Akio Sasajima’s Jazz Guitar Masterclass

Guitarist, Akio Sasajima, who has played and recorded with heavyweights such as Joe Henderson, Ron Carter and Victor Lewis, will kindly present his music and deliver a Jazz Guitar Masterclass at JZ School on July 11th at 4pm.

All are welcome, especially guitarists, who are encouraged to bring their instruments

Profile:

Akio was born in Hokkaido, Japan and started playing guitar in high school.  He began playing pop rock guitar of the day such as The Beatles and The Ventures, but when he was 18 he heard Bossa Nova music, which led him to jazz guitarist giant Wes Montgomery.   Akio started playing at local jazz coffee shops in Sapporo, where saxophonist Sadao Watanabe heard him play; he encouraged Akio to move to Tokyo.  Akio worked in Tokyo for a year and in 1977 he moved to the U.S. and made Chicago his home base. After playing at the first Chicago Jazz Festival in 1979, he became one of the busiest jazz guitarists in the Chicago jazz scene.  In 1988 he made his first leader album for Muse Records, which featured one of the jazz greats, Joe Henderson.  The album was well-received worldwide.  In 1989, he made another leader album with bassist Harvie S (formerly Harvie Swartz) and drummer Victor Lewis.  Then in 1991, he made an ambitious duo album with Ron Carter entitled “Akioustically Sound” (Muse).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akio_Sasajima