| T-Square | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Origin: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genre: | Jazz fusion, jazz, instrumental rock, smooth jazz, pop rock, city pop |
| Years Active: | 1976–present |
| Label: |
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| Associated Acts: | Masato Honda, Hirotaka Izumi, Hiroyuki Noritake, Mitsuru Sutoh, Casiopea |
| Current Members: | Takeshi Itoh Satoshi Bandoh (ja) |
| Past Members: | Masahiro Andoh Yuhji Nakamura Junko Miyagi (ja) Michael S. Kawai (ja) Yuhji Mikuriya Kiyohiko Semba (ja) Daisaku Kume (ja) Jun Aoyama (ja) Toyoyuki Tanaka (ja) Eiji Shimizu Hirotaka Izumi Tohru Hasebe (ja) Hiroyuki Noritake Mitsuru Sutoh (ja) Masato Honda Takahiro Miyazaki (ja) Tadashi Namba (ja) Keiji Matsumoto (ja) Keizoh Kawano |
T-Square (formerly known as The Square), stylized in all-uppercase T-SQUARE, is a Japanese jazz fusion band formed in 1976. They became famous in the late 1970s and early 1980s along with other Japanese jazz bands. They are known for songs such as "Truth", "Japanese Soul Brothers", "Takarajima", "Omens of Love", among others.
During the first years simply The SQUARE was printed on the frontsides of their albums. After the renaming of the band to T-Square the imprint changed to T-SQUARE (all in Capital letters) and their typical logo became a capital letter T printed over a red square. During the years with the changing names of the band the logo got modified several times, reflecting the changing band names such as T-Square alpha (where an α sign got added to the logo), T-Square plus (where the text "plus" was added centered next to the T in smaller letters).
"Truth" was used as the theme for Fuji Television's Formula One coverage from 1987 to 1998 and starting in 2012. Special arrangements were used as the theme for Japan's F1 2001 to 2006.
The band has won, all told, 12 Japan Gold Disc Awards. In the 80s, "SPORTS", "Truth", "Yes, No", and even their "F1 Grand Prix" compilation album won Gold Discs in the Jazz-Fusion category. In the 90s, "Natural", "Impressive", "Human", "Natsu no Wakusei", "B.C. A.D." and "Gravity" all won Gold Discs. After more than two decades without Gold Discs, they've recently won back-to-back for 2021's "FLY! FLY! FLY!" and 2022's "WISH" as part of the Instrumental Album of the Year category.
In 1976, The Square started as a small jazz fusion group in Meiji University with a very basic line-up, made of bassist Yuhji Nakamura, guitarist Masahiro Andoh, pianist Jun Hakamazuka and drummer Shunichi Harada. According to Masahiro Andoh, the band's name was based on Madison Square Garden. Hakamazuka was replaced by Junko Miyagi on keyboards.
Meanwhile, in the Nihon University of the Arts, saxophonist Takeshi Itoh and Drummer Michael S. Kawai played in a few other college bands together. When those disbanded, Kawai became fast friends with Andoh, replacing Harada on drums within The Square, and Takeshi Itoh made many guest appearances with the band, officially joining on saxophone and flutes, in 1977.[1]
With backing guitarist Yuhji Mikuriya, keyboardist Shiro Sagisu and percussionist Kiyohiko Senba joining in 1978, the band was signed to CBS/Sony and released their first studio album, Lucky Summer Lady. It had a semi-generic, disco-type sound. Lead saxophonist Takeshi Itoh adopted the Lyricon as a side instrument. The Square would then begin a tradition of writing one to three songs with the Lyricon in every new album thereafter. As the years progressed, the number of members had dwindled from eight members (two keyboardists, two guitarists, a drummer, a Percussionist, a sax player and a bassist) to five (a drummer, a keyboardist, a guitarist, a sax player and a bassist). The group's sound had also evolved to a more rock-oriented music when Junko Miyagi was replaced by Prism (ja) keyboardist Daisaku Kume and Michael S. Kawai was replaced by drummer Jun Aoyama (better known as Tatsuro Yamashita's support drummer from 1979 to 2003). The band would also have vocalists, with Rockoon being the first of two albums to prominently feature one. Jun Aoyama was later replaced by Eiji Shimizu on drums and Yuhji Nakamura was replaced by bassist Toyoyuki Tanaka in 1981. Tanaka's slap-bass influenced a tonal shift to the band.
In 1982, Tohru Hasebe replaced Shimizu and Hirotaka Izumi replaced Kume. Izumi eventually became the second longest-tenured keyboardist over 15 years in the band (1982–97). This would be the band's first consistent line-up, lasting until late 1985. Hiroyuki Noritake would then replace Hasebe on drums that same year as their first long-term drummer. By the end of 1986, Mitsuru Sutoh replaced Toyoyuki Tanaka on bass, being the first long-term bassist in the group. Takeshi Itoh would go on to swap his Lyricon – an instrument crafted in the 1970s with not many people to repair it – for a mass-produced Yamaha WX7, which he would further swap out for an EWI instead.
In an attempt to not confuse the Western Audience with a name that sounds too close to "The Squares", "Truth" was released in the United States and Canada through Portrait Records, a sister imprint of Columbia and Epic Records and a subsidiary of Sony Records. While this album's Japanese release still refers to the band as "The Square", Portrait Records' reprint would be the first to refer to them as "T-Square", and included the logo of a T and a Red Square later used in their albums.
Their first performance in the United States was at the Cat Club in New York City in December 1987 and it was released on Laserdisc early 1988, still as "The Square".
Their 1988 album, "Yes, No" was released in Japan only, with no Western Reprint, and thus still referred to them as "The Square", but they performed at the Roxy in Los Angeles on November 3 that same year as "T-Square". This is the first concert to use the now-established T-Square logo onstage. In 1989, they released their first studio album, in no uncertain terms, now as "T-SQUARE", Wave. The band would also appear alongside Ottottrio (with guitarist Hirokuni Korekata) and Casiopea in The Super Fusion that same year. In 1990, saxophonist Masato Honda debuted with them as a backing saxophonist on the album T-Square Live (featuring F-1 Grand Prix Theme). By the end of 1990, Takeshi Itoh left the group to pursue a solo career in the US, and Honda replaced him in 1991. Honda also composed the opening track from T-Square's New-S album, "Megalith". After the release of the Blue in Red album in 1997, Honda left the group to pursue his solo career. Takahiro Miyazaki would replace him. At the same time, Hirotaka Izumi left T-Square and was replaced by Tadashi Namba. Namba played keyboards on the theme song from Gran Turismo, "Moon Over The Castle" (from Masahiro's solo album Andy's, released in 1996) as well as the T-Square arrangement of the song, called "Knight's Song", from Blue in Red. The group and all former and (at the time) current members played at for their 20th anniversary that same year. At the end of 1998, Tadashi Namba was replaced by Keiji Matsumoto. The new line-up of Miyazaki, Noritake, Sutoh, Matsumoto and Andoh was kept until the group's brief disbandment in mid-2000.
In mid-2000, the band was divided into T-Square (original and long-term guitarist Masahiro Andoh, returning saxophonist Takeshi Itoh and session musicians) and Trio The Square (bassist Mitsuru Sutoh, drummer Hiroyuki Noritake and keyboardist Keiji Matsumoto). This trio was the main reason for why T-Square had to employ session musicians to record. However, the Friendship Live performance had ex long-term drummer, Hiroyuki Noritake, along with support bassist Kiyoshi Murakami and keyboardist Keizoh Kawano, the latter of whom started in the band as a support member, eventually to become the longest tenured keyboardist over 20 years with T-Square. T-Square used the name T-Square Plus for hard rock arrangements of their songs. Fence of Defense guitarist Kenji Kitajima, former Seikima-II bassist Shunsuke "Xenon" Ishikawa, session keyboardist Takehiro Kawabe, etc. joined them briefly in 2001 and 2002. After that, the band no longer used session musicians.
In 2003, T-Square released the album Spirits under their original name "The Square", and retained some of their original members (partly due to T-Square's 25th anniversary that year) and kept their newcomer, Keizoh Kawano. The line-up was Itoh, Noritake, Sutoh, Kawano, Izumi and Andoh. They released another album, T Comes Back, that featured new arrangements of some of their best known songs.
In 2004, Keizoh Kawano became an official keyboardist, and Katsuji Morioka joined and replaced Mitsuru Sutoh on bass. Only a few months after the release of their album, "Groove Globe", Satoshi Bandoh replaced Hiroyuki Noritake on Drums. In 2005, not long after the release of "Passion Flower", Morioka was replaced by Shingo Tanaka as support bassist, and they continued to turn with this lineup, seen in the "Passion Flower Live" DVD. T-Square's original drummer, Michael S. Kawai, returned as a behind-the-scenes percussionist and producer from 2004 to 2008.
The band used the name T-Square Super Band to promote their 30th anniversary tour. Most former T-Square members were involved in recording their new album, Wonderful Days. After the end of the Wonderful Days tour, the group used the name T-Square Super Special Band to play on Yaon de Asobu for their 30th anniversary show. This show was released in February 2009 as The Square ~ T-Square since 1978: 30th Anniversary Festival. Their 2009 album Discoveries was sold with a DVD which chronicled T-Square performing and rehearsing in 2008.
In 2010, T-Square released a brand new album, . This album was meant to showcase more of the songwriting abilities of the younger members of the group. In the summer of that same year, T-Square rerecorded some of their older songs and released them in October as an album called, with T-Square plays The Square as a subtitle.
T-Square released another album, Nine Stories, in April 2011. Some current and former T-Square members would tour with Satoshi Bandoh to promote his solo album, Happy Life!, in late 2011. T-Square recorded another T-Square plays The Square album, released in October 2011, much like the year prior. Keizoh Kawano recorded and released his own solo album, Dreams, in November. At the end of 2011, they performed a new song, "Bird of Wonder", which was released with their 2012 album Wings. The group later released another cover album in 2012,, this time employing the help of special guest musicians, such as jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita.
T-Square branded themselves "T-Square Super Band" for the second time, now in promotion of their 35th anniversary tour. They retained all members of the Super Band from 2008, including percussionist Kiyohiko Semba and excluding pianist Hirotaka Izumi. Upon the release of the album Smile, a picture was included in the release, reading something related to "Itoh's resignation", making fans believe that Takeshi Itoh would once again leave the band. In another album of 2013, History, Itoh only performed on two tracks of the album, but did not leave the band.
T-Square's 35th Anniversary Festival show was released as a Blu-ray in May 2014. Nearly a month later, their album was released, NEXT.
The 40th T-Square album, Paradise, was released in July 2015, being one of ten T-Square albums (along with Lucky Summer Lady, Midnight Lover, Make Me a Star, Magic,, Stars and the Moon, S.P.O.R.T.S., Yes, No, and Friendship) not to be released in the spring. Paradise was the first T-Square album to be released on iTunes and Spotify in the United States, along with their following album from 2016, Treasure Hunter.
In 2017, T-Square performed two separate concerts at Blue Note Tokyo under the name "The Square Reunion". The first one included their 1982–1985 lineup of Masahiro Andoh, Takeshi Itoh, Tohru Hasebe, Toyoyouki Tanaka, and Hirotaka Izumi with Keizoh Kawano playing backing synth; the second one included their 1987–1990 lineup of Masahiro Andoh, Takeshi Itoh, Hiroyuki Noritake, Mitsuru Sutoh, and Hirotaka Izumi with Keizoh Kawano playing backing synth. T-Square released the album REBIRTH on April 26.
In 2018, T-Square released two albums, City Coaster in April and It's a Wonderful Life! in November. "It's a Wonderful Life!" was also the name of their 40th anniversary concert. This particular concert included most of their past members, e.g. Daisaku Kume, who hadn't played with T-Square since their 20th anniversary in 1998. This concert also included a special guest appearance of the Nishiarai Junior High School Brass Band Club, who performed "Takarajima".
T-Square had planned to record their next album Horizon in Los Angeles, but on February 6, 2019, their keyboardist Keizoh Kawano was hospitalized due to an intracerebral hemorrhage which paralyzed the left side of his body. Due to the abrupt changes, the T-Square members were not free to travel to the U.S. to stay and record the album, so Philippe Saisse, who hadn't played with T-Square since the T-Square and Friends album Miss You In New York from 1995, but played on Satoshi Bandoh's album Step By Step from 2016, offered to finish the keyboard parts. They managed to release Horizon in April 2019. The new formation, with Saisse replacing Kawano temporarily, was then called T-Square Alpha, indicating the name change also by adding an alpha sign to their logo, and they used this name while touring to promote Horizon in concerts.
T-Square scouted Akito Shirai as a session keyboardist. With both Shirai and Kawano providing synthesizer parts, the band recorded and released AI Factory to a two-month delay as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 28, 2020, T-Square released a new self-cover album titled Crème de la Crème, part of which includes a hand-picked collection of Keizoh Kawano's best songs. This was T-Square's last album within Kawano, who would continue activities such as working as a composer.
At some point during the end of 2020, T-Square's albums released prior to 2015 became available to all streaming services.
On February 1, 2021, Masahiro Andoh announced that he would leave T-Square after releasing their upcoming album (not yet named at the time) and completing their 2021 tour, wishing to continue activities as a solo guitarist. At the same time, after Masahiro Andoh's departure, Takeshi Itoh and Satoshi Bandoh announced they would form T-Square Alpha, and months later, it was announced that guitarist Yuma Hara would take Andoh's spot. T-Square released the album FLY! FLY! FLY! in April 2021, which was awarded the Golden Disc Award 2022 for the instrumental album of the year by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
On April 26, 2021, Hirotaka Izumi died suddenly due to acute heart failure. Accordingly, T-Square performed concerts of mostly Izumi-penned T-Square songs that month. They would continue to hold Izumi memorial concerts yearly since 2022.
A day after the release of the special edition of Crème de la Crème in July 2021, T-Square toured to honor Masahiro Andoh's farewell in concerts. Days after their participation in Sapporo City Jazz, T-Square's 2021 year-end shows saw the first performance by Keiji Matsumoto since 2000.
On May 18, 2022, T-Square's 49th Album, WISH was released. This album marked the first time in close to 25 years that Masato Honda and Keiji Matsumoto recorded Studio Parts with T-Square. This album was also awarded the RIAJ's Golden Disc Award 2023 for Best Instrumental Album.
Masato Honda and Takahiro Miyazaki performed together in September 2022. With T-Square's "Year End" Shows in December 2022, Masato Honda performed with the T-Square Alpha Lineup, herein referred to as T-Square Alpha X. This new formation indicated the name change also with the letter X coming from the words "Double Sax", and they used this name to promote their 45th anniversary tour.
On January 18, 2023, T-Square released a digital album of their Live Concert from December 31, 2021, and, on March 1, 2023, a digital album of their Concert Tour from July 3, 2022.
Their 50th album VENTO DE FELICIDADE was released on May 31, 2023. This release was commemorated with two concerts at Blue Note Tokyo in June.
The T-Square Alpha X Lineup performed on a Blue Note Tokyo special event titled Jazz Fusion Summit 2023 on July 17. This event's success led to the commission of the 2024 edition where Masato Honda and Kiyohiko Semba guest performed with T-Square.
T-Square's 45th Anniversary Concert, held on October 21, 2023, in the Tokyo International Forum Hall A, included Kazumi Watanabe, Yuji Toriyama, the Masato Honda Big Band Station, and the Nishiarai Junior High School Brass Band Club as special guest performers.
Later that same night, in an attempt to prolong the activities of the band, the T-Square Fans and Staff Facebook Page made a post announcing that, in order to create more music and potentially celebrate a 50th Anniversary and beyond, they were opening Online Auditions, seeking new band members and/or composers. The Deadline was December 31, 2023. This audition was commemorated with two concerts at the Cotton Club in Tokyo in August 2024.
T-Square's 2023 year-end shows saw three saxophonists perform together like the previous year.
The Square Reunion lineup will perform on the first day of Hiroyuki Noritake's 60th birthday concerts in September 2024.
T-Square's music, as well as the jazz fusion genre as a whole, would heavily influence early video game music. Most notably, video game composer Koji Kondo would take inspiration from the 1984 T-Square song "Sister Marian" when composing the main theme for the 1985 platformer game Super Mario Bros.[2] Many other video game series would later be rumored to have taken inspiration from T-Square music, including Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more. Members of T-Square have also worked on video game music directly.[3]
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All of the following saxophonists also played flute and EWI during their Tenure with T-Square.
All 3 Saxophonists worked together for one album, Four Nine.
In order to differentiate from the Current/Ongoing group known as T-Square (who are officially just Itoh and Bandoh as of 2022), Since September 2000 (beginning, specifically, with the Live Album "Moment – Memorial Live at Chicken George"), the band has occasionally held throwback concerts, going under their old name of The Square (with the word Reunion added in 2017), with their Classic Lineups from the 80s and 90s, performing almost-exclusively their songs from that era. Most-recently, this idea has expanded to where other members, who joined and left after 1989, appear as part of these concerts. Thus, the name "T-Square Family" refers to any random lineup of those who were formerly officially in the band, or were at the very least support members, and are appearing for one-off concerts.
AnMi2, named after Anmitsu, are a guitar duo comprising the first two guitarists of T-Square, Masahiro Andoh and Yuhji Mikuriya. For their 10th anniversary, the duo performed with fellow ex-T-Square Bassist Mitsuru Sutoh and was renamed "AnMitsuru".
This trio first appeared in the T-Square albums Sweet & Gentle in 1999 and T-SQUARE in 2000 with keyboardist Keiji Matsumoto, drummer Hiroyuki Noritake and bassist Mitsuru Sutoh as Trio The Square. They became a standalone group around the time Andoh initially left T-Square, resulting in the dissolution of the band form. Trio The Square disbanded in later 2000.
Later on that year, Hiroyuki Noritake and Keiji Matsumoto, along with bassist Tomohito Aoki and guitarist Jun Kajiwara, would become the backing band of former T-Square saxophonist, Masato Honda. The group didn't have an official name, but it was collectively dubbed by fans as "The Masato Honda Band".
The backing band was put on hold in 2005, then fully deactivated in early mid-2006 to make way for Voice of Elements, which also featured T-Square alumni Hiroyuki Noritake, Mitsuru Sutoh and Keiji Matsumoto. Tomohito Aoki, the original bassist of the Masato Honda Band, died of acute heart failure in June that year, and was replaced by Sutoh for following Masato Honda Band activities. Voice of Elements, as the band was called when they returned in 2006, continued performing occasionally between 2007 and 2020. Both Keiji Matsumoto and Masato Honda are credited as guest performers on the 2022 T-Square album, "WISH", while both Hiroyuki Noritake and Mitsuru Sutoh are credited as guest performers on the 2023 T-Square album, "Vento de Felicidade" alongside Matsumoto and Honda.
This group was a fusion supergroup led by 3 guitarists: T-Square's Masahiro Andoh, Casiopea's Issei Noro and Rocket Jam's Hirokuni Korekata. Along with Masahiro Andoh, Drummer Hiroyuki Noritake was another T-Square musician who was part of this group since 1988. Also, T-Square bassist Mitsuru Sutoh (who would leave T-Square in their brief disbandment two years later) and keyboardist Keiji Matsumoto (who would join T-Square a few months later) recorded with them at the end of 1998. Noro and Korekata appeared in T-Square's 35th Anniversary concert in 2013.
Stylized as KoreNoS, this band was formed in 1998 by Hirokuni Korekata, Hiroyuki Noritake and Mitsuru Sutoh. They released two studio albums, "Asian Street Style" (2004) and "Abracadabra" (2005). They also released a live album in 2007. Hirokuni Korekata also created a new band named Rocket Jam with bassist Shingo Tanaka and drummer Satoshi Bandoh in 2013.
Although "Casiopea vs. The Square" was performed as a one-off event in 2003 (the DVD and the CD have different audio sources, suggesting that there may have been 2 shows), this extension of 2 different jazz fusion bands goes back to 1989. All members of T-Square, Casiopea, and Ottottrio played in The Super Fusion in 1989 and Kiyohiko Senba, former percussionist of The Square, played on one of the songs from Casiopea's 1993 album, "Dramatic". A year later, both groups played an arrangement of The Beatles' "Get Back" on a Japanese Broadcast. 3 years after that, Casiopea, T-Square and Jimsaku played at Tokyo Jam 1997, with the same song. In 2003, both groups played (with some of the players replaced) at the event called Casiopea vs. The Square. Both groups still have somewhat of an alliance, seeing as Casiopea's 1993 – 1997 drummer, Noriaki Kumagai and former T-Square bassist, Mitsuru Sutoh are both in TRIX. And Sax player Takeshi Itoh performed with Casiopea's Keyboardist, Minoru Mukaiya in 2006.
Drummers Hiroyuki Noritake of T-Square and Akira Jimbo of Casiopea formed a duo in 2003, after the "Casiopea vs. The Square" concert. They were later featured in Casiopea's 2005 album Signal, the aforementioned band's last album before their hiatus the year after.
A group that features pianist Hirotaka Izumi (who would die in 2021), drummer Akira Jimbo and guitarist Yuji Toriyama, along with other studio musicians. They have released four studio albums and one digital album.
Guitarist Masahiro Andoh, Drummer Hiroyuki Noritake and Bassist Mitsuru Sutoh, all former T-Square members from Classic Lineups of the mid-80s to 2000, formed the Akasaka Trio in 2022, following Andoh's exit from T-Square.
After the dissolution of Trio the Square, Mitsuru Sutoh and Keiji Matsumoto would later become backing musicians for Japanese a cappella pop group, 'The Gospellers'. Sutoh also plays for TRIX (since that band's formation in 2004), led by Noriaki Kumagai (Casiopea drummer from 1993 – 1996).
Drummer Hiroyuki Noritake, keyboardist Keizoh Kawano, and bassist Ko Shimizu (from Naniwa Express) would record as support members for Japanese fusion/rock guitarist Kumi Adachi in 2007–2008.
T-Square's current bassist Shingo Tanaka is a former part of The 39's/The Thank You's (39 in Japanese can be pronounced as Japanese: san kyū, which resembles Thank You). The 39's were a band that accompanied concerts performed by Vocaloids, specifically the "39's Giving Day" concert series (it being another pun, this time on "Thanksgiving Day"), although the concerts themselves wouldn't necessarily be held on said day. During the final 39's Giving Day Concert in March 2012, the band were also accompanied by Takahiro Miyazaki.
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