# Sadao Watanabe (musician)

Sadao Watanabe (渡辺 貞夫, Watanabe Sadao, born 1 February 1933) is a Japanese jazz musician who plays alto saxophone and sopranino saxophone. He is known for his bossa nova recordings, although his work encompasses many styles, with collaborations from musicians all over the world.

## Career

Watanabe was born on 1 February 1933 in Utsunomiya, Japan. His father, a professional musician, sang and played the biwa. Watanabe was attracted to jazz from an early age, in part due to the strong cultural influence stemming from the American post-war presence in Japan. He learned the clarinet while in high school after convincing his father over the course of six weeks to buy him a second-hand instrument.
In 1951, Watanabe moved to Tokyo and began playing the alto saxophone. He started studying the flute in 1953 with Ririko Hayashi from the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Watanabe joined Toshiko Akiyoshi's Cozy Quartet and began leading the group when Akiyoshi moved to the USA. By 1958, Watanabe had performed with leading musicians and quartets. In 1961, his first album as a leader, the self-titled Sadao Watanabe, was released.
In 1962, he left Japan to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Studying led Watanabe to a broadened stylistic scope that began to incorporate Brazilian music. During his time in the USA, he worked with Gary McFarland, Chico Hamilton, and Gábor Szabó.
Watanabe returned to Tokyo in 1965. There, he became the director of the new Yamaha Institute of Popular Music, a school that based its curriculum on Berklee's. From 1966 onwards, he toured Japan and internationally with his own quartet, playing bop, Brazilian music, jazz-rock, soul, and pop music. He played with the John Coltrane quintet in Tokyo while the group was touring Japan in 1966. By the time Watanabe played at the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival, he was a well-known and often highly-regarded jazz performer.
In 1969, Watanabe began working part time as a radio broadcaster, promoting jazz across Japan. From 1972, his programme My Dear Life ran for 20 years. He continued to perform internationally, including performances at Montreux Jazz Festival and Newport Jazz Festival. In 1970, he released his album Round Trip, featuring Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, and Miroslav Vitouš. Watanabe continued performing and recording throughout the 1970s and 1980s, amassing a catalogue of more than 70 albums as leader.
In addition to his musical career, Watanabe has published six photography books in Japan.
Watanabe has been in charge of the visiting professor of Jazz course at Kunitachi College of Music since 2010.

## Honors

Among Watanabe's awards are the Order of the Rising Sun, the imperial medal of honor for contribution to the arts, and the Fumio Nanri award.
* 1995: Berklee College of Music awarded him an honorary doctorate degree for his contributions to music.
* 2005: Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (勲四等旭日小綬章)
* 2015: Order of Rio Branco

## Discography
### As leader/co-leader

| Year recorded | Title | Label | Year released | Notes |
| 1961 | Sadao Watanabe | King | 1961 | with Akira Nakano, Kazuo Yashiro, Masanaga Harada, Takeshi Inomata, Akihiro Hasegawa |
| 1962 | Cocktails for Two | Toshiba | 1962 | with Kazuo Yashiro & His Trio, Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd |
| 1965 | Plays | Polydor | 1965 | with Akira Miyazawa, Akira Nakano, Norio Maeda, Kazuo Yashiro, Masahiko Togashi, Masanaga Harada |
| 1966 | Goin' Home - Modern Jazz Album | Denon | 1966 | with Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd (excp. 3, 7) Kazuo Yashiro & His Trio (3, 7) |
| 1966 | Jazz & Bossa | Takt | 1967 | with Masabumi Kikuchi, Eijiro Hagiwara, Masahiko Togashi, Sadanori Nakamure, Hideo Miyata |
| 1967 | Bossa Nova '67 | Victor | 1967 | with Masabumi Kikuchi, Isao Suzuki, Masahiko Togashi, Sadanori Nakamure, Hideo Miyata with strings |
| 1967 | My Romance - Sadao Plays Ballads | Takt | 1967 | with Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi with strings |
| 1967 | Encore!! Jazz & Bossa - Sadao Meets Sharps & Flats | Takt | 1968 | with Nobuo Hara & Sharps and Flats |
| 1967 | Jazz Samba | Nivico | 1967 | with Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi |
| 1967 | Bossa Beat Collection | Union | 1967 | Live with Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi, Sadanori Nakamure, Hideo Miyata |
| 1967 | The Girl From Ipanema | RCA | 1974 | Live with Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi, Sadanori Nakamure, Hideo Miyata |
| 1967 | Charlie Mariano & Sadao Watanabe | Victor | 1967 | with Charlie Mariano, Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi |
| 1967 | Iberian Waltz | Takt | 1967 | with Charlie Mariano, Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi, Fumio Watanabe |
| 1967 | Bossa Nova Concert | Takt | 1967 | Live with Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi, Sadanori Nakamure, Hideo Miyata and Strings Orchestra |
| 1967 | Music Break | Takt | 1969 | Live with Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Masahiko Togashi, Sadanori Nakamure, Hideo Miyata and Strings Orchestra |
| 1968 | We Got a New Bag | Takt | 1968 | with Charlie Mariano, Masabumi Kikuchi, Masanaga Harada, Fumio Watanabe, Yoshiaki Masuo, Tadashi Shigami, others |
| 1968 | Sadao Meets Brazilian Friends | Takt | 1968 | with Brazilian 8: Jose Ferreira(as), Godinho Filho(as), Carlos Alberto Alcantara(ts), Waldir De Barros(tp), Aparecido Bianchi(org, p), Joao Carlos Pegorro(vib, p), Olmir Seocaer(g), Douglas De oliveira(ds), Mathias Da Silva Matos(b) |
| 1968 | Sadao Plays Beatles and Bacharach | Takt | 1969 | with Tetsuo Fushimi, Terumasa Hino, Yoshiaki Masuo, Fumio Watanabe, Yoshio Ikeda, Hiroshi Suzuki, Nao Imai, Yasushi Ichiura, Yoshio Suzuki, Yuji Imamura, Tomoaki Hashizume, Isao Etoh, Kazuo Yashiro |
| 1969 | Swing Journal Jazz Workshop 2 - Dedicated To Charlie Parker | Takt | 1969 | Live with Terumasa Hino, Masanaga Harada, Fumio Watanabe, Kazuo Yashiro |
| 1969 | Pastoral | CBS/Sony | 1969 | with Kazuo Yashiro, Yoshiaki Masuo, Hiroshi Matsumoto, Yoshio Suzuki, Fumio Watanabe, Syota Tanaka, Chiyoshige Matsubara |
| 1969 | Songbook | CBS/Sony | 1970 | with Yoshiaki Masuo, Yoshio Suzuki, Fumio Watanabe, Kazuo Yashiro, Masabumi Kikuchi |
| 1969 | Live at the Junk | CBS/Sony | 1970 | Live with Yoshiaki Masuo, Yoshio Suzuki, Fumio Watanabe |
| 1970 | Sadao Watanabe at Montreux Jazz Festival | CBS/Sony | 1971 | Quartet (Yoshiaki Masuo, Yoshio Suzuki, Hiro Tsunoda) Live |
| 1970 | Round Trip | CBS/Sony | 1970 | with Jack DeJohnette, Miroslav Vitouš, Chick Corea |
| 1970 | Around The Time | WAM | 1972 | Quartet (Yoshiaki Masuo, Yoshio Suzuki, Hiro Tsunoda) |
| 1970 | Collaboration | Philips (Japan) | 1971 | [2LP] Masabumi Kikuchi Sextet (Kosuke Mine, Masahiro Kikuchi, Yoshio Ikeda, Hiroshi Murakami, Keiji Kishida) with Sadao Watanabe Quartet (Yoshiaki Masuo, Yoshio Suzuki, Hiro Tsunoda) |
| 1971 | Paysages | CBS/Sony | 1971 | with Masabumi Kikuchi, Gary Peacock, Masahiko Togashi, Hiroshi Murakami |
| 1972 | Sadao Watanabe | CBS/Sony | 1972 | Live with Hiroshi Fukumura, Fumio Itabashi, Masayuki Takayanagi, Mitsuaki Furuno, Arihide Kurata |
| 1973 | Open Road | CBS/Sony | 1973 | [2LP] Live with Shunzo Ohno, Hiroshi Fukumura, Kosuke Mine, Takehiro Honda, Yoshio Suzuki, Fumio Watanabe, Yuji Imamura, and strings |
| 1973 | Kenya Ya Africa | CBS/Sony | 1973 | Live with Takehiro Honda, Yoshio Suzuki, Fumio Watanabe, and Inter-African Theatre Group |
| 1974 | Mbali Africa | CBS/Sony | 1974 | Live with Terumasa Hino, Hideo Miyata, Takehiro Honda, Kazumi Watanabe, Isao Suzuki, Fumio Watanabe, Akira Okazawa, Motohiko Hino, Masahiko Togashi |
| 1974 | At Pit Inn | CBS/Sony | 1975 | Live with Cedar Walton, Sam Jones, Billy Higgins |
| 1975 | Swiss Air | CBS/Sony | 1975 | Live with Takehiro Honda, Osamu Kawakami [ja], Shinji Mori |
| 1975 | Pamoja | East Wind | 1976 | Live with Hiroshi Fukumura, Yoshiaki Masuo, Takehiro Honda, Isao Suzuki, Hiroshi Murakami, Masahiko Togashi |
| 1976 | I'm Old Fashioned | East Wind | 1976 | with the Great Jazz Trio: Hank Jones, Ron Carter, Tony Williams |
| 1976 | Recital | East Wind | 1977 | Live with Kosuke Mine, Hiroshi Fukumura, Takehiro Honda, Kazumi Watanabe, Tsutomu Okada, Shinji Mori, Masahiko Togashi, Akira Okazawa |
| 1977 | My Dear Life | Flying Disk | 1977 | with Harvey Mason, Chuck Rainey, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Steve Forman, Hiroshi Fukumura |
| 1977 | Autumn Blow | Flying Disk | 1977 | Live with Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason, Anthony Jackson, Patrice Rushen, Ernie Watts |
| 1977 | California Shower | Flying Disk | 1978 | with Harvey Mason, Chuck Rainey, Lee Ritenour, Ernie Watts |
| 1977 | Bird of Paradise (Sadao Watanabe album) [ja] | Flying Disk | 1979 | with the Great Jazz Trio: Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Tony Williams |
| 1977 | Live In Nemuro 1977 | Victor | 2016 | Live with Hiroshi Fukumura, Takehiro Honda, Tsutomu Okada, Shinji Mori |
| 1978 | Carnaval | Galaxy | 1983 | with the Great Jazz Trio: Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Tony Williams |
| 1979 | Morning Island | Flying Disk | 1979 | with Michael Brecker, Steve Gadd |
| 1980 | How's Everything | Columbia | 1980 | Live with Dave Grusin, Steve Gadd, Richard Tee, Eric Gale, Anthony Jackson, Jon Faddis |
| 1981 | Orange Express | CBS/Sony | 1981 | with Dave Grusin, George Benson, Bobby Broom, Marcus Miller, Buddy Williams |
| 1983 | Fill Up the Night | Elektra | 1983 | with Ralph MacDonald, Richard Tee, Marcus Miller, Steve Gadd, Eric Gale, Paul Griffin, Jorge Dalto, Grady Tate |
| 1984 | Rendezvous | Elektra | 1984 | with Steve Gadd, Eric Gale, Marcus Miller, Richard Tee |
| 1985 | Maisha | Elektra | 1985 | with Don Grusin, Herbie Hancock, Nathan East, Harvey Mason |
| 1985 | Parker's Mood - Sadao Watanabe Live at Bravas Club '85 | Elektra | 1985 | Live with Seigen Ono [ja](remix), James Williams, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Charnett Moffett |
| 1985 | Tokyo Dating | Elektra | 1985 | with James Williams(p), Charnett Moffett(b), Jeff "Tain" Watts(ds) |
| 1986 | Good Time for Love | Elektra | 1986 | with Soichi Noriki [ja], Hideo Yamaki, Will Lee and others |
| 1987 | Birds of Passage | Elektra | 1987 | with Russell Ferrante, George Duke, Abraham Laboriel, Carlos Vega, Paul Jackson Jr., John Robinson, Alex Acuña, Diana Acuna, and others |
| 1988 | Elis | Elektra | 1988 | with Cesar Camargo Mariano(key), Heitor Teixeira Perira(g), Papeti(per), Toquinho(g,vo), and others |
| 1988 | Made in Coracao Toquinho | Elektra | 1988 | with Toquinho(g,vo), Ivani Sabino(el-b), Papeti(per), and others |
| 1989 | Front Seat | Elektra | 1989 | with Patti Austin with Russell Ferrante, Jeff Porcaro, George Duke, Jimmy Haslip |
| 1991 | Sweet Deal | Elektra | 1991 | with Don Grusin, Peter Erskine, Russell Ferrante, Abraham Laboriel |
| 1992 | A Night with Strings | Elektra | 1993 | Live with Souichi Noriki, Marc Johnson, Peter Erskine, and The Tokyo Symphony Strings |
| 1993 | Earth Step | Verve Forecast | 1993 | with Rob Mounsey(key), Jeff Mironov(g), Will Lee(b), Steve Gadd |
| 1993 | A Night with Strings Vol. 2 | Fun House | 1994 | with Souichi Noriki, Ricardo Silveira(g), Brian Bromberg(b), Alex Acuña(ds), Paulinho Da Costa(per), Vince Mendoza(conduct,arr), and Tokyo Symphony Strings |
| 1994 | in Tempo | Verve Forecast | 1994 | with Cesar Camargo Mariano(key), Marcelo Mariano(el-b), Pantico Rocha(ds), Paulinho Da Costa(per), Leila Pinheiro(vo), Wilson De Castro(vo), and others |
| 1994 | A Night with Strings Vol. 3 – Sadao Plays Parker | Fun House | 1995 | with Russell Ferrante, Marc Johnson, Peter Erskine, and Tokyo Symphony Strings |
| 1997 | Go Straight Ahead 'n Make a Left | Verve | 1997 | with Bernard Wright, Stephen Teele(b), Mike Flythe(ds), Hassan Flythe(ds), Steve Thornton(per), Charley Drayton(ds) |
| 1995–97 | Kuroi Hitomi - Sadao Watanabe Song Book | Verve | 1997 | with Akira Onozuka(p,key), Jun Kajiwara(g), Tomohito Aoki(b), Kouichi Osamu(b), Masaharu Ishikawa(ds), Olodum Juvenil(per), Junior High School Students in Tochigi(cho), Cesar Camargo Mariano(key), Leila Pinheiro(vo), Vaneese Thomas(vo), and others |
| 1998 | Viajando | Verve | 1998 | with Cesar Camargo Mariano(key), Romero Lubambo(g), Nilson Matta(b), Paulo Braga(ds), Cafe(per), PamelaDriggs(vo) |
| 1999 | Remembrance | Verve | 1999 | with Cyrus Chestnut, Christian McBride, Billy Drummond, Nicholas Payton, Robin Eubanks, Romero Lubambo |
| 2000 | Sadao 2000 | Verve | 2000 | with Richard Bona(b,g,per,vo), George Whitty(p,key), Jonathan Joseph(ds), Mike Stern(g), Cafe(per) |
| 2000 | Minha Saudade | Universal Music | 2001 | Live with Cesar Camargo Mariano(p), Romero Lubambo(ac-g), David Finck(b), Paulo Braga(ds), Mauro Refosco(per), and Tokyo Symphony Chamber Orchestra |
| 2003 | Wheel of Life | Verve | 2003 | with Richard Bona(el-b, el-g, per, vo), George Whitty(pf,key), Nathaniel Townsley(ds), Mike Stern(el-g), Romero Lubambo(ac-g) |
| 2005 | One for You | Victor | 2006 | Live with Richard Bona(elb,vo), Etienne Stadwijk(pf,key), Nathaniel Townsley(ds), N'Diassé Niang(per) |
| 2005 | Sadao & Charlie Again | Victor | 2006 | Live with Charlie Mariano(as), Bob Degen(p), Dieter Ilg(b), Bill Elgart(dr) |
| 2007 | Basie's at Night | Koch | 2008 | Live with Akira Onozuka, Kouichi Osamu, Masaharu Ishikawa, N'Diassé Niang |
| 2009? | Into Tomorrow | Victor | 2009 | with Gerald Clayton(p), Ben Williams(b), Johnathan Blake(ds) |
| 2011 | Come Today | Victor | 2013 | with Gerald Clayton(p), Ben Williams(b), Johnathan Blake(ds) |
| 2013? | Outra Vez | Victor | 2013 | with Fabio Torres(p), Swami Jr.(g), Paulo Paulelli(b), Celso de Almeida(ds), Cleber Almeida(per), Fabiana Cozza(vo) |
| 2014 | I'm with You | Victor | 2015 | with Russell Ferrante, Peter Erskine |
| 2015? | Naturally | Victor | 2015 | with Lula Galvão(g), Itamar Assiere(p), Alberto Continentino(b), Paulo Braga(ds), Sidinho Moreira(per), Jaques Morelenbaum(cello) |
| 2016 | Encore! | Victor | 2017 | Live with Dave Grusin, Russell Ferrante, Robben Ford |
| 2016 | Re-Bop | Victor | 2017 | with Cyrus Chestnut, Chris Thomas, Brian Blade |
| 2018? | Re-Bop the Night | Victor | 2018 | with Russell Ferrante, Ben Williams, Kendrick Scott |
| 2019 | Sadao 2019 - Live at Blue Note Tokyo | Victor | 2019 | Live with Russell Ferrante, John Patitucci, Steve Gadd |
| 2021 | Jazz & Bossa Live at Suntory Hall | Victor | 2021 | Live with Masaki Hayashi(p), como kiichiro komobuchi(b), Ittetsu Takemura(ds), Marcelo Kimura(g), Takayuki Oshikane Strings |
| 2024 | Peace | M&M Music Inc. | 2024 | with Russell Ferrante, Ben Williams, Kazunori Takemura |

### Compilation albums

* Selected (Elektra, 1988)
* Sadao Watanabe Vocal Collection (Elektra, 1991)
* Sadao Watanabe My Dear Life 50th Anniversary Collection (Verve, 2001)
* Sketches of Nature (Verve, 2005)
* Broadcast Tracks '69–'72 (Victor, 2005)
* Love Songs (Victor, 2018)