Satoshi Takeishi, drummer, percussionist, and arranger is a native of
Mito Japan. He studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
While at Berklee he developed an interest in the music of South America and went to
live in Colombia following the invitation of a friend. He spent four years there and
forged many musical and personal relationships. One of the projects he worked on
while in Colombia was “Macumbia” with composer/arranger Francisco Zumaque in which
traditional, jazz and classical music were combined. With this group he performed
with the Bogota symphony orchestra to do a series of concerts honoring the music of
the most popular composer in Colombia, Lucho Bermudes. In 1986 he returned to the
U.S. in Miami where he began work as an arranger. In 1987 he produced “Morning Ride”
for jazz flutist Nestor Torres on Polygram Records. His interest expanded to the
rhythms and melodies of the middle east where he studied and performed with
Armenian-American oud master Joe Zeytoonian. Since moving to New York in 1991 he has
performed and recorded with many musicians such as Ray Barretto, Carlos “Patato”
Valdes, Eliane Elias, Marc Johnson, Eddie Gomez, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman,
Anthony Braxton, Mark Murphy, Herbie Mann, Paul Winter Consort, Rabih Abu Khalil,
Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, Erik Friedlander and Pablo Ziegler to name a few. He
continues to explore multi-cultural, electronics and improvisational music with
local musicians and composers in New York.
