was a Japanese

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

player and band leader nicknamed the "Benny Goodman of Japan".

Life

Shoji Suzuki was born in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

City,

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

. His father Saburo was a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

player who performed in an orchestra that accompanied silent films. His elder brother Toshio was a

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

player, and his younger brothers both Koich and Masao were clarinet and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

players. Shoji Suzuki started his professional musician life as an alto saxophone player for a cabaret in 1947. Then he was also a member of Toriro Miki's Band formed by Toriro Miki. He entered Azumanians that was a jazz clarinet player Matsujiro Azuma's band in 1949, he came under the influence of Matsujiro Azuma and became a jazz clarinet player. He entered Hachiro Matsui And Tokyo Jive in 1950. After he played and learned

dixieland jazz Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

Fumio Nanri was a Japanese jazz trumpeter nicknamed the "Satchmo of Japan" by Louis Armstrong. He was one of Japan's first jazz musicians to become known outside his native country. A long-standing prestigious music award, "The Fumio Nanri Award", was named ...

And His Hot Peppers, he entered Misao Ikeda's Rhythm Kings. He formed his band Rhythm Aces with a

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

player Saburo Nambe, a piano player Yoshitaka Akimitsu, a

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

player

Isamu Harada is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Isamu can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *勇, "courage" or "bravery" *勲, "merit" *敢, "gallantry" *武, "war" The name can also be written in hiragana or katakan ...

and so on in 1953.

Shoji Suzuki And Rhythm Aces activity

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

's Band came to Tokyo Japan in January 1957, Benny Goodman and

Peanuts Hucko Michael Andrew "Peanuts" Hucko (April 7, 1918 – June 19, 2003) was an American big band musician. His primary instrument was the clarinet, but he sometimes played saxophone. Early life and education He was born in Syracuse, New York, United St ...

, the lead alto saxophone player of Benny Goodman's Band, listened to Shoji Suzuki And Rhythm Aces playing in a club in

Ginza Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo ...

, Tokyo. Benny Goodman acclaimed that he was an excellent star with a personality of his own. Peanuts Hucko favored "Suzukake No Michi" that Shoji Suzuki And Rhythm Aces was playing, Peanuts Hucko as a clarinet player attended Shoji Suzuki And Rhythm Aces recording and recorded "Suzukake No Michi" (, means "Platanus Road") at the Radio Tokyo Hall in

Yūrakuchō is a business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, situated in between the Ginza and Hibiya Park, southeast of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. The district takes its name from Oda Nagamasu (1547–1622), who was also known as Yūraku (有楽). Oda Naga ...

, Tokyo, on January 17, 1957. This recording broke the record of jazz record sales in Japan. By this opportunity, Shoji Suzuki And Rhythm Aces increased in further popularity, they played at

Eddie Condon Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. He also owned a self-named night club in New York City. Early ...

's Club in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

during three weeks in 1966 and realized to hold a concert at the

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in 1982. Shoji Suzuki died on September 10, 1995, in Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Shoji Swing clarinetists Japanese jazz bandleaders 1932 births 1995 deaths Musicians from Yokohama 20th-century Japanese musicians