Person · Male

ジョージ川口

drummer

From
Kyoto, Japan
Active
1927–2003
Releases
2
  • jazz

About

Joji "George" Kawaguchi (川口譲二) (June 15, 1927, Fukakusa, Kyoto - November 1, 2003, Tokyo) was a Japanese jazz drummer and bandleader.

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Kawaguchi was raised in Dairen, Manchukuo, at that time a Japanese-occupied territory. He played in his father's ensemble as a teenager, and after World War II moved back to Japan, where he embarked on a career in jazz. He played first with an ensemble called the Azumanians, then joined the Big Four with Hidehiko Matsumoto, Hachidai Nakamura, and Mitsuru Ono; this ensemble played intermittently into the 1980s. He played extensively with Art Blakey on tour in the 1980s. He recorded extensively as a leader; his sidemen included Isao Suzuki, Motohiko Hino, Takeshi Inomata, Donald Harrison, Terence Blanchard, Norio Maeda, Tatsuya Takahashi, and Nobuo Hara.
On July 22, 1966, he played with the John Coltrane quintet in Tokyo while the group was touring Japan.

From George Kawaguchi on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Discography

Albums 2

Links

Parent

Teacher

Also known as

George Kawaguchi · 川口譲二

Identifiers

ISNI
0000000055164951

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 11 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.