Hiroyuki Noritake -- Time to Landing

 

I've heard of guitarists and keyboardists of certain Japanese bands going off on their own solo projects but I have to admit that I didn't hear much from the drummers. But that changes today.

Drummer Hiroyuki Noritake（則竹裕之）belonged to the fusion band The Square (now known as T-Square) and from looking at the history chart for the many members on J-Wiki, it looks like he was the longest-serving drummer belonging there between 1985 and perhaps 2000 or 2004. However, current T-Square drummer Satoshi Bando（坂東慧）will or may have already eclipsed him.

In 1999, Noritake released a solo album "Dreams Can Go" and it begins with the track "Time to Landing" which is cool and catchy. It begins with Noritake hitting the snare and then the keyboards by Akira Ishiguro come in with this amazing main melody before some tropical punch enters for a bit. That melody is going to stick with me for quite a while at least. I kinda wish we weren't landing when it comes to this one.

Noritake hails from Hyogo Prefecture and he's been keeping the family profession since his father was a jazz drummer. In 2004, he teamed up with former Casiopea drummer Akira Jimbo（神保彰）, someone to whom Noritake has looked up since his amateur days, to create the double drum band Synchronized DNA.