Jazz
As
Pure
Spirit
Akira Ando
and
The JAPS
The JAPS are a group of artists who, looking at the past, are striving for a better future.
Akira Ando
Contrabass
Born in Sapporo, Japan, in 1955, he is a contrabassist, cellist and composer of a wide variety of music. He started his career as a musician in the seventies in clubs around Tokyo. Between 1984 and 1998 he lived in New York, and worked with various loft musicians as Cecil Taylor (Godfather of Free Jazz), Billy Bang (Afro-American violinist), William Parker (bassist, composer, band leader). He also played with a salsa band and jazz bands of almost every genre.
Living in Berlin since 1998 as a freelance musician, he is part of the creative jazz scene, playing with Takabanda, Abrasaz, Boom Box, The New Trio, as well as other renowned musicians here and abroad.
In 2011 he founded his own group “The JAPS “ (Jazz As Pure Spirit) with mostly Japanese artists.
In recent years, Akira has been organizing several music and dance performances such as "Time Flies", "Der Sechste Sinn", "Licht und Schatten" , "Zwischen Himmel und Erde". In 2014 he was the main organizer of the event “Fukushima the Aftermath” in cooperation with the museum Story of Berlin, again performed in 2016 at the Werkstatt der Kulturen, Berlin, on occasion of the fifth anniversary of the incident at Fukushima.
In addition to his performing and composing activities he contributes his experience as a contrabassist / e-bassist teaching at the Music School Neuruppin.
Han Sato
Tenorsaxophone, Sopranosaxophone
Born in Tokyo in 1973 and grown up in Shizuoka, he started playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen.
After moving to Tokyo in 1992, he energetically pursued his career, devoting himself to sessions with hundreds of musicians. Between 1996 and 2004 he joined various live bands (among them “Nishio Ken-ichi Group”, “Hiroki Koichi Band”, Furusawa Ryojiro’s band “Ne”, "radukaquartet" by Minakami Akira, the jazz orchestra “Kanai Hideto Group”), as well as organized his own (“Tokyo Han’s”, “Yellow Card Orchestra”, both based in Tokyo). During this time he also gave workshops, all the while playing all over Japan.
As a member of “ShibusaShirazu” since 2004, a worldwide-known underground jazz orchestra, he performed on several tours mainly throughout Europe and Russia between 2005 and 2012.
On CD Han appeared with "ShibusaShirazu" .
He has been one of the original members of the JAPS, and his energetic sax play is one of their trademarks.
For fan details please check Han's Facebook Account.
Zam Johnson
Drums
Born in Los Angeles, California. As a young boy, he started painting with his father, who was also an artist. He started taking painting seriously in the early eighties. Thru the late eighties Zam showed at various underground galleries; best known: Roger Wong Gallery and also at the Doctor Gene Scott Gallery. But then he moved more toward becoming one of the top musician of Los Angeles.
Zam came to Berlin in 1987 to write music for an independent movie.
His career took off as a very in demand composer for theater, film scores, live concert work. In between this time he showed his paintings at Carla Fuehr Gallery in Munich; till 1995. In 2000 he started painting again and working on new ideas.
In 2004 Norton Wisdom and Bob Rutmann saw his work, and out off the great response, he had a show in May 2005 at the Showcase Gallery in Berlin, and in September 2006 in Berlin´s Galeries Lecoq. Through Norton Wisdom´s connection to Saiid Tlemcani, owner of the Galerie d`Art in Casablanca / Morocco who saw his paintings in the internet ,he got another show in May 2006 which was a big success. Until now Zam has produced a lot of different size paintings; oil on canvas; paper drawings; acrylic on canvas; etc.
For the JAPS he has been contributing his multifaceted talent to the whole creative expression of the group not only as a drummer but also as an artist with a wealth of experience. http://www.zamjohnson.com/
Izumi Ose
Piano, Voice
Born in Gifu, Japan. She started piano lessons at 6 years old. Started her career as melodica player in 1996. Played in Makoto Nomura's melodica orchestra "P-blot" and other bands mainly in Tokyo. Moved to Berlin in 2003 and joined many improvisational sessions as vocalist and melodica player with her unique voice technique. Toured to Poland, Romania, Austria, Netherland, France. Also joined in dance performances and opera as performer. While her style is focused on free improvisation, it has been influenced also by free jazz and Japanese folklore.
Her ability to play everything from serious music to Japanese folk songs made her a very interesting and obvious choice when it came to complementing the JAPS with a piano player / vocalist.
Felix Komoll
Flute
Felix Komoll has been playing flute with "The JAPS" for a while now.
Born in Berlin in 1970, he started making music at the age of sixteen. While studying the classical guitar with Siegfried Behrend, immediately he sought to expand his horizon, and traveled - across places and musical traditions - through different influences, learned different styles of guitar playing from masters as diverse as Carlo Domeniconi and Ferenc Snetberger, held a scholarship at the Rubin Academy for Music and Dance of the University of Jerusalem, performed with Sebastiao Tapajos, Abdouramane Diop, Stanislaw Michalak, Akira Ando, and many other renowned musicians. The flute has always been his second instrument of equal importance, serving, especially for his compositions, as a source of inspiration. He feels that both his instruments of choice complement each other extremely well. The JAPS appreciate his virtuosity and welcome the "Japanese sound" of his flute.
Shiomi Kawaguchi
