Masahiko Togashi

Masahiko Togashi (富樫 雅彦, Togashi Masahiko, 22 March 1940 in Tokyo – 22 August 2007 in Kanagawa) was a Japanese jazz percussionist and composer.Togashi grew up in a musical household; his father was a double-bassist in a swing jazz ensemble, and Togashi learned violin and drums, playing the latter in his father's band. He worked with Sadao Watanabe, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Tony Scott in the 1950s, then founded the ensemble Jazz Academy in 1961 with Hideto Kanai, Masabumi Kikuchi, and Masayuki Takayanagi. Togashi was an early free jazz leader in Japan: his 1965 quartet with Kazunori Takeda, Yosuke Yamashita and Kuniro Takimoto used words as triggers for each player to perform his thoughts about that word. Togashi and Yamashita were part of Watanabe's band in 1966, but Yamashita and Togashi disagreed about rhythms, leading to the pianist leaving. Togashi also performed with American musicians such as Ornette Coleman, Blue Mitchell, Lee Morgan, and Sonny Rollins on Japanese tours. Early in 1969, Togashi and Hiroshi Suzuki co-led a quintet that recorded the album Variation. Another Togashi album from the same year – the quartet We Now Create – was described by critic Teruto Soejima as "a masterpiece of four individuals intensely exploring the true natures of their instruments".Togashi lost the use of his legs in an accident in 1969, and played only percussion until the mid-1970s when he resumed on drums. Later associations included performing or recording with Paul Bley, Don Cherry, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Steve Lacy, Gary Peacock, Masahiko Sato, and Yuji Takahashi.