"奥田民生"
"奥田民生"
PE'Z (ペズ Pezu?) is a Japanese jazz instrumental band consisting of five men, dubbed "The Samurai Jazz Band." They have been signed onto Sony Music Japan since 2008.
PE'Z began their music careers playing live on the streets of Shibuya in the center of Tokyo during the summer of 2000. Word of mouth spread quickly and they began pulling in large crowds which sometimes totaled up to 600.
In just three years, the band played in ten outdoor music festivals throughout Japan, including Newport Jazz Festival '02 in Madaro, Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival 2002 in Shizuoka, and Rising Sun Rock Festival in Hokkaido. In September 2002 their first full album, Kugatsu no Sola (September Sky) was released, reaching No.10 on the billboard. In March 2003 they received an award for "New Artist Of The Year" at the 17th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards.
In August 2003 they participated in the re-mix of Japanese duo called Chemistry's 8th single "Ashita E Kaeru/Us" ("Return to Tomorrow").
That same year, HZM joined Shiina Ringo's backing band as a keyboard player for her nationwide tour. In 2004, he joined Shiina's new band Tokyo Jihen, but eventually left the group to focus his attention back to PE'Z in the next year. He has since released a Solo Album entitled "5+2=11" under the moniker H Zett M.
In October 2005 PE'Z performed at UK's In The City along with fellow Japanese artists DMBQ and The Rodeo Carburettor. The quintet followed that with numerous performances in Europe (including a live show on the street in Amsterdam). The following year, 2006, was been a busy year for the band as they participated in both Canadian Music Week (CMW) and South by Southwest (SXSW), as well as giving a live performance in South Korea in between. Their gig at SXSW was subsequently followed with their first-ever US tour, performing in New York, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
PE'Z also performed with Cyndi Lauper in a TV program. Their song "Boomerang Boogie" was also used as the theme song for the anime series Gad Guard.
In September 2006, PE'Z released a three-track EP with the British soul singer Nate James, featuring an original track, "Live for the Groove," a reworked Nate James track, "Universal," and a cover of "Hard to Handle" by Otis Redding. They subsequently released a 32-track double album entitled Funny Day & Hard Night on March 25, 2007. This was followed by a second Realive DVD, which featured the band playing an outdoor Venue, with two sets which followed the Day/Night themes of the double CD, with the first played roughly at sundown and the second at night, with house and LED lighting.
pe'zmoku
In 2007, the band collaborated with the alternative folk singer suzumoku, with whom they co-founded pe'zmoku. pe'zmoku performed for the first time during the encore of PE'Z's annual special live "EN-MUSUBI" at the end of the same year.
In 2008, they started in earnest. They recorded the ending theme "Gallop" for the anime series Bleach, and the ending theme "Ano Kaze ni Notte" for Valkyria Chronicles.
Following a brief disappearance by suzumoku, impromptu cancellations of several concerts were forced on the band in March 2009. As of October 2009 the band is on an indefinite hiatus.
Personnel
Ohyama "B.M.W" Wataru, born in Kanagawa, trumpet
Kadota "Jaw" Kouske, born in Ehime, saxophone
Nirehara Masahiro, born in Niigata, double bass
Kou, born in Tokyo, drums
Hiizumi "HZM" Masayuki, born in Kobe, keyboard & vocals