Takeshi Asai

Biography

Takeshi Asai was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1964. He studied at Berklee College of Music with Laszlo Gardony, Joanne Brackeen, Ed Tomassi, and Ed Bedner. For more than a decade, he has been active on the New York jazz scene. His music draws inspiration from 12th-century French troubadours, Gregorian chants, Baroque and Romantic music, 20th-century composers like Leoš Janáček and Tōru Takemitsu, religious music, the Beatles, Irish and Japanese folk traditions, and modern electronic music. Asai has toured internationally and shared the stage in New York and France with musicians including Bill Crow, Tony Marino, Gene Perla, Paul Rostock, Mark Wade, Rob Garcia, Brian Woodruff, Michael Vitali, Maxime Legrand, Nelson Hill, Hashem Assadullahi, Bob Gingery, Andrea Veneziani, Nori Naraoka, Pascal Combeau, Marc Peillon, and Anthony Pinciotti. He has co-led projects such as the award-winning ensemble WaFoo, the Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble (MCCE), Le Projet Électrique (The Electric Project), and a collaboration with UK singer Monika Lidke. He has composed and arranged music for theater, working with artists like Lana Gordon, Jennifer Jade Ledesna, Juson Williams, Antonio McLendon, and Robin Small. As a Steinway Educational Partner, he runs a studio in New York where he has taught over 100 students and produced numerous professional musicians.