BIOGRAPHY
TAKAO SAITO
Here and now, in this very moment—
that is music, and that is prayer.
Searching for lost dreams, I played bass NY— capturing this moment in sound.
What words cannot say becomes music,
letting the heart seep through like a prayer.
In my youth, I dreamed about becoming a bassist. Though I stepped away from music for a time, I often wondered what I could achieve without it. A spring gloom seemed to cloud my mind during those years.
My years stationed in New York for work revisited that old dream. I felt a strong desire to study in the sanctuary of music. The words of a friend in Sweden, Shadia, pushed me forward.
“You can do whatever you want.”
— If you believe and desire, do not be afraid; you will be guided.
Believing in those words, I decided to start learning the bass again from the very basics.
I fell in love with live music in New Orleans and bought a Doublebass on impulse. I then studied under a Broadway teacher who lived a free-spirited life in a South Bronx warehouse with artists and dancers. Their lifestyle deeply inspired my own sensibility as I relearned the basics of classical technique.
Now as a professional bassist in Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka, I continue to deepen my studies through Berklee Online. I feel every day that possibilities expand no matter your age or location.
Jazz improvisation is a conversation between players. I weave music that exists only in that unique, fleeting moment—a place of beauty and emotion. Beyond technique, what truly resonates with the heart is a "deep sound" born from deep breath.
Music allows the unspoken heart to emerge; it is where life's unexpressible feelings become sound. I hope live music becomes a daily experience in Japan, just as it is in New York. To me, music is a groove that moves the body, a meditation, and a prayer.
Here and now, in this very moment—
that is music, and that is prayer.
