Tsuyoshi's first horn was the trumpet, which he picked up at the age of 10. He switched to the trombone at 12, and finally settled with the saxophone at 15. He instantly got obsessed with the alto sax for its tone, for its mechanism and for its capacity to express his ideas. Back in high school, he performed jazz from many decades, like Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Weather Report, Chick Corea, etc. At 19, he became a soprano saxophonist. After graduating a college in Japan with a chemistry degree, Tsuyoshi moved to New York in 1995 to study jazz. With masters like Dave Liebman, Reggie Workman, Arnie Lawrence, Phil Markowitz, Makanda Ken McIntyre and George Garzone, Tsuyoshi acquired not only 'chops', but extensive understanding of music as a language and many compositional techniques. His intellectual urge led him to form a quartet, with which he performed in various NY venues for six years. He recorded his first album "Sequence X" in 1997. The CD consists of all originl compositions except Bye Bye Blackbird arranged to 5/4. His second CD, "Internal Dance" featured even more original tunes with arranged versions of Speak Low and Soul Eyes. In 2003, when his musician friend, Amalia Gre from Italy signed a contract, he flew to Rome and recorded her first CD. A half year later, he moved to Italy and toured with her band for four months playing over 30 cities. In Rome, he got his own contract. His third CD, "Internal Dance (Alfamusic Edition)" was released in Italy. Tsuyoshi came back to Tokyo in 2004. He has been performing for many venues in Tokyo as well as Japanese radio shows.
The 14th Tokyo Science Symposium's pre-event
"A Concert for Peace"
2nd Set.
1. Guitar & Soprano Sax Duo (25 minutes)
Masashi Sonoda (guitar)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
plays "Turn out the stars" (Bill Evans), "Nana" (from Seven Spanish Folk Songs), etc.
Date/Time: Saturday, November 24, 2007. Open 5:00 p.m/ Start 5:30 p.m.
Location: Hitotsubashi University Sano-Shoin (10 minute from JR Chuo Line Kokubunji Station south exit)
Admission: 2000 yen
Date: Monday, October 15th, 2007.
Location: Shinbashi "Someday" (Tokyo, Japan)
Admission: 3150 yen.
Personnel:
Yutaka Uchida (drums)
Danny Zanker (bass)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Akiko Grace (piano)
For more info, visit http://someday.net/english/english-index.html
Date: Sunday, October 14th, 2007.
Location: Sakuragi-cho "Dolphy" (Yokohama, Japan)
Admission: 3800 yen (door) / 3500 yen (advance).
Personnel:
Yutaka Uchida (drums)
Danny Zanker (bass)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Akiko Grace (piano)
For more info, visit http://www.dolphy-jazzspot.com/live_schedule2007_10.html
Date: Friday, October 12th, 2007.
Location: Hamamatsu "CRYSTAL" (Shizuoka, Japan)
Admission: 3000 yen.
Personnel:
Yutaka Uchida (drums)
Danny Zanker (bass)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
For more info, visit http://crystaljazz.web.fc2.com/index.html
Featured Artist: AMICA
Date/Time: Saturday, March 17th, 2007. 5:30 p.m.-
Venue: Iwata Bunka Shinko Center (Iwata-shi/Shizuoka Pref/Japan)
Admission: 1,000 yen
Personnel:
amica (v&p)
Danny Zanker (b)
Naoto Sugai (d)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
YOLITA (percussion)
Featured Artist: AMICA
Date/Time: Friday, March 16th, 2007. 7:00 p.m.
Venue: Mike's Paradise (Minami-Aoyama/Tokyo/Japan)
Admission: 2,000 yen
Personnel:
amica (v&p)
Danny Zanker (b)
Naoto Sugai (d)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
YOLITA (percussion)
Group: MATTHEW
Date/Time: Tuesday February 6th, 2007 between 8:00 p.m and 10:00 p.m. (2 sets).
Venue: LADY DAY(Nerima-Kasuga-Cho/Tokyo/Japan)
Admission: 2200 yen plus one drink minimum.
Personnel:
Matt Richelson(vo,g)
Chris Jones(b)
Masumi Jones (ds)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Group: MATTHEW
Date/Time: Sunday February 4th, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.
Venue: Koendori Classics(Shibuya/Tokyo/Japan)
Admission: 1500 yen, kids free.
Personnel:
Matt Richelson(vo,g)
Chris Jones(b)
Masumi Jones (ds)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax), Juan Alzate (tenor/soprano sax), Mario Patro'n (piano), Iva'n Lara (bass), Efre'n Capiz (drums)
| Tracks | Buy MP3 (Quality: Medium) | Buy CD (Quality: High) |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Internal Dance 2. You Don't Know What Love Is 3. No Sentimental Title 4. Missing You 5. Umbrella Waltz 6. Deja Vu 8. Geologists' Blues All composed by Tsuyoshi Niwa, except 2:Raye/DePaul and 6:Kurt Weill |
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(Minami Aoyama "Mandala", 2004/8/12)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax), Kiyoshi Mizushita, Susumu Tanimoto, Takako Yamamura
Photo by Ryuichi Numata
(@ Todo con Nada Show World, New York, 2002/6/1)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Ian Riggs (bass)
Darren Beckett (drums)
| Tracks | Buy MP3 (Quality: Medium) | Buy CD (Quality: High) |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Internal Dance 2. Time For Astronomy 3. No Sentimental Title 4. Soul Eyes 5. Speak Low 6. Deja Vu 7. Two Moons 8. Missing You all composed by Tsuyoshi Niwa except 4:Mal Waldron and 5:Kurt Weill |
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Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Leo Tardin (piano)
Ian Riggs (bass)
Otis Brown III (drums)
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Phil Markowitz (piano)
Tony Marino (bass)
Matt Wilson (drums)
Personnel
Tsuyoshi Niwa (soprano sax)
Phil Markowitz (piano)
Tony Marino (bass)
Matt Wilson (drums)
| Tracks | Buy MP3 (Quality: Medium) | Buy CD (Quality: High) |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Sequence X 2. Catherine 3. Bye Bye Blackbird 4. Da Vinci's Dream 5. Vortex 6. Awry Picture 7. Dream Flight 8. Fragility 9. epilogue All composed by Tsuyoshi Niwa, except #3: Dixon-Henderson |
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Horn: Julius Keilwerth CX soprano saxophone
Mouthpiece: Jake
Ligature: Vandolen Optimum Ligature V5 for soprano saxophone
Reed: Gonzalez 2 1/2
