Saturday, January 28, 2012

UNIT Asia is an Asian jazz unit formed by five musicians with the aim to “create a new type of jazz music”.

The four-year-old group comprises Japanese musicians Isao Miyoshi (guitar), Hiroyuki Noritake (drums) and Shigeki Ippon (bass), Thai saxophone player Koh aka Mr Saxman and a promising pianist from Malaysia, Tay Cher Siang.
Isao made his debut in 1983 and formed his own guitar trio in 1992. He released his first album Sankichizm in 1995 to critical acclaim. He took part in the Jazz Guitar Summit in Kennedy Centre, Washington DC in 2000 and performed in France and Germany the following year.
Koh learnt to play the Thai flute or khlui from his father and was a saxophone fan in high school. While studying at Chulalongkorn University, he was invited to join the band Boy Thai. He released his first solo album, Mr Saxman, in 2002 which launched the hit song Pavana (My Prayer). He is also a music educationist at Mahidol University and Kasatesart University.

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