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.
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Also known as
George Kawaguchi · 川口譲二
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- 8b0865b1-e9e2-4c33-bd83-0ab854d22be8
- ISNI
- 0000000055164951
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 11 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.