Nobuki Takamen

Biography

Originally from Hiroshima, Japan, guitarist/composer Nobuki Takamen has been developing a reputation as ‘’the best jazz guitarist Japan has ever produced’’ as lauded in AllAboutJazz since he relocated to New York in 2004. Described by Critical Jazz: ‘’…Jim Hall meets Wes Montgomery on their way to a Kenny Burrell show…’’, his music draws influence from the jazz greats and other musicians such as Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and melts them into something distinctively his own. Nobuki has toured with his group in North America, Europe and Asia, performing at many of the best international jazz clubs and festivals including Iridium Jazz Club, Blue Note NY, Blues Alley, Smalls Jazz Club, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and the Nisville Jazz Festival, where he opened for the original Blues Brothers Band. He has also toured annually throughout Japan since 2004. Nobuki has four albums released on What’s New Records and Summit Records, and four albums on his own label, including his first solo album, ”Solo Guitar”, his two-disc 6th album, ”Live in Japan”, his eponymous 7th album, ”The Nobuki Takamen Trio”, and his 8th album, ”Life is Now”, which was released digitally in October 2020 and in CD format in August 2024. One of his compositions, Helsingin taivas (Helsinki Sky) received the first prize of the Instrumental Category in the 2019 USA Songwriting Competition. His playing and music have been featured in publications worldwide, including DownBeat, Guitar World, Vintage Guitar Magazine, Just Jazz Guitar, WBGO, AllAboutJazz, Jazz Podium (Germany), Jazz’n’more (Switzerland), Jazz Special (Denmark), Musica Jazz (Italy), Jazzwise (UK), Swing Journal (Japan), Jazz Life Magazine (Japan). Nobuki has been very passionate about music education. His diverse teaching experiences include jazz workshops and classes at Berklee College of Music, the Nisville Jazz Festival in Serbia, the Medicine Hat Jazz Fest, C-Jazz Camp at the Calgary Jazz Festival in Canada, and the Santo Music Street in Japan. Nobuki has been also active in writing since 2021. His first book about his life as a musician, ”23 Simple Rules to Live by as a Jazz Guitarist in New York” was published from Artes Publishing in 2023. He has two instruction books, ”Fretboard Visualization for Guitarists vol.1 & vol.2” published from one of the most popular publishers in Japan, Shinko Music. He has also contributed various articles to Jazz Guitar Magazine and Guitar Magazine.