Artist Profile
Yuya Wakai
Born in 1986. From the age of three, he attended Yamaha Music School, where he studied piano under Yuriko Murakami and composition and harmony under Chiharu Wakabayashi. As soon as he entered university, he belonged to a jazz study group, and he studied jazz piano by himself while attending live houses in Tokyo. In 2005, he participated in the 36th Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest as a member of the Keio University Light Music Society, where he won the Outstanding Band Award and the Outstanding Soloist Award individually. Currently, he is widely active in various scenes such as live performances and recordings, and is also focusing on his educational activities. So far, he has released 8 albums as a leader, starting with "Ghibli in Happy Forest" in 2010, and "Poem" (from "Days of Delight"), a trio work with Satsuki Kusui and Shun Ishiwaka, released in 2023. announced.