Free Jazz: Akira Sakata Quartet

A representative Japanese free jazz saxophonist and composer, he has been active since 1970, composing across jazz, rock, and free improvisation. He has collaborated with many legendary jazz and improvisation musicians. He began his career with the Yosuke Yamashita Trio, forming the "Wha ha ha" and "Sakata Trio" in 1980, the "Flying Mijinko Band" in 1996, and his solo label "Daphnia" in 2004. Akira Sakata has recorded over 100 albums and has been active in recent years, touring Japan and Europe. He has collaborated with many masters of free jazz and improvisation, including Peter Brotzmann, Peter Kowald, Han Bennink, John Zorn, Jim O'Rourke, and many others. He is truly a legend in the Japanese music industry.

Yong Yandsen is a free jazz and improvised saxophonist from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Yandsen has released albums through LaoBan Records, XingWu and Herbal Records in Malaysia, Utech Records (USA), Dream Sheep (Italy), and his solo debut on vinyl through Doubtful Sound (France). Yandsen, Darren Moore, and Brian O'Reilly formed the improvised trio called Game of Patience. He joined another trio with Christian Meaas Svendsen and Paal Nilssen-Love. Yandsen has also done several solo tours to Japan and Taiwan. He co-founded a Malaysian record label, LaoBan Records, to release contemporary improvised music.

Born in Sapporo in 1979, Takashi Seo is one of the most active and in-demand bass players on the Tokyo Jazz scene. He performs regularly with Fumio Itabashi Trio (FIT) and Orchestra and Big Foot with Akira Sakata, Darren Moore, and Yong Yandsen. Takashi has also performed with Tristan Honginger (cello) in "House of Wasps," Takaoka Daisuke (tuba) in Dead Man's Liquor, Watanabe Takao (tp) in Overflow 4, and Hosoi Tokutaro in the group DNA. In addition, he has collaborated with Achim Kaufmann (pf), Simon Nabatov (pf), Yoshiyuki Harada (pf), Aki Takase (pf), Shohiro Ito (pf), Shuichi Chino (pf), Eiichi Hayashi (as), Akira Sakata (as), Toru Saito (cb), Atsuta Oyama (ds) and duo with tap Dancer Reona. With a unique approach and inquiring mind, Takashi aims to play beyond genres.

Darren Moore is a drummer and improviser who plays jazz, free jazz, and experimental music. He is mainly active in Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia, performing regularly throughout the region with leading improvisers. Darren is the cellF project's musical director, a multi-disciplinary collaboration to create the world's first neural synthesizer. Darren lives in Singapore where he co-runs experimental music label LaoBan Records and works at Lasalle College of the Arts as a Senior Lecturer in Popular Music.