Jazz and classical pianist and composer Takashi Kako was born in Osaka, Japan on January 31, 1947. The musician was the first Japanese artist to be signed to the iconic Munich, Germany-based label ECM Records. Takashi Kako began studying the piano at the age of 8 and learned to play jazz music when he was in his teens. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in composition from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music between 1965 and 1971. He then travelled to France on a scholarship and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris under Olivier Messiaen. He joined the quintet Emergency and released the album Homage to Peace in 1973. The following year, he collaborated with saxophone player Mtoteru Takagi on the live album Jazz à Maison de Japon, Paris (1974). Forming his own trio, he began a recording career as a leader with a series of albums including Micro World (1976), Passage (1976), and Legend of the Sea-Myself (1977). In 1979, Takashi Kako signed with the world-famous ECM Records label, the first Japanese artist to do so. In the early 1980s, he moved back to Japan and began to concentrate on solo piano performances and recording. He began to incorporate a myriad of styles into his compositions and recordings including classical music, contemporary music, and jazz. He began composing film scores – including the award-winning The Quarry (1998) and The Professor and His Beloved Equation (2006) – and continued to release a string of successful albums. Some of his later albums include Anniversary (2003), Piano (2006), Kumano (2007), Silent Garden (2009), and Quartet (2010).
