Tak Matsumoto facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tak Matsumoto
Matsumoto performing in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Takahiro Matsumoto
Born	(1961-03-27) March 27, 1961 (age 64) Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan
Genres	Hard rock blues jazz pop heavy metal instrumental rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Vermillion Favored Nations

Takahiro Matsumoto (born March 27, 1961) is a famous Japanese musician. He is a songwriter and also produces music. He is best known as the amazing guitarist and main composer for the rock duo B'z. B'z is the best-selling music group in Japan!

Tak Matsumoto also has a very successful solo career. He has won many Japan Gold Disc Awards. He even won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album for his album Take Your Pick in 2010. He made this album with another great guitarist, Larry Carlton. Did you know that Matsumoto is one of only five guitarists in the world to have his very own special Gibson signature guitar model? That's a huge honor!

Becoming a Guitar Legend

Tak Matsumoto started playing guitar when he was 13 years old. He was inspired by Eric Clapton's guitar playing on The Beatles song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". When he was 15, he bought his first electric guitar. He loved the sound of Deep Purple's guitarist Ritchie Blackmore playing "Smoke on the Water".

Matsumoto has many favorite artists who have inspired him. These include hard rock bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Van Halen. He also loves classical music. This love for classical music led him to add string instruments to many of B'z's songs. He also worked with Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra for many years. Their music can be heard on some of the early B'z albums.

Matsumoto went to a jazz school. He then started working as a session musician. This means he played guitar for other artists in the studio or on tour. He toured with bands like TM Network. This helped him become an even better musician. He learned many different styles, including jazz, blues, classical, heavy metal, rock, and ska.

Forming B'z and Solo Success

After playing for many other artists, Matsumoto decided to start his own band. He was looking for a singer. He heard a tape from an unknown singer named Koshi Inaba and was amazed! Their first time playing together, they covered two The Beatles songs. Even though the amplifier broke, Matsumoto knew he had found his singer.

Matsumoto and Inaba formed the duo B'z and started in September 1988. B'z became one of the most successful bands in Japanese music history. This is partly because Matsumoto loved blues, classical, and jazz, while Inaba preferred rock music. Their different styles blended perfectly!

Matsumoto is friends with many famous musicians. These include Billy Sheehan, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Perry, and Steve Vai. He even recorded a song called "Asian Sky" with Steve Vai and Koshi Inaba.

In 2003, Matsumoto's solo album The Hit Parade was named one of the best rock and pop albums. In 2004, he formed a new group called "Tak Matsumoto Group" (TMG). He played guitar and produced their album TMG I. The album was a big hit, reaching number one on the Oricon Albums Chart.

Matsumoto also worked on movie soundtracks. In 2005, he wrote music for the film Ultraman: The Next. In 2006, he wrote the music for "Real Face" for the group KAT-TUN. This song became the best-selling Japanese single of 2006!

In 2010, Matsumoto worked with the famous guitarist Larry Carlton. They released an album called Take Your Pick. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album! It also won Jazz Album of the Year in Japan.

Matsumoto continued to release successful solo albums. Strings of My Soul (2012), New Horizon (2014), and Bluesman (2020) all won the Japan Gold Disc Award for Instrumental Album of the Year.

In 2024, TMG announced they would be getting back together! They are planning a new album and a tour across Japan.

His Impact on Music

Tak Matsumoto is known for bringing back the idea of the "Japanese guitar hero." He made the electric guitar very popular in Japan. Many people see him as one of the most respected guitarists from Asia. In 2011, a Japanese poll named him the best guitarist to represent Japan.

In 2019, his song "1090 ~Thousand Dreams~" was listed as one of the best guitar instrumental songs by Young Guitar Magazine. In 2022, the Japanese government gave Matsumoto a special award, the Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon, for his good deeds and contributions.

His Guitars and Gear

Tak Matsumoto is very special to Gibson guitars. In 1999, Gibson gave him his own special Les Paul guitar model. He was the first guitarist from Asia to get this honor! He now has a record of 7 different signature guitar models from Gibson. His Les Paul model was even made into an Epiphone guitar, which is a brand related to Gibson.

Matsumoto also has a huge collection of guitars. Some of them are very old and rare, like a 1870 Martin Acoustic Guitar and a 1959 Gibson Les Paul. He also collects old guitar amplifiers and plays the bass guitar. He even owns a few sitars, which are instruments from India!

Discography

With B'z

Solo works

Albums

Singles

Promotion singles

Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto

Albums

Video

Tak Matsumoto & Daniel Ho

Albums

TMG (Tak Matsumoto Group)

See also

In Spanish: Tak Matsumoto para niños