Yosuke Yamashita

From childhood onward, Yamashita devoted himself to piano studies and launched his professional career at seventeen. Between 1962 and 1967 he pursued formal training at Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo and spent a period performing alongside saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. In 1969 he assembled a bassless trio whose Bill Evans-inspired approach soon embraced free jazz—an especially bold move within Japan’s then-conservative jazz community. Throughout the 1970s the group traveled extensively, appearing at prominent European gatherings such as the Berlin and Montreux jazz festivals. Yamashita made his American debut at the 1979 Newport Jazz Festival and, around the same period, documented sessions with musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. During the 1980s he shifted toward regular solo recitals while also exploring new textures by collaborating with Japanese and Korean percussionists and weaving adaptations of classical repertoire into his programs. Over the years he has partnered with numerous internationally renowned figures, among them Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Bill Laswell, Mal Waldron, and Lester Bowie. His first engagement at New York’s Sweet Basil nightclub occurred in 1985, initiating a long series of annual visits. He also established an “American” trio featuring bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Pheeroan akLaff, which served as his principal Stateside ensemble. In the 1990s several albums appeared on Verve; in 1994 he performed unaccompanied at the label’s fiftieth-anniversary concert held at Carnegie Hall. More than forty recordings to date stand alongside his work as an essayist and author of multiple books.