Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi was a Japanese jazz / free improvisational musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. Was one of the earliest noise guitar improvisers, and the first (with Keith Rowe) to use the table-top guitar. Was a leading member of every avant-garde movement in Japanese jazz from the fifties onwards. Towards the end of his life Takayanagi moved into complex 'Action Direct' works for tabletop guitar, tapes and electronics that verge on pure noise in their intent. Died June 23, 1991.
Kaoru Abe was an influential Japanese avant-garde alto saxophonist. Self-taught at a young age, Abe performed with notables such as Motoharu Yoshizawa, Takehisa Kosugi, Yosuke Yamashita, Derek Bailey, and Milford Graves, although he generally performed solo. Abe was prolific, appearing almost every day to jazz spots and concerts. His library consists almost entirely of archival and live recordings, however he has recorded in a studio.
