester Jazz Festival, Syracuse Jazz Festival, Williamsburg Jazz Festival, Hartford Jazz Festival, Fort Green Music Festival, Long Branch Jazz and Blues Festival, and the Tucson Jazz Society. Tours include Yaz Band Korea tour in 2003, and Chicken Gravy Japan tour in 2007-2008.
He is the regular drummer for the MK Groove Orchestra, Morning Musuko, Beck Burger Group, The Dugger Brothers, and The Last Tribe NYC. He joined the Senri Oe Quintet tour in Japan in fall 2012 and performed at Blue Note Nagoya and Blue Note Tokyo.

Akihiro Nishiguchi (sax)

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A native of Osaka, Japan, Aki Nishiguchi began studying classical piano at the age of five and picked up the saxophone at twelve. After performing regularly in Osaka for several years, Nishiguchi decided to pursue his musical studies overseas.
In 2004, he was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music on scholarship where he studied with legendary musicians and educators Frank Tiberi, George Garzone, Joe Lovano and Hal Crook.
After leaving Berklee, Nishiguchi moved to New York City and quickly ensconced himself in the vibrant N.Y.C. jazz scene.
In 2010, Nishiguchi released the solo album: "Tre Agrable" featuring Uri Gurvich on Alto Sax, Pascal Niggenkempar on bass, Lawrence Fields on Piano and Nick Falk on drums, followed by "PINGO" featuring Daiki Yasukagawa on bass, Hakuei Kim on Piano and Ko Omura on Drums in 2012.
In 2016, Nishiguchi received 1st place at the Detroit Jazz Festival Competition in Yokohama. In 2016, His own group performed at DETROIT INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL in the U.S.A where their performance and repertoire were highly acclaimed by both the audience and the critics.
Nishiguchi currently resides in Tokyo, Japan where he performs both as a sideman and leader. Some of the notables that Nishiguchi has played with internationally include Ron Carter, Takuya Kuroda, Michel Reis, Billy Drummond, Kiyashi Kitagawa, Uri Gurvich, Leo Genovese, Bob Mintzer, Terumasa Hino, Teriver Chang, Aaron Choulai.

Kunpei Nakabayashi (b)

Born in 1981, he joined his high school brass ensmble playing the acoustic bass. In 2003 he won the Moriguchi/Kadoma Jazz Contest 'Grand Prix' award for Best Player.

In 2005 he moved to Tokyo and began playing with Japanese jazz mainstays such as Terumasa Hino, Jiro Yoshida, Takasahi Shimamoto and many others as a sideman.

He also became a member of the Masahiro Sayama Trio, the Jun Furuya Trio, the Eriko Shimizu Trio and the Hikari Ichiara Group.

In 2008 he formed his own quartet, releasing the mini-album 'Graffiti'. He penned all original songs for his second release 'The Times' in 2012, winning both 'Best Instrumental Album' and 'Jazz Person Of The Year' in that year's Jazz Page awards.

He has also collaborated with well known pop singer MISIA in Japan, in addition to appearing at overseas music festivals and contributing to various theater projects.

Kunpei Nakabayashi continues to be one of the most active bassists in Japan, working on diverse musical projects both domestically and internationally.

Miho Hazama　Composer | Arranger | Conductor

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Grammy-nominated composer, Miho Hazama is one of the most promising and talented composers/arrangers of her generation. Lauded in Downbeat as one of “25 for the Future”, Miho developed her signature jazz chamber orchestra “m_unit”. Now having 3 full length releases on Universal Music Japan/ Sunnyside Records, Miho has written for and expertly showcased the abilities of guest artists such as Joshua Redman, Lionel Loueke, Stefon Harris, and Gil Goldstein, to name a few. Her debut album “Journey to Journey” received the Jazz JAPAN rising star award, and she has been featured in such influential publications as Downbeat, The New York Times, NPR, JazzTimes among others.
Composition is her true calling, and in addition to her effort with m_unit, she has created works for many different musical contexts. Most notably, she has composed for Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ashley Bouder Project Ballet Company, Yamaha Symphonic Band, to name a few. Miho became a composer in residence of Siena Wind Orchestra in 2017, and she is a composer of the year 2019 of Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa.
In 2019, Miho took up a post as the chief conductor of Danish Radio Big Band after Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeely, to name a few. Besides DR Big Band, Miho has worked as a conductor with Metropole Orkest, WDR Big Band and Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, to name a few. She is also the Associate Artistic Director of the New York Jazzharmonic.
As an arranger, Miho has worked for many ensembles for concerts, recordings, television and film, including Metropole Orkest, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vince Mendoza, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Shiro Sagisu and many more. 
Miho’s awards and honors include the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize (2015), 24th Idemitsu Music Award (2014), ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award (2011), and she was a Scholarship Recipient of the Manhattan School of Music (2010). She has a degree in classical composition from the Kunitachi College of Music and a masters degree in jazz composition from the Manhattan School of Music, and was honored by the Scholarship Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs.

“…quickly became a talked-about writer and arranger.” - The New York Times
  “...classy large ensemble that keeps the listener guessing and enchanted...something is always lurking and ready to pounce; then skitter away again.”  - Jazz Times
“At a time when orchestral jazz is either ultra- polished, exceedingly high brow, or a pedestrian pandering to sentimental tastes of yore, Hazama’s boldly organic and singularly exciting collective is a breath of fresh air. Her uncanny ability to remain intellectually stimulating and vibrantly spirited is what makes her work singularly innovative.” - All About Jazz