Eiji Nakayama – Mini Interview

May 14, 2017

Eiji Nakayama is performing around Japan throughout 2017, see here for details.

1. Where are you from and how did you start playing music?

I’m from Sapporo city in Hokkaido, in the north of Japan. When I was a teenager, in my late teens, I started singing. When I started playing the bass, that’s when I first got into jazz, and then it became my my main interest.

2. Why did you choose the bass and who were your main influences?

When I was performing as a vocalist on a U.S. military base, the bass player quit for some reason. So I started to copy how he was playing, then I really got into it. That’s when I started listening intently to foreign musicians play. So, I can’t say any particular person influenced me, but many different ways of performing interested me.

3. What is your new album project?

This is my 24th album. It was released on April 26th titled “How I Miss You / Eiji Nakayama.” We invited a pianist from America, Peter Madsen who performs in NY and Europe. It’s a trio with piano and drums centering on the bass.