Masato Honda

Masato Honda (本田雅人, born November 13, 1962), is a Japanese saxophone player, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. Born in Nakamura City, Kochi Prefecture (now Shimanto City), he graduated from Kunitachi College of Music. He has a very high level of technical skill and has the nickname of "Hyper Sax Player". His most notable work has been from the 90s, as T-Square's saxophonist and being heavily featured in Cowboy Bebop's soundtrack with The Seatbelts.
== Biography ==
=== Early life and career ===
Masato Honda started playing the saxophone in the 3rd grade of elementary school under the influence of his father who was a music teacher. He went to Kunitachi College of Music, where he studied classical saxophone until he won the 14th Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest in 1983. Afterwards, he turned his focus to jazz and fusion styles. In 1985, he graduated from Kunitachi College of Music at the top of his class and joined Nobuo Hara's Sharps and Flats. Afterwards, he worked as a session musician and formed the group WITNESS with Masaharu Ishikawa, and Jun Kajiwara.
=== T-Square ===
The 1990 live, T-Square Live (featuring F1 Grand Prix Theme) theme was Honda's first time working with T-Square as a session musician. The then-current saxophonist Takeshi Itoh stepped down from the group to pursue a solo career. He proceeded to record T-Square Live - "Natural," and T-Square Live - Farewell & Welcome 1991, with Farewell & Welcome being his official send off from the group, and welcome to Masato Honda. Prior to this, Honda recorded his first album with T-Square in 1991, New-S, where he composed the opening track, Megalith. Also in 1991, the group recorded the album Refreshest as T-Square and Friends, the first album under that name. It was composedly mainly of arrangements of previous songs, one of which being a version of It's Magic. 
Following the death of racing legend Ayrton Senna in 1994, T-Square released SOLITUDE, also as T-Square and Friends. David Liebman, Michael Brecker, and Mike Stern joined T-Square and Friends for the album Miss you in New York in 1995.
After the album Blue in Red, Honda left T-Square for unknown reasons and pursued a solo career. He participated in the 20th Anniversary Performance at Yaon de Asobu, and Farewell & Welcome Live 1998, which was recorded on April 28, 1998 and released on VHS the following July. Berklee alum, Takahiro Miyazaki replaced him.
=== Other work ===
Honda has participated in the works of Ringo Sheena, Hiroshi Sato, Toshiki Kadomatsu, L'Arc-en-Ciel, the Kukeiha Club, FictionJunction, Kohei Tanaka, Motoaki Furukawa, SunSet Swish, Nana Mizuki, Aiko Yuji Toriyama, Masayuki Suzuki, Yui Makino, and Round Table He has also recorded for the soundtracks of Cowboy Bebop, Souryuden, Gunstar Heroes, Tenchi-Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Mega Man X, Arc the Lad, F-Zero X, Shenmue, Napple Tale, Gensō Suikogaiden, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Detective Conan: Strategy Above the Depths, Detective Conan: The Private Eyes' Requiem, Angel Heart, Wild ARMs, Detective Conan: Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure, Hayate the Combat Butler, Dengeki Gakuen RPG: Cross of Venus, Pandora Hearts, Evangelion Wind Symphony, One Piece, Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!, Cat Planet Cuties, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Heaven's Memo Pad, Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!, Kids on the Slope, Nyaruko: Crawling with Love, and The Third. 
==In the media==
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== References ==
 
==External links==
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* Masato Honda | Discography | Discogs
* Masato Honda on spotify
* Masato Honda on gaana.com
* Masato Honda on hungama
* Masato Honda on youtube music
Category:1962 births
Category:Japanese saxophonists
Category:Japanese multi-instrumentalists
Category:Japanese composers
Category:Japanese people
Category:Kunitachi College of Music alumni