Masahiko Satō
Also recorded as Masahiko Satoh · Masahiko Sato · Masahiko Satou
Masahiko Satō
- Name
- Masahiko Satoh
- Birthplace
- Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- Born
- 6 October 1941
- Occupation
- Musician, composer, arranger
- Nationality
- Japan
- Fields
- jazz
- Education
- Keio University
- Languages
- Japanese
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Authority files
wikidata · Q1906674 · wikipedia · Masahiko Satoh
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Masahiko Satoh • Birth Name — Masahiko Satoh • Birthplace — Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan • Born — 6 October 1941 • Instrument — Piano • Genre — Jazz • Occupation — Musician, composer, arranger • Years Active — Late 1950s–present • Website — www.mmjp.or.jp/m_satoh/English Masahiko Satoh is a Japanese jazz pianist, composer and arranger.
Early life
Early life
Satoh was born in Tokyo on 6 October 1941. His mother was Setsu and his father, who owned small businesses, was Yoshiaki Satoh. The house that his family moved into in 1944 contained a piano; Masahiko started playing it at the age of five. He began playing the piano professionally at the age of 17, "accompanying singers, magicians and strippers at a cabaret in the Ginza district".
Later life and career
Later life and career
By 1959 Satoh was playing in Georgie Kawaguchi's band, together with alto saxophonist Sadao Watanabe and tenor saxophonist Akira Miyazawa. Satoh graduated from Keio University. At the age of 26, Satoh moved to the United States to study at the Berklee College of Music. He stayed for two years, during which he read about composing and arranging. He earned money working in a food shop and playing the piano in a hotel. In 1968 he wrote the music for, and conducted, a series of pieces that were combined with dance and performed in New York. After returning to Japan, he recorded Palladium, his first album as leader, and appeared on a Helen Merrill album. In his early career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Satoh played in a free, percussive style. Satoh played at the 1971 Berlin Jazz Festival as part of a trio; he used a then-unusual ring modulator to alter the sound. Also in the early 1970s, he recorded with Attila Zoller, Karl Berger, and Albert Mangelsdorff. He wrote the psychedelic music for the 1973 anime film Belladonna of Sadness. Satoh has written arrangements for recordings led by, among others, Merrill, Kimiko Itoh, and Nancy Wilson. He also arranged for strings and quartet on Art Farmer's 1983 album Maiden Voyage. In 1990 Satoh formed a large group, named Rantooga, that combined various forms of folk musics from around the world. In the early 1990s he composed music for a choir of 1,000 Buddhist monks. In the early 1990s he was reported as stating that 70% of his time was spent on arranging and composing, and the rest on playing and recording.
As leader/co-leader
As leader/co-leader
• Year recorded — Title — Label — Notes • 1969* — Palladium — Express — Trio, with Yasuo Arakawa (bass), Masahiko Togashi (drums) • 1970 — Holography — Nippon Columbia — Solo • 1970 — Astrorama — Liberty — Co-led with Jean-Luc Ponty. Quintet, with Ponty (keyboards, vocals), Yoshiaki Masuo (guitar), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), Motohiko Hino (drums) • 1970 — Kayobi No Onna — Toho — with Yoshiko Goto (vocals), Kiyoshi Sugimoto (guitar), Kunimitsu Inaba (bass), Yasuo Arakawa (bass), Akira Ishikawa (drums) • 1970 — Piano Deluxe Album — Polydor — Solo • 1985 — Amorphism — Epic Sony — Trio, with Eddie Gomez (bass), Steve Gadd (drums) • 1985 — As If... — Nippon Columbia — Trio, with Eddie Gomez (bass), Steve Gadd (drums) • 1988 — Double Exposure — Epic Sony — Trio, with Eddie Gomez (bass), Steve Gadd (drums) • 1990 — Lunar Cruise — Epic Sony — Duo, with Midori Takada (percussion) • 1990 — Randooga: Select Live Under The Sky'90 — Epic Sony — Live at the Yomiuriland open theatre East in July 1990. Special guest: Wayne Shorter. • 2002–03 — Masahiko Plays Masahiko — Ewe — Solo piano • 2005 — Voyages — BAJ — Co-led with Joelle Leandre (bass); in concert • 2007 — Nyozegamon — Ohrai — Solo piano • 2007 — Rocking Chair — BAJ — Solo piano • 2009 — Summer Night — Studio Songs — Solo piano • 2010 — Afterimages — BAJ — Duo, with Je Chun Park (percussion) • 2011 — Edo Gigaku — BAJ — Trio, with Shinichi Kotoh (bass), Hiroshi Murakami (drums) • 2011 — Yatagarasu — Not Two — Co-led with Peter Brötzmann (alto sax, tenor sax, tárogató, clarinet), Takeo Moriyama (drums); in concert • 2013 — Spring Snow — PNL — Co-led with Paal Nilssen-Love (drums, percussion); in concert • 2013 — Doushin Gigaku — BAJ — Trio, with Shinichi Kotoh (bass), Hiroshi Murakami (drums) • 2013 — Serendip — BAJ — Duo, with Pradeep Ratnayake (sitar) • 2017 — Miku Hatsune sings Osamu Tezuka and Isao Tomita — Nippon Columbia — A series of arrangements and remixes of Isao Tomita's compositions for Osamu Tezuka's works sung by Miku Hatsune
As sideman
As sideman
• Year recorded — Leader — Title — Label • 1970 — Steve — Something — Nippon Columbia • 1971 — Helen — S'posin — Storyville • 1973 — Anthony — Four Compositions (1973) — Denon • 1985 — Eddie — Mezgo — Epic • 2003 — Joëlle — Signature — Red Toucan • 2011 — Peter — Long Story Short — Trost • 2012 — Ken and Paal Nilssen-Love — Extended Duos — Audio Graphic
In popular culture
In popular culture
A fictionalized version of Masahiko Satoh appears in Izumi Suzuki's short story "Hey, It's a Love Psychedelic!" as the narrator's love interest.
Compositions
Satoh has composed for film, television and advertisements. For instance, he made the music of Kanashimi no Belladonna, a film in which the sound is very important; all the songs of this movie are performed by his wife, Chinatsu Nakayama. Some of his compositions are influenced by the space in the works of composer Toru Takemitsu. Satoh has also composed for traditional Japanese instruments, including the shakuhachi and biwa.
Discography
An asterisk (*) after the year indicates that it is the year of release.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Masahiko Satoh”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1906674: Masahiko Satō
Unverified · Wikidata
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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