Takeshi Itō (伊東毅 or 伊東たけし, ''Itō Takeshi''; born March 15, 1954) is a Japanese

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

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

and flute player. He is currently a part of the jazz fusion band

T-Square A T-square is a technical drawing instrument used by draftsmen primarily as a guide for drawing horizontal lines on a drafting table. The instrument is named after its resemblance to the letter T, with a long shaft called the "blade" and a s ...

Biography

Early life and career

Itō had been interested in music since he was a child, leaning how to play

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 ...

and

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 ...

. At Momochi Junior High School, he joined a

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

with a

euphonium The euphonium ( ; ; ) is a tenor- and baritone-voiced valved brass instrument. The euphonium is a member of the large family of valved bugles, along with the tuba and flugelhorn, characterised by a wide conical bore. Most instruments have thr ...

and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

. He entered Seinan Gakuin High School and chose to become a flute player, but after reading Sadao Watanabe 's autobiography, ''Boku Jishin no Tame no Jazz'', he turned to

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

. He entered the Nihon University College of Art and belonged to the Rhythm Society Orchestra. At the same time, he joined the bands Witch Hunt and Last Day. The drummer of Witch Hunt, Michael Seiichi Kawai, was also the drummer for a band called The Square, led by guitarist Masahiro Andō, and Itō made guest appearances due to this connection. After the disbandment of Witch Hunt, he joined The Square in 1977.

Debut and T-Square

In 1984, he released his debut album, ''Dear Hearts''. In 1985, he released his second album ''L7''. In 1990, he left T-Square to pursue a solo career, but returned to the band in late 2000. Around the time of his return, T-Square had split into two separate groups: Trio The Square (with bassist Mitsuru Sutō, drummer Hiroyuki Noritake and keyboardist Keiji Matsumoto) and T-Square (with Itō, guitarist Masahiro Andō and session musicians). From 2004 and onward, T-Square relied on newer, now Full-time band members. In 2014, he released the album ''Favorites'', his first solo album in seven years. In 2021, Masahiro Ando left T-Square, effectively making Takeshi Itoh the band's leader.

Discography

Studio albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Itoh, Takeshi Japanese jazz flautists Japanese jazz saxophonists Living people 1954 births 20th-century Japanese musicians 20th-century Japanese flautists