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Comment by BossHogg | Hacker News Reader

This is as surprising to me as it is sad. 2 of 3 YMO members now gone at 70 and 71 which seems very young given the renown of Japanese longevity. Anyway, Beauty is a favorite album from my childhood so probably time for a re-listen.

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> seems very young given the renown of Japanese longevity

Well, Sakamoto-san didn't exactly live a traditional Japanese life. Three marriages, playing in a band in the '70s (so disreputable!), jet-setting around the world... Shit takes its toll (unless you're Mick Jagger, of course).

A number of prolific Japanese Jazz keyboardists/pianists have died relatively young. Hirotaka Izumi, who played keyboards for T-Square and Pyramid, died from acute heart failure at 62. The Japanese Jazz composer and pianist Jun Fukamachi, who released an average of over one album per year in his 39 years as a band leader, died from an aortic dissection at 64. Japanese jazz pianist and composer Hiromasa Suzuki, who has over a hundred album writing credits to his name, died at 61.

Do I spy a fellow T-Square fan? You have any other recommendations? I've found a few related bands in the Casiopea/T-Square family but I have a feeling there's a whole iceberg left to delve into if I can find it.

Other than the artists I mentioned, I also enjoy Masayoshi Takanaka, Kazumi Watanabe, Horii Katsumi Project, Dimension, Trix, Prism, and Fragile. Which reminds me that Fragile's drummer, Kozo Suganuma, also died relatively young a couple years back, at 62.

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