NUAGES BLUE

NuagesBleu

NuagesBleu was formed in 2010 by the late Noriyuki Banno. After several changes in the lineup over the years, the group now performs as a duo featuring Masayuki Tanizaki (violin) and Genki Nishihira (guitar).

Their music centers on Gypsy Jazz, a distinctive style of jazz that originated in France, while their repertoire also includes film music and other genres.

At times passionate, at times joyful, and at times melancholic, their performances are characterized by the constantly shifting colors and rhythms created by just two string instruments.

Masayuki Tanizaki — Violin

Tanizaki began playing the violin at the age of three. At 16, he studied enka, Japanese popular songs, and folk music under guitarist Yukio Saito, who ran a live music café, and also performed there as a backing musician.

While at university, he joined the Tokushima University Symphony Orchestra as a student from another university and became the orchestra’s first concertmaster from outside Tokushima University, serving in the position for a year and a half.

After leaving the orchestra, he studied Gypsy Jazz under the late Noriyuki Banno. Today, he performs regularly at events, music bars, and jazz clubs both within and outside Tokushima Prefecture.

He is the bandleader of the Gypsy Jazz group NuagesBleu.

Genki Nishihira — Guitar

Nishihira developed a love of music from an early age and began composing out of a desire to move from simply listening to background music to becoming someone who creates it himself.

He completed the Composition and Music Theory Course in the Department of Music at Shikoku University, studying music theory under Atsushi Masuda and piano under Kumiko Yasuda.

After graduating, he taught himself guitar and made the transition from piano to guitar. He is currently active both within and outside Tokushima Prefecture as a member of the Gypsy Jazz group NuagesBleu.

Playing Gypsy Jazz guitar, flamenco guitar, and electric guitar, Nishihira works across a wide variety of musical genres, giving him a remarkably diverse range of musical activities.