Hirotaka Izumi was born in Tokyo on September 28, 1958, and took a law degree from Keio University, where the more consequential coursework seems to have happened in the campus jazz club, the Light Music Society. In 1982 he joined The Square (later T-Square) on keyboards and stayed sixteen years, writing much of what the band is remembered for: "Travelers," "Omens of Love," "El Mirage." Then there is "Takarajima" ("Treasure Island"), from the 1986 album S·P·O·R·T·S. In 1987 the arranger Toshio Mashima scored it for concert band in Yamaha's New Sounds in Brass series, and it went on to become a fixture of Japanese junior-high and high-school wind bands, which means a great many Japanese teenagers have played Izumi's music without knowing who he was. He left in 1998, led small groups and recorded solo piano, and was still working when he died of acute heart failure on April 26, 2021, at 62.
Hirotaka Izumi playing with his trio Pyramid, December 2018. Still from the music video “PYRAMID – Mellow Steps” (SUPER PAW, produced by Yuji Toriyama), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Sources: Hirotaka Izumi — Wikipedia (born September 28, 1958, Tokyo; Keio University law graduate; T-Square keyboardist 1982–1998; died April 26, 2021, acute heart failure, age 62) , 和泉宏隆 — Wikipedia (Japanese; Keio Light Music Society; compositions “Travelers,” “Omens of Love,” “宝島,” “El Mirage”; Toshio Mashima's wind-band arrangements) , R.I.P. 和泉宏隆 (1958年9月28日〜2021年4月26日) 〜「宝島」作曲者、元T-SQUAREメンバー — JazzTokyo (Japanese; “宝島” released March 5, 1986 on S·P·O·R·T·S; Mashima's 1987 wind-band arrangement became a brass-band standard) , 宝島 / T-SQUARE — New Sounds in Brass Vol. 15 — Yamaha Music Media (Japanese; arranged by Toshio Mashima) , T-Square — jazzprofiles.com
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