Great 3
Great 3, stylised as GREAT3, are a Japanese rock band formed in 1994. The trio is composed of guitarist Akito Katayose, drummer Kenichi Shirane and bassist jan (who replaced Kiyoshi Takakuwa in 2012). All members serve as composers and lyricists, as well as lead vocalists. The band's name is a reference to all three members being tall. Biography. Katayose, Shirane and Takakuwa formed Great 3 after the dissolution of their previous band in February 1994 (the other members went to form Hicksville). The group debuted on Toshiba EMI with the single "Fool & the Gang" and the album  Richmondo High in 1995. Later, they established their own label, Bodicious. In the early 2000s, they started collaborating with American musician John McEntire, who produced/engineered their albums "May and December" (2001), "When You Were a Beauty" (2002) and "Climax" (2003), "When You Were a Beauty" being recorded with the members of The Sea and Cake, Tortoise and Wilco. In February 2004, the group gone on hiatus, with members focusing on their solo careers. In May 2012, it was announced Kiyoshi Takakuwa was no longer part of Great 3. On 27 July 2012 they released their first digital single titled  Emotion / Lady and on 1 August, it was announced the new bass player would be jan. The band's first album with jan, the self-titled Great3, was released on 21 November 2012. A second, entitled Ai no Kankei, was released on 19 March 2014; it is the band's most-recent release to date.