Draft:Seiki Yukimoto

Seiki Yukimoto

Born: July 6, 1963, Naniwa-Ku, Japan

Genres: Jazz

Instrument: Trumpet, quena, guitar

Years Active: 1975 to present

Early Life

Seiki Yukimoto started his musical career at age twelve playing electric guitar. When he entered

Ryukoku University in Kyoto he had a desire to audition for the band. Since the group already had

a guitar player, the band leader suggested he switch to trumpet and when he discovered he could

play, he did. (1) Mr Yukimoto was always attracted to the music of Miles Davis and wanted to

learn to play like him from the authentic jazz musicians who were mainly based in New York City.

(1)

In 1983 Seiki Yukimoto had an opportunity to go New York City for a one month visit and was so

inspired by the downtown music scene that he stayed through the 1980s. He also began

language studies at Columbia University. (1) Mr Yukimoto had an apartment on St Marks Place in

the East Village, where he lived and played music with the jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. Soon the

playwright and actor Miguel Piñero, author of the play Short Eyes, joined them as a third

roommate. (1)

Mr. Yukimoto’s first professional job as a musician was appearing with Don Cherry at The Knitting

Factory in New York City. (1)

Career

Eventually Seiki Yukimoto returned to Osaka, Japan. He was inspired by his New York

experience with free form jazz, to formed the group Soulbleed.(2) For Seiki Yukimoto, the word

Soulbleed implies a relationship that is deeper than one had with a brother. He feels musicians

who play together form this type of close bond. (2)

In 2009-10, Ko Shimizu and Rikiya Higashihara from NANIWA EXPRESS joined Seiki Yukimoto

and Soulbleed as band members. (2) Soon Mr. Yukimoto began composing music and he started

incorporating his original songs into his performances. (2)

In order to maintain artistic control over his recordings, Mr Yukimoto formed Art Entertainment

Cooperation. (2) In 2014 Seiki Yukimoto with his band Soulbleed released a CD of original music,

Exodus from Jazzyland. Mr Yukimoto plays both trumpet and the quena on this live recording.

The band members include Ko Shimizu on bass and Rikiya Higashihara on drums along with the

synthesizer and keyboard player Osamu Soda, guitar player Takumi Seino and saxophone player

Mitsuhiro Furuya. (2)

Seiki Yukimoto and Soulbleed soon followed this recording with a second live CD titled Where We

Were in 2017 employing the same musicians except now with Takashi Shirayama on guitar. (2)

Seiki Yukimoto and Soulbleed’s third live recorded CD, The Echoes of New York City, was

inspired by his life and history in a city he considers his second home. According to Mr Yukimoto

the inspiration for the CD came to him late one night when he was walking alone in his old

neighborhood on the lower east side. (2) With the return of Takumi Seino, there are now two

guitarists on this recording. (2)

Seiki Yukimoto and Soulbleed’s forth CD Six Sense Live was recorded at Mister Kelly’s in Osaka,

Japan (2021), and it includes a DVD of the performance. (2) For Mr Yukimoto the title Six Sense

Live refers to the special sixth sense musicians have that allows them to improvise and to draw

energy and inspiration from their spontaneous interplay during a live performance. (2)

Discography

Seiki Yukimoto and Soulbleed Exodus from Jazzyland (Art Entertainment Cooperation, 2014)

Seiki Yukimoto and Soulbleed Where We Were (Art Entertainment Cooperation, 2017)

Seiki Yukimoto and Soulbleed The Echoes of New York City (Art Entertainment Cooperation, 2019)

Seiki Yukimoto and Soulbleed Six Sense Live (Art Entertainment Cooperation, 2021)

External Links

Website: https://seikiyukimoto.com/

Facebook: Seiki “Yuki” Yukimoto

You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SeikiYukimotoSoulbleed

Footnotes

1. Hiroki Sugita, “Seiki Yukimoto, An Artist Who Continues to Burn the Spirit Cultivated in New

York in Kansai Japan,” Jazz Japan, October 2021, vol 133, 51-52.

2. Masafumi Ota, “Seiki Yukimoto, Jazz from the West,” Jazz Critique Magazine, 2017, vol 198,

151-155.