Japanese theatrical group Japone Artists announced a new addition to the company’s line-up: bass player and composer Yusuke Morita.
Morita’s first introduction with music was when he started to play drums, after which he also tried out the guitar and trombone, but when he was 15 years old, he came across the electric bass and started studying composition, jazz and improvisation. In his professional career, Yusuke Morita has worked with many (major) artists, as a session musician for film and TV music and also as a composer and arranger. So far, he has studied under Yoshihiro Naruse (bassist for jazz fusion band Cassiopeia 3rd) and Dominique Di Piazza (bassist for John McLaughlin trio). With a jazz and piano trio, Morita toured Japan, the United States and even Europe. Later on, he came in contact with flamenco music. Yusuke Morita also has his own large ensemble project, called CHEEZNESS.
In a message on the website of Japone Artists, Morita shares: “I’m looking forward to making new chemistry with Japone artists and audiences overseas, and I’m also looking forward to finding out what I can do as a Japanese artist as well. We are still in a hard pandemic situation even now, but I appreciate this opportunity and am looking forward to play in front of people as soon”.
The theatrical group will publish a new episode of the video podcast Japone Artists Talk in which it will be possible to get more acquainted with the new group member, but a small introduction video was already posted on the YouTube channel of Japone Artists.
If you want to get to know more about Yusuke Morita, he has a YouTube channel with his work and he is also active on Twitter.
About Japone Artists
Japone Artists are a Japanese theatrical group that consists of eight internationally performing Japanese artists in The Netherlands, Germany and Japan. The theatrical shows that Japone Artists present contains many elements of beauty, drama, humour, projection art and original or remixed stories. Started out in 2016, the theatrical group has been performing at Abunai!, Kinjin Matsuri, at Seinwezen and at Patronaat in Haarlem. Furthermore, the group joined the virtual edition of AnimeCon in June 2020. This special stream got uploaded on the YouTube channel of Japone Artists.
Earlier this year, koto player Makiko Goto passed away suddenly; she had been part of Japone Artists from the beginning. A tribute video was made with images of performances and messages from the members. After a short break, the group restarted activities and has now announced that they are working on new music projects.
