Tetsuo Sakurai Archives

Tetsuo Sakurai’s muscular slap tone and rhythmic precision stand out in Casiopea’s 1985 concert, played on a wildly modified headless Yamaha five string.

One of my favorite bands since my teen years is jazz-fusion band Casiopea. When I first heard the track "Mid-Manhattan", I was instantly hooked. Here’s the band performing “Mid-Manhattan” at Blues Alley in Japan.

Here is a video of bassist Tetsuo Sakurai performing a solo piece that sounds like it just landed from outer-space. His Moog-like effects and high chord progressions give a very ambient alien feel, especially since all of that is coming from his bass! Sakurai has 37 albums from working with Casiopea, Jimsaku and as a solo artist.