Eijiro Nakagawa
Eijiro Nakagawa started playing the trombone at age 5, and recorded his first album as a leader in New York while still in high school. He has since collaborated with big-name artists and has been involved in numerous recordings for movies, TV shows and commercials. His musical presence is unparalleled as it is said that nearly seventy percent of the trombone sounds heard on Japanese media including TV are his.
In 2002, Eijiro formed the trombone duet “E’nJ” with Jim Pugh. In 2006, he launched the brass octet “Samurai BRASS” of which he is the leader. The octet made a spectacular debut at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall and became an ensemble having both popularity and ability whose concerts have been sold out every year. In 2007, he became the first Japanese to perform at the Tony Award Ceremony in the United States. In 2008, he played the theme music of the morning drama serials “Hitomi” on NHK (Japan’s sole public media organization), which got a great response not only from music fans but also the general public. In December of the same year, he released his fourth album as a leader “E” and toured six cities across Japan as a duet with the pianist Makoto Ozone. He was invited to perform at the International Trombone Festival in 2016 and at the International Jazz Day in 2015 and 2019.
In 2018, Eijiro formed with Joseph Alessi and others the trombone quartet “SLIDE MONSTERS” which immediately went on its first Japanese tour. Released in parallel with the tour, its debut album achieved the unusual feat of charting on the iTunes chart and the Billboard chart, and its music video has gotten over 1.3 million views to date. The quartet thus became a one-of-a-kind ensemble that goes beyond existing genres.
In 2020, Eijiro formed “SUPER BRASS STARS” with the trumpeter Eric Miyashiro and the saxophonist Masato Honda. The unit took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic starting with only three players, but it eventually started to perform in various formations collaborating with orchestras, brass ensembles and bands. Today, the trio has offered shows rich in flexibility with mind-blowing performances throughout the country.
In 2021, Eijiro held his first online live concert “Eijiro Nakagawa SOLO_Exhibition - Hitori (one-person) Monsters”. This show, based on the concept of “solo exhibition” and programmed exclusively with his original pieces, attracted much attention especially due to its video direction focused on a streamed-live-concert-without-audience format.
In 2022, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the SLIDE MONSTERS quartet held its biggest-ever Japanese tour, performing in nine cities across the country to promote their second album “Travelers”. In 2024, the group held concerts in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka as its third tour captivating a wide audience from children to adults.
A sought-after fine soloist, Eijiro has performed alongside Japan’s major orchestras and wind orchestras including the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra, Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra and Siena Wind Orchestra.
He is currently a lecturer at the Kunitachi College of Music’s Jazz Department.
As a world-class trombone player representing Japan, Eijiro has engaged in a wide range of activities displaying his various musical abilities.
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