Tsutomu Nakai is a Japanese-born guitarist who has spent more than two decades as a respected voice on the New York jazz scene. He began playing in clubs in his hometown as a teenager and turned decisively toward jazz after discovering the spare lyricism of Jim Hall, moving to New York in 1998 to study with the guitarist Gene Bertoncini. His warm, melody-first approach has earned him bandstands alongside Jimmy Heath, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, and the tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, with whom he recorded the album G's Wish. He has continued to document his music as a leader, including the 2017 release Myrtle and Gold, and each year he organizes a Japan tour bringing together top players from both countries. He leads his own groups at New York rooms such as Zinc Bar, where his clean, singing lines are always in service of the song.
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