Some very sad news I only heard about through J-Wiki last night was that guitarist and songwriter Tomohiko Nishimura（西村智彦）of the band Sing Like Talking (furthest right in the photo) had passed away in June at the age of 61 due to cancer. I wasn't able to pick up a lot of information on Nishimura except for the fact that he and vocalist Chikuzen Sato (in the middle), who had been friends since toddlerhood in their native Aomori Prefecture, started making music together in their final year of high school as part of the band Refiner（リファイナー）.
I had been planning to post my favourite SLT songs in tribute but I found something better. Nishimura did put out a single of his own back in 1992 called "That's Life". It's an instrumental packed with lots of fusion goodness swaying happily between rock and jazz, and indeed it's filled with plenty of life. It also feels like the soundtrack to a happy, healthy and productive downtown neighbourhood of a metropolis with all of its people, stores, restaurants and cafés .
Here's hoping that Nishimura had similar feelings about his life, blessed with music and camaraderie. My condolences go to his family, friends, fans and of course, his bandmates, Sato（佐藤竹善）and Chiaki Fujita（藤田千章）.
Not only is the Band from Aomori prefecture, it is from Aomori city! So, this is a treat for me as it hits very close to home. "That's life" is funky, jazzy, and smooth! Nice, find!
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