https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/tags/%E5%B9%B3%E7%94%B0%E6%99%83%E4%B8%80/ Recent content in 平田晃一 on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory Hugo en Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/koichi-hirata-introducing-koichi-hirata/ Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/koichi-hirata-introducing-koichi-hirata/ <p><em>Introducing Koichi Hirata</em> is the 2024 debut release from jazz guitarist Koichi Hirata. Hirata is a young, up-and-coming player who has established himself as a popular musician in the live Tokyo circuit, playing live often as a support musician or a leader at his own gigs and popular jazz jam sessions. His style is unadorned with a comfortably warm sound and style that immediately brings to mind the much-admired jazz guitarists of previous generations.</p> https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/yuji-ito-koichi-hirata-duo-two-for-the-road/ Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/yuji-ito-koichi-hirata-duo-two-for-the-road/ <p><em>Two for the Road</em> is a 2024 album from bassist Yuji Ito and guitarist Koichi Hirata, working as a duo here on their first collaboration. Both musicians are young, still in their 20s and 30s, yet their style, vocabulary, and tone speak of a maturity born of attentive listening, devotion, and playing experience.</p> <figure><a href="L1310537x-1200.jpeg"> <img loading="lazy" src="L1310537x-1200.jpeg"/> </a> </figure> <p>They fill the nine-track album with 58 minutes of beloved tunes from the standard jazz playbook and the ballad/swing/bop canon, mostly from the core 1950s and 60s jazz eras:</p>