Masayuki Takayanagi

Masayuki Takayanagi (1932–1991) was active in Japanese jazz and improvised music from the late 1950s until his death, playing a 1963 Gibson ES-175 through most of his career. In 1969 he formed the trio New Direction Unit with bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa and drummer Yoshisaburo Toyozumi, a group built around what he called “gradually project” — extreme volume, no repeated phrases, and a deliberate refusal to listen and respond to fellow players, using techniques like dragging a metal chain across the strings or striking them with a stick. Early performances were largely confined to the Tokyo jazz coffee shop Nagisa. He also recorded extensively with saxophonist Kaoru Abe, including the albums Kaitai-teki Kohkan, Gradually Projection, and Mass Projection, releasing across labels including Three Blind Mice and PSF Records.