Piano & Vocal

Yumi Arai

Vocal & MC

Yasuo Arai

Saxophone

　

Toshiyuki Ando

Wood Base

Mikio Oto

Yoshinobu Yada

Guitar

Izumi Kato

Drums

Naohisa Hatakeyama

Yasuo Arai (Vocal & MC)

Born in Saitama Prefecture, he has been involved in various businesses as a businessman since he was in his 20's. On the other hand, he has been involved in Jazz since he was a teenager.
On the other hand, he has been involved in Jazz since his teens, taking lessons in the U.S. He continues to be active in various fields such as guitar performance, vocals, MC, and music production. He has lived in many different places and experienced many different things from a young age. He has traveled abroad more than 100 times for business and private purposes, and even he does not know how many times he has been abroad. In an industry where male vocalists are scarce, he is a valuable presence.
Everyone is amazed at the number of acquaintances and friends he has made in Japan and abroad in a wide variety of fields. This story of his real life experience overseas was a big hit on LIVE! He has also appeared on many occasions to give lectures in various fields. His funny, easy-to-understand, dry talk show is looked forward to by people from all walks of life. He still travels abroad 3 to 4 times a year for interviews, etc., to keep up with his hard schedule.
In October 2002, he was officially invited by the Chinese government to perform in Beijing as a member of the jazz band "Yasuo Arai & Heavens Four," and has played a major role as a goodwill ambassador as an MC and singer.
In August 2008, they were officially invited by the Chinese government to perform as representatives of Japan. The performance was a great success and was broadcast in 38 languages to 200 countries around the world by the China International Broadcasting Corporation (CICB).
In August 2011, they were again invited by the Ministry of Culture (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to perform at the 4th China International Youth Arts Festival in Beijing, and became the first Japanese band to perform there.

Yumi Arai (Piano & Vocal)

Born in Tokyo, Japan, he began playing the piano at the age of three. While working as a system instructor at the Yamaha Music School Foundation and as a Yamaha grade certification examiner, he is also active as a jazz player. By the time he graduated from college, he already had more than 120 students and has trained more than 260 professional teachers and players. He has also trained more than 10,000 other students. Although already well known as a jazz pianist, he has also expanded his musical activities by participating in TV singing shows and concert tours across the country as a backing band for idol singers.
His first overseas performance was in San Francisco, U.S.A., followed by performances in Hawaii, Australia, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other places around the world.
In October 2002, she was officially invited by the Chinese government to perform at the National Theatre in Beijing as a representative of Japanese jazz on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and the following day newspapers in 202 countries carried articles praising her "beautiful voice, reminiscent of Lisa Ono in the bossa nova world. In August 2008, she was officially invited again by the Chinese government to perform at the Beijing Olympics as a representative of Japanese musicians and Asia. The performance ended with a full house and thunderous applause.
As the leader of the jazz band "Heavens Four," he also composes music and teaches young musicians. Currently, he performs at live houses in Tokyo and other places in Japan, and is working on a new field of music CD (his 10th CD released).

Toshiyuki Ando (Tenor Saxophone)

Born in Saitama Prefecture, he has been playing saxophone for more than 30 years, starting at the age of 12 in a brass band.
During this time, he studied under Yoshiyuki Yamanaka.
He has appeared on many jazz scenes as a jazz saxophone player and has many fans for his ad-lib sense and sharp sound, including collaborations with Jimmy Smith and the world's greatest writer, Mrs. Henri Miller, Hoki Tokuda.
He is currently active as a saxophone instructor at Union Music.
As an old member of the Heavens Four, he performed in Beijing, China in the fall of 2002.

Mikio Oto (Wood Base)

Born on December 2 in Tokyo, Japan, he picked up his first bass guitar at the age of 14.
After graduating from high school, he studied under Nobuyoshi Ino of WB. After graduating from high school, he studied under Nobuyoshi Ino of WB, and started performing live with electric bass in Tokyo and its suburbs. In 1998, he recorded an album with Dai Kurakami's Tokyo Symphonic Ensemble, and in 2010, he joined Dai Kurakami's Anthology, among many others.
In 2006, he wrote an instructional book (Walking Bass Recommendations for Rock Bassists) for Yamaha Music Media, and in 2012, he wrote an instructional book (Jazz Walking Bass for Rock Bassists) for Yamaha Music Media.
He is a member of Music People's Nest (MPN).
Member of Japan Bass-Players' Club.

Yoshinobu Yada (Wood Base)

Born in Tokyo. Studied under Mitsuaki Furuno.
Participated in the recording of the album "Magnetic Storm (Toshiba EMI)" by "Hiroshi Inoue & RASA.
Active mainly at the live house "Pit Inn".
Recently, he has been performing with Katsuyuki Tsukui (Class) at Dio Live and Ayako Hosokawa (Vo) at Cotton Cafe every year when she visits Japan, along with Toshiyuki Otoku (P) and Mitsunori Sugawara (Ds).
He has played several Eldorado CD recordings with his own personality. He is also enthusiastic about teaching younger musicians at the music college "Mather House".

Izumi Kato (Guitar)

Born in Tokyo, Japan, he has been playing professionally since the age of 19. He began studying jazz guitar in earnest in 1979 and joined the Yasutoshi Inamori (P) Quartet as early as one year later. Later, he played in the Teiichi Tabata (Ds) Quartet, the all-American group Meaka-Digmo, and the Jimi Smith (Ds) Quartet, and has performed with world-class musicians and recorded CDs.
He is well known for his sharp and steady playing. At the same time, he has devoted himself to guitar education and has trained many guitarists at Yamaha Music School and other schools.
In 2002, he represented Japan in Beijing as a member of the Heavens Four, playing jazz guitar to great applause. 2004, he participated in the Ayako Hosokawa CD recording in Los Angeles.
He is the author of many books, including "Jazz Guitar Ad-lib Instruction Book" and "Contemporary Jazz Guitar 2: Intro & Ending Techniques.

Naohisa Hatakeyama (Drums)

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture. Graduated from Sakuyo College of Music. After graduation, worked in the classical field in orchestras and brass bands. He then moved to Tokyo to study jazz drums and Latin percussion. Currently he is recording in a studio and performing at live houses and cruise ships around Tokyo. Since 2012, he has been the main drummer of Heavens Four and has also participated in the CD "ELDORADO-6".