Takeshi Ohbayashi

Piano icon Piano

39 age

Hiroshima, Japan Birthplace

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Takeshi Ohbayashi is a jazz pianist based in New York City, recognized as one of the leading Japanese jazz musicians of his generation. A Berklee College of Music graduate and member of the inaugural Berklee Global Jazz Institute class led by Danilo Perez, Ohbayashi has performed in over thirty countries and at venues including Blue Note New York, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Smalls. He co-leads the New Century Jazz Quintet with Grammy-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr., and has collaborated with Jose James, Terri Lyne Carrington, Takuya Kuroda, and MISIA. In 2016, he became the first Japanese pianist to win first place at the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition, and his album Manhattan was named Jazz Japan 2016 Album of the Year. He has released eleven albums as a leader and is active as a jazz educator through Jazz at Lincoln Center's JazzReach program.

Trivia

Ohbayashi uses the alias "T-CASH" for his Beat Cave project, which explores the intersection of jazz piano with electronic and beat-oriented music. He studied film scoring and composition at Tokyo College of Music before a jazz piano clinic during his freshman year redirected his career toward jazz. In 2009, he won both the Best Player Award and the Audience's Favorite Award at the Yokohama Jazz Competition. The New Century Jazz Quintet was modeled after Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

Early Life

Takeshi Ohbayashi was born on January 11, 1987, in Hiroshima, Japan, and began playing piano at the age of two. His early training was rooted in classical music, and he went on to study film scoring and composition at Tokyo College of Music. A jazz piano clinic during his freshman year sparked a passion for jazz that would reshape his career. Ohbayashi earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he arrived in 2007 and studied under Danilo Perez, Joanne Brackeen, and Doug Johnson. In 2009, he was selected for the inaugural class of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, performing and teaching alongside world-class musicians across the globe. After graduating in 2011, Ohbayashi moved to New York City, where he quickly established himself in the city's jazz scene.