Shinobu Ito /伊東忍was born in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, is a Japan-born jazz / fusion guitarist lives in New York City since 1977.
For many years, he has lived in New York, putting his body and soul into the jazz scene, representing the essence of mainstream jazz, but for someone who has been watching him for the past ten years. he is now represents quite a change in direction. He sought out to broaden his sense of expression on the jazz guitar style without sticking strictly to jazz.
From straight-ahead jazz to fusion & beyond,the new musical aspects he is challenging now are all quite interesting, and the result is certainly quite significant in the world of improvisational guitar music.
While a young boy, Shinobu was interested in American pop songs, so his father bought him a guitar and gave him lessons.
Shinobu devoted great efforts to his study of the guitar and eventually developed an ambition to become a noted guitarist in the future.
In junior high school, he organized his own pop instrumental group and performed at various musical events.
He became interested in jazz guitar during his high school days when he heard Wes Montgomery.
While attending Tokai University, Shinobu studied with the respected guitar teacher, Ikuo Shiozaki, and became a member of the university’s Jazz Workshop Circle. He also began his professional career at this time, performing at clubs and on recordings.
In 1975, Shinobu experienced a great culture shock socially and musically during a 6-month stay in Los Angeles.
During this period in L.A. Shinobu met Toshiko Akiyoshi, who introduced him to many musicians and strongly suggested to him that he should go to New York to learn and play jazz on his next visit to the States.
When he returned to Japan in 1975, Shinobu joined Jazz vocalist Yoshiko Kimura’s group, and also resumed activities with top class Japanese Jazz musicians such as Kohsuke Mine, Seiichi Nakamura, Shigeharu Mukai, Hidefumi Toki and Takao Uematsu and many others.
He also had opportunities to play with Tete Montreux, Bill Reichenbach, Ronnie Foster, Stanley Banks, Dennis Davis and others at this era.
Also in 1975, Swing Journal Magazine chose him as one of most 20 popular Jazz guitarists in Japan.
In keeping with his plan, Shinobu returned to the United States in 1977 and settled in New York City this time and soon he became a member of a 10-piece band directed by Reggie Workman, which performed mainly at festivals in Brooklyn area.
He also played with Teruo Nakamura & his Rising Sun Band and became involved in various other musical activities mostly in New York area.
Additionally, Shinobu joined on pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto’s album .
Some of the many musicians he played with at this time include: Joe Jones Jr., Sadik Hakim, John Orr, Tommy Turrentine, Bob Mintzer, Rickey Ford,
Kenny Kirkland, Kyle Hicks and some others.
In 1980, he formed and recorded his own first fusion group with T.M. Stevens, Kyle Hicks and Gene Williams while continuing other musical activities.
He would occasionally lead groups at Jazz clubs such as the Blue Note, 55 Bar, Angry Squire, Pat’s, Eric’s etc performing with musicians including
Valery Ponomarev, Lonnie Plaxico, Eddie Henderson, Lonnie Smith, Jessey Davis, Kenny Davis and Jeff Williams among others.
In 1989, Shinobu recorded with pianist Kris Defoort’s 10-piece group who included Mike Formanek, Vincent Herring and Judy Niemack and some other great musicians.
Shinobu released his first CD _Crown Records / PAS-1009 in 1991 with Tom Harrell, Danny Gottlieb, Gary King, Mark Soskin and Dick Oates. This CD made the charts as one of the top ten best sellers in the contemporary jazz category in Japan, and was aired on many TV and FM stations for a long period of time.
Shinobu subsequently joined tenor saxophonist Eric Wyatt’s group and has continued for many years to be active, mainly in Brooklyn’s Jazz scene.
He has played with countless musicians who are also based in Brooklyn, such as Antonio Hart, Mark Shim, Alvester Garnett, Rodney Green, Lester Bowie, Kenyatta Beasley, Tim Perryman and some others.
He also co-produced and performed on Eric Wyatt’s debut CD _King Records / KICJ-313 in 1997
with Dan Kostelnik, Al Foster, Rufus Reid, Guilherme Franco and Mark Soskin.
Shinobu’s live recording in 1991 at Roppongi Pit Inn in Tokyo was released in 2001 by PJL Japan as _JazzBank / MTCJ-1049 and it was hailed as a legendary recording in the history of Japanese Jazz-Fusion.
Shinobu’s next CD, on which he plays mostly acoustic guitar, was released in 2002 and is titled as < A TRIBUTE TO BADEN POWELL AND ANTONIO LAURO> _JazzBank / MTCJ-1049.
Also in 2002, Shinobu performed at Montreal Jazz Festival with renowned guitarist Ryo Kawasaki.
His CD with Seiichi Nakamura, one of great Tenor saxophonists in Japan, was recorded in New York September 2004, and was released in 2005 titled as _JazzBank / MTCJ-1084.
Shinobu has spent 2 years as an instructor at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music / Jazz Division in Japan, and to do so, he made frequent flights from New York City to Tokyo in year between 2005-2007. While this period of time, his Latin flavored smooth Jazz group RAMONADA was offered to play as a house group at a newly opened jazz club in Tokyo then called CANDY in April 2006. Since then, RAMONADA subsequently performed at there nearly 30 times in only 9 months period of time by popular demand with great success.
His CD as classical guitar duo was recorded in New York City and the duo CD was released in 2006 from JazzBank label.
CD _Costa del Sol / CDS-1201 recorded live in November 2006 has been released in Aug 2013.
CD < MIDNIGHT SESSION released in 2019_ Costa del Sol / CDS-1202
CD < LEGENDARY LIVE 1991> released in 2020_ Costa del Sol / CDS-1203
