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Profile No. JA-174

Kiyotsugu Amano

Guitar — Japanese — B: August 17, 1956, Tokyo, Japan

Last updated October 21, 2026

Kiyotsugu Amano

Kiyotsugu Amano on the front cover of his album *Azure*, JVC, 1991. Standard copyright, all rights reserved, held by JVC / Victor Entertainment. This is not a Creative Commons or public-domain image, and it is not presented as one. It is an album cover whose front photograph shows the artist alone, used here as an honestly disclosed editorial stand-in for a portrait. The cover photograph is credited on Discogs to Kishin Aikawa. — Cover artwork for the album as published on the Apple Music release page for Azure (https://music.apple.com/us/album/azure/1797722013), downloaded at 600 x 600 pixels and saved locally as portrait.jpg in this folder, not hotlinked. It was not taken from Discogs.

Kiyotsugu Amano (天野清継, Amano Kiyotsugu in Japanese order) is a Tokyo-born guitarist, composer and arranger, better known to many listeners from album credits than from record covers. He was born in Tokyo on 17 August 1956. According to Japanese Wikipedia he started piano at three and guitar at eleven, and at Rikkyo University he belonged to the jazz research club inside the school's light-music club.

After graduating he joined the band of the saxophonist Sadao Watanabe and toured Japan with it, and he went on to work as a professional, including with the rock singer Eikichi Yazawa. Those early chapters come from biographical accounts rather than recorded credits. In 1988 he moved to the United States. His own site lists a summer session at GIT and a 1989 graduation from the Grove School of Music in composition and arranging. In Los Angeles he played live in support of the singer Benard Ighner with local musicians and formed a group called Book of Colors, a name he reused for a 2000 album.

Back in Japan he made his solo debut with Azure, issued by JVC (Victor Entertainment) on 21 October 1991. It was recorded in July and August 1991 at JVC's Aoyama Studios in Tokyo, with additional recording at Sunset Sound in Hollywood. Amano plays acoustic and classical guitar and is credited with arranging and orchestrating ten of the eleven tracks. The band is a mix of Los Angeles and Tokyo players: Alex Acuña on percussion, Don Grusin on synthesizer, Gary Herbig on saxophones and flute, Gregg Lee on electric bass, Akira Sotoyama on drums, Hiroko Kokubu on piano and a string section led by the concertmaster Masatsugu Shinozaki. The title track is an adaptation of the Polovtsian Dance from Borodin's opera Prince Igor. According to Japanese Wikipedia it was used in a television commercial for JT's Peace Light Box cigarettes, in which Amano also appeared, and the album was a hit. Branché followed in 1992 with strings at the centre of the sound.

In 1993 he and Kokubu made Heaven as a joint project they called Tengoku Project (the name takes its characters from both their surnames), with Abraham Laboriel on bass, Acuña on drums and percussion, Grusin on synthesizer and Herbig on saxophone and flute, produced by Akira Taguchi and mixed by Allen Sides in Los Angeles. Heaven and Beyond... appeared in 1995. In 1996 he fronted a unit billed as Taos featuring Amano on Yuman's Dance, an album that leans on electric guitar and that Discogs files under funk and fusion. Book of Colors (2000, Blow Wind Records) is the one on which, according to Japanese Wikipedia, he also shows his abilities as a singer, and around then he began producing vocalists, among them Dorlis. Navajo Trail (2003) brought in the drummer Hiroyuki Noritake, the keyboardist Keiji Matsumoto and the bassists Gregg Lee and Kiichiro Komobuchi, with a string quartet, and mixes his own pieces with "My Cherie Amour" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square". Japanese Wikipedia describes it as a deepening of the jazz content in his music.

Jazz became the explicit label in the mid-2000s. In 2004 he formed the Silent Jazz Trio with the bassist Keisuke Torigoe and the drummer Daisuke Yoshioka, and their self-titled Polystar album is described by Japanese Wikipedia as his first all-jazz record. In 2006 he formed Four Corners with Matsumoto, Komobuchi and Noritake (Ragmania, RAGJ 0009), and in 2007 he released In the Air, a set of eighteen short pieces for solo acoustic guitar that includes a new version of "Azure". In 2012 and 2013 he made Showa Nippon and Showa Nippon II as Ojiraku Gig, a unit with the guitarist Issei Noro of Casiopea, and in 2013 he released De ja vu: Standards as September Steps, an unusual string quartet of guitar, two violins and viola with the guests Takeshi Senoo and Hiroki Kashiwagi. He also plays in the Electric Jazz Quartet (EJQ).

His recent work is a mixture of his own and others'. He issued the digital mini-album Maskinfabrik in June 2020, the cover single "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in 2022 and the EP Don't Give Me a Shit! in 2025. In 2020 he began supporting the violinist Taro Hakase, and in 2024 he took part in forming Hakase's group Taro Hakase & the Lads, which recorded Vibrant. He turned 70 in August 2026.

Alongside the records under his own name he has a very long list of session and support credits. Discogs lists him on releases by Coba, Taro Hakase, Ikuko Kawai, Mika Nakashima, Ken Hirai, Misato Watanabe, Hiromitsu Agatsuma, Yuki Kajiura and others, and on the video-game soundtracks Tenchu and Capcom Fighting Jam. Japanese Wikipedia's much longer list of artists he has recorded or performed with includes the jazz figures Kazumi Watanabe, Mikio Masuda and Yasuko Agawa, and his own site lists Ron Carter among them. He also writes music for television and commercials.

Amano's own records sit at the smooth, melodic end of jazz fusion. Discogs lists Jazz among the genres on every one of his own-name releases and the styles as Smooth Jazz, Easy Listening, Fusion, Jazz-Funk and Contemporary Jazz, and Japanese Wikipedia calls him a jazz guitarist working in jazz and fusion. The core of the sound is a clean, singing guitar line: nylon-string and steel-string acoustic on Azure, Branché and In the Air, electric on Yuman's Dance, Book of Colors and Four Corners. A recurring habit is to take a piece from outside jazz (Borodin on Azure, "My Cherie Amour" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" on Navajo Trail, "Over the Rainbow" and "Georgy Porgy" on In the Air) and rebuild it as an instrumental. His arranging training at the Grove School shows in the string writing on Azure, Branché and Navajo Trail.

He is not purely a jazz name. Much of his public credit is session work for Japanese pop, anime and game-music artists, and Azure reached many listeners through a cigarette commercial rather than a jazz club. His own catalogue, his live groups (Silent Jazz Trio, Four Corners, EJQ, September Steps), his training and his work with Hiroko Kokubu, Hiroyuki Noritake, Kaori Kobayashi and Chie Ayado are what place him in the jazz and fusion scene, and that is how this profile treats him.

Key Recordings
Full Discography

Kiyotsugu Amano (天野清継) - Full Discography

Japanese guitarist, composer and arranger. Born August 17, 1956, Tokyo. Discogs artist 411112.

Name variations on record: Amano, Amano Kiyotsugu, K. Amano, Kiotsugu Amano, 天野清継 (also Kay Amano on his official site).

Group affiliations: Taos, Daisuke Kawai Group, Kanzaki on the Road (all as listed on Discogs); Silent Jazz Trio, Four Corners, Ojiraku Gig, September Steps, EJQ (Electric Jazz Quartet) and Taro Hakase & the Lads (as listed on Japanese Wikipedia).

Leader (own-name releases)

Year, label and catalog numbers are from Discogs unless noted. "Not found" in a Listen cell means no matching streaming page was located.

Album Year Label Personnel Notes Listen Buy
Azure 1991 JVC VICJ-90 Kiyotsugu Amano (acoustic and classical guitar, arranger, orchestrator); Hiroko Kokubu (piano); Don Grusin (synthesizer); Gary Herbig (tenor and alto saxophone, flute); Gregg Lee (electric bass); Akira Sotoyama (drums); Alex Acuña (percussion); Masatsugu Shinozaki (concertmaster) with a string section Released October 21, 1991. Eleven tracks, from "Azure ~ Polovetsian Dance From Opera Prince Igor" to "El Toro". Produced by Akira Taguchi, recorded and mixed by Hideo Takada at JVC Aoyama Studios, Tokyo, with additional recording at Sunset Sound, Hollywood. Discogs style Easy Listening. Spotify · Apple Music Amazon
Branché 1992 JVC VICJ-15001 Kiyotsugu Amano (acoustic guitar); Hiroko Kokubu (piano); Masatsugu Shinozaki (concertmaster); Akira Sotoyama (drums); Gregg Lee (electric bass); Kazuhiro Mishima (percussion); Haruo Sakai (soprano saxophone); Norimasa Yamazaki (synthesizer) Released June 21, 1992. Discogs lists three tracks: "Azure In Paris ~ Polovetsian Dance From Opera Prince Igor", the 11-minute "Vendôme Suite" and "I Will Wait For You". not found Amazon
Yuman's Dance (as Taos featuring Amano) 1996 JVC VICJ-238 Kiyotsugu Amano (guitar); Tatsuhiko Hizawa (bass); Akifumi Kawamura (computer) Twelve tracks, from "Watts" to "Eagle's Nest". Discogs genres Jazz, Rock, Funk / Soul, Blues; styles Funk, Fusion. not found Amazon
Book of Colors 2000 Blow Wind Records POCE-2007 Kiyotsugu Amano (acoustic and electric guitar); Shinji Ogawa (bass); Masato Yamashita (drums); Keiji Matsumoto (keyboards); Yoshinari Takegami (saxophone) Ten tracks including "Sky Blue Sky", "Sausalito", "Naples" and "Stone Henge". Discogs styles Jazz-Funk and Fusion. not found Amazon
Navajo Trail 2003 Blow Wind Records BWCP-1010 Kiyotsugu Amano (guitar, electric guitar); Hiroyuki Noritake and Masato Yamaguchi (drums); Gregg Lee and Kiichiro Komobuchi (electric bass); Keiji Matsumoto and Keizoh Kawano (keyboards); Norippe (cello); Gen Ittetsu and Gentaro Sakaguchi (viola); Daisuke Kadowaki and Yu Manabe (violin) Ten tracks including "Canyon Road", "My Cherie Amour", "Navajo Trail", "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square" and "Kyoto". Discogs styles Fusion and Contemporary Jazz. not found Amazon
In The Air 2007 JVC VICJ-61510 Kiyotsugu Amano (guitar) Released August 29, 2007. Eighteen short pieces including "Azure", "Don't Know Why", "Georgy Porgy", "My Romance" and "Over The Rainbow". Discogs lists no personnel credits. Discogs style Smooth Jazz. not found Amazon
Maskinfabrik (EP) 2020 independent digital release Kiyotsugu Amano Released June 5, 2020 (not listed on Discogs). Spotify · Apple Music not found
Don't Go Breaking My Heart (single) 2022 independent digital release Kiyotsugu Amano Cover single released in February 2022 (not listed on Discogs). Apple Music not found
Don't Give Me a Shit! (EP) 2025 independent digital release Kiyotsugu Amano Released June 1, 2025 (not listed on Discogs). Apple Music not found

Co-leader and group releases

Album Year Label Co-billed with Notes Listen Buy
Heaven (Tengoku Project) 1993 JVC VICJ-173 Hiroko Kokubu (piano, arranger); Abraham Laboriel (bass); Alex Acuña (drums, percussion); Don Grusin (synthesizer); Gary Herbig (saxophone, flute) Released September 22, 1993. Eleven tracks including "September Song", "Winner's Circle", "Cry", "Monet", "Bahia Skyline" and "Etude". Produced by Akira Taguchi, recorded by Clark Germain, mixed by Allen Sides. Amano plays guitar and arranges. Discogs style Smooth Jazz. not found Amazon
Heaven And Beyond... (Tengoku Project) 1995 JVC VICJ-215 Hiroko Kokubu Released September 21, 1995. Twelve tracks including "Oscar", "Spinning Wheel", "Perfidia", "La Isla Bonita" and "Somewhere In Time". Produced by Masahiro Yoshida. Discogs lists no instrument credits; styles Smooth Jazz and Easy Listening. not found Amazon
Silent Jazz Trio 2004 Polystar Keisuke Torigoe (bass); Daisuke Yoshioka (drums) His first all-jazz album. not found Amazon
Four Corners (Four Corners) 2006 Ragmania RAGJ 0009 Kiichiro Komobuchi (bass); Hiroyuki Noritake (drums); Keiji Matsumoto (keyboards, electric piano) Thirteen tracks including "Bingo", "Road To The Corner", "Hopi", "Eugene Oregon" and "Kayenta". Amano plays electric guitar. Discogs style Fusion. not found Amazon
Showa Nippon (Ojiraku Gig) 2012 fair play Records Issei Noro Album by the Amano and Noro unit. not found Amazon
Showa Nippon II (Ojiraku Gig) 2013 fair play Records Issei Noro Second Ojiraku Gig album. not found Amazon
De ja vu ~Standards (Kiyotsugu Amano September Steps) 2013 bluesofa Records String quartet of guitar, two violins and viola; guests Takeshi Senoo and Hiroki Kashiwagi Standards arranged for the unusual quartet. not found Amazon
Vibrant (Taro Hakase & the Lads) 2024 HATS Taro Hakase and the group's other members Group album; Amano is a member of the group formed in 2024. not found Amazon
The Hammond Organ Swing & Fanky ! (Daisuke Kawai Group) undated BS Jazz Support BSJS-006 Daisuke Kawai (organ); Ken Ota (tenor and alto saxophone); Hidenobu Otsuki (drums) Amano is credited on guitar. Eight tracks including "Midnight Mood", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and "Root Down". Discogs genre Jazz. not found not found

Sideman and guest appearances

Chronological list of the releases on which Discogs credits him as a performer, arranger or producer without a leader billing (Discogs role "Appearance", plus a few track-level and producer credits). The billed artist is shown in parentheses.

Unofficial releases

Discogs lists him on a few unofficial or bootleg soundtrack releases (the Rurouni Kenshin soundtrack bootlegs credited to Noriyuki Asakura, Madlax O.S.T. 2 and later Tenchu reissues). These are not counted above.

Sources

Personnel & Collaborations
Linked Profiles
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