T-Square (stylized in all caps, formerly known as The Square) is a Japanese jazz fusion band formed in 1976. They became famous in the late 1970s and the 1980s alongside other Japanese jazz fusion bands such as Casiopea, Prism, and Naniwa Express, and are known for songs such as "Truth", "Japanese Soul Brothers", "Takarajima", and "Omens of Love", among others.
The band's initial name, "The Square", was printed on the front cover of their albums. After the renaming of the band to T-Square the imprint changed respectively (in all caps) and their typical logo became a capital letter "T" printed over a red square. The logo has been modified several times, reflecting the change of band names such as T-Square Alpha (where an α symbol was added to the logo) and T-Square Plus (where the text "plus" was added, centered next to the T in smaller letters).
"Truth" was used as the theme for Fuji Television's Formula One coverage from 1987 to 1998 and starting in 2012. Special arrangements of this song were used as the theme for Japan's F1 2001 to 2006.
The band has won 12 Japan Gold Disc Awards. In the 1980s, S.P.O.R.T.S., Truth, Yes, No, and their F-1 Grand Prix World compilation album won Gold Discs in the "Jazz-Fusion" category. In the 1990s, Natural, Impressive, Human, Natsu no Wakusei, B.C. A.D., and Gravity all won Gold Discs. After more than two decades without Gold Discs, the band won back-to-back awards for 2021's Fly! Fly! Fly! and 2022's Wish as part of the "Instrumental Album of the Year" category.
History
The Square (1976–1988) In 1976, the Square started as a small jazz fusion group in Meiji University with a very basic line-up, made of bassist Yuhji Nakamura, guitarist Masahiro Andoh, pianist Jun Hakamazuka and drummer Shunichi Harada. According to Masahiro Andoh, the band's name was inspired by Madison Square Garden. Hakamazuka was replaced by Junko Miyagi on piano.
Meanwhile, in the Nihon University of the Arts, saxophonist Takeshi Itoh and Drummer Michael S. Kawai played in a few other college bands together. When those disbanded, Kawai became fast friends with Andoh, replacing Harada on drums within the Square, and Takeshi Itoh made many guest appearances with the band, officially joining on saxophone and flutes, in 1977.
With backing guitarist Yuhji Mikuriya, auxiliary-keyboardist Shiro Sagisu, and percussionist Kiyohiko Senba joining in 1978, the band was signed to CBS/Sony and released their first studio album, Lucky Summer Lady. It had a semi-generic, disco-type sound. The follow-up album, "Midnight Lover" was more melody-centric and its title track taking more of a Bossa-Nova approach. Their third album, "Make Me a Star", was their first album to count with guest musicians and saxophonist Takeshi Itoh adopted the Lyricon as a side instrument. The Square would then begin a tradition of writing one to three songs with the Lyricon in every new album thereafter. As the years progressed, the number of members had dwindled from eight members (two keyboardists, two guitarists, a drummer, a Percussionist, a sax player and a bassist) to five (a drummer, a keyboardist, a guitarist, a sax player and a bassist). The group's sound had also evolved to a more rock-oriented music when Junko Miyagi was replaced by Prism (ja) keyboardist Daisaku Kume and Michael S. Kawai was replaced by drummer Jun Aoyama (better known as Tatsuro Yamashita's support drummer from 1979 to 2003). The band would also have vocalists, with Rockoon being the first of two albums to prominently feature one. Jun Aoyama was later replaced by Eiji Shimizu on drums and Yuhji Nakamura was replaced by bassist Toyoyuki Tanaka in 1981. Tanaka's slap-bass influenced a tonal shift to the band.
In 1982, Tohru Hasebe replaced Shimizu and Hirotaka Izumi replaced Kume. Izumi eventually became the second longest-tenured keyboardist over 15 years in the band (1982–97). This would be the band's first consistent line-up, lasting until late 1985. Hiroyuki Noritake would then replace Hasebe on drums that same year as their first long-term drummer. By the end of 1986, Mitsuru Sutoh replaced Toyoyuki Tanaka on bass, being the first long-term bassist in the group. Takeshi Itoh would go on to swap his Lyricon – an instrument crafted in the 1970s with not many people to repair it – for a mass-produced Yamaha WX7, which he would further swap out for an EWI instead.
In an attempt to not confuse the Western Audience with a name that sounds too close to "The Squares", "Truth" was released in the United States and Canada through Portrait Records, a sister imprint of Columbia and Epic Records and a subsidiary of Sony Records. While this album's Japanese release still refers to the band as "the Square", Portrait Records' reprint would be the first to refer to them as "T-Square", and included the logo of a T and a Red Square later used in their albums.
Their first performance in the United States was at the Cat Club in New York City in December 1987 and it was released on Laserdisc early 1988, still as "the Square".
T-Square (1988–2000) Their 1988 album, Yes, No was released in Japan only, with no Western reprint, and thus still referred to them as "the Square", but they performed at the Roxy in Los Angeles on November 3 that same year as "T-Square". This is the first concert to use the now-established T-Square logo onstage. In 1989, they released their first studio album, in no uncertain terms, now as "T-SQUARE", Wave. The band would also appear alongside Ottottrio (with guitarist Hirokuni Korekata) and Casiopea in The Super Fusion that same year. In 1990, saxophonist Masato Honda debuted with them as a backing saxophonist on the album T-Square Live (featuring F-1 Grand Prix Theme). By the end of 1990, Takeshi Itoh left the group to pursue a solo career in the US, and Honda replaced him in 1991. Honda also composed the opening track from T-Square's New-S album, "Megalith". Their second album with Honda, Impressive, begins with the song "Faces", which, like "Truth", came to be closely associated with Fuji TV broadcasts of Formula 1, more specifically, with Ayrton Senna's victories. After the release of the Blue in Red album in 1997, Honda left the group to pursue his solo career. Takahiro Miyazaki would replace him. At the same time, Hirotaka Izumi left T-Square and was replaced by Tadashi Namba. Namba played keyboards on the theme song from Gran Turismo, "Moon Over The Castle" (from Masahiro's solo album Andy's, released in 1996) as well as the T-Square arrangement of the song, called "Knight's Song", from Blue in Red. The group and all former and (at the time) current members played at Yaon de Asobu for their 20th anniversary that same year. At the end of 1998, Tadashi Namba was replaced by Keiji Matsumoto. The new line-up of Miyazaki, Noritake, Sutoh, Matsumoto and Andoh was kept until the group's brief disbandment in mid-2000.
Unit era (2000–2004) In mid-2000, T-Square were split into two separate groups. The rhythm section of Sutoh, Noritake and Matsumoto performed as "Trio the Square". With Takahiro Miyazaki leaving his role as a sax player, Takeshi Itoh performed and recorded with Masahiro Andoh for the first time in a decade. The songs they wrote became their album, Friendship. This album wasn't released under Sony Records proper, but instead, under Village Records, a Sony Music imprint whose focus is on Jazz-Fusion. The album was recorded with Session players, but the Friendship Live performance had ex long-term drummer, Hiroyuki Noritake, along with support bassist Kiyoshi Murakami and keyboardist Keizoh Kawano, the latter of whom started in the band as a supporting member, eventually to become the longest tenured keyboardist over 20 years with T-Square. In 2001, T-Square formed a side project that pursued hard rock sounds, T-Square Plus. Fence of Defense guitarist Kenji Kitajima, former Seikima-II bassist Shunsuke "Xenon" Ishikawa and session keyboardist Takehiro Kawabe joined them briefly in 2002. After that, the band no longer used session musicians.
In 2003, T-Square released the album Spirits under their original name of "the Square", and retained some of their original members (partly due to T-Square's 25th anniversary that year) and kept their newcomer, Keizoh Kawano. The line-up was Itoh, Noritake, Sutoh, Kawano, Izumi and Andoh. They released another album, T Comes Back, that featured new arrangements of some of their best known songs.
Return to the band form (2004–2019) In 2004, Keizoh Kawano became an official keyboardist, and Katsuji Morioka joined and replaced Mitsuru Sutoh on bass. Only a few months after the release of their album, "Groove Globe", Satoshi Bandoh replaced Hiroyuki Noritake on Drums. At the end of 2004, the group made a band form for the second time. In 2005, not long after the release of "Passion Flower", Morioka was replaced by Shingo Tanaka as support bassist, and they continued to turn with this lineup, seen in the "Passion Flower Live" DVD. T-Square's original drummer, Michael S. Kawai, returned as a behind-the-scenes percussionist and producer from 2004 to 2008.
In order to promote their 30th anniversary, the band formed T-Square Super Band that combined their former and (at the time) current members. The line-up was Andoh, Itoh, Miyazaki, Tanaka, Sutoh, Izumi, Kawano, Noritake, and Bandoh. After the end of the Wonderful Days tour, the group added even more former members to form T-Square Super Special Band and played on Yaon de Asobu for their 30th anniversary show. This show was released in February 2009 as The Square ~ T-Square since 1978: 30th Anniversary Festival. Their 2009 album Discoveries was sold with a DVD which chronicled T-Square performing and rehearsing in 2008.
In 2010, T-Square released a brand new album, . This album was meant to showcase more of the songwriting abilities of the younger members of the group. In the summer of that same year, T-Square rerecorded some of their older songs and released them in October as an album called , with T-Square Plays the Square as a subtitle.
T-Square released another album, Nine Stories, in April 2011. Some current and former T-Square members would tour with Satoshi Bandoh to promote his solo album, Happy Life!, in late 2011. T-Square recorded another T-Square Plays the Square album, released in October 2011, much like the year prior. Keizoh Kawano recorded and released his own solo album, Dreams, in November. At the end of 2011, they performed a new song, "Bird of Wonder", which was released with their 2012 album Wings. The group later released another cover album in 2012, , this time employing the help of special guest musicians, such as jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita.
T-Square again formed "T-Square Super Band" in promotion of their 35th anniversary. They retained all members of the Super Band from 2008, including percussionist Kiyohiko Semba and excluding pianist Hirotaka Izumi. A picture was included upon the release of the album Smile, reading something related to "Itoh's resignation", making fans believe that Takeshi Itoh would once again leave the band. Itoh only performed on two tracks of another 2013 album, History, but did not leave the band.
T-Square's 35th Anniversary Festival show (recorded at the Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall on October 13, 2013, and the Festival Hall on October 15, 2013) was released on Blu-ray and DVD in May 2014. Nearly a month later, their album was released, Next.
The 40th T-Square album, Paradise, was released in July 2015, being one of ten T-Square albums (along with Lucky Summer Lady, Midnight Lover, Make Me a Star, Magic, , Stars and the Moon, S.P.O.R.T.S., Yes, No, and Friendship) not to be released in the spring. Paradise was the first T-Square album to be released on iTunes and Spotify in the United States, along with their following album from 2016, Treasure Hunter.
T-Square's 1982–1985 lineup continued a single concert after performing almost the year prior.