Kento Masuda Biography
January 28, 2012 - Kento Masuda's compelling and hauntingly beautiful compositions will now be shared with over 50 countries through iTunes. Two of his classic CDs, "Hands" and "GlobeSounds" are now available to an already growing audience of fans all over the world.
Kento Masuda began his career as a child prodigy, playing electric organ and keyboards while preferring to write his own compositions instead of playing standard songs. By the age of 10, he began winning competitions annually, including the YAMAHA Junior Original Music Competition. His success at such a young age has set the foundation for a lifetime of performances, composing, and music production.
His professional public performances began at the age of 17, when he performed daily for stations, big events, and ceremony halls. During that time, Kento was asked by several major Japanese music production companies to join various musical groups; however, he preferred not to work with bands that used songs written by ghost writers. He continued to learn recording skills by working as an assistant for a small music studio. Between 1993 and 1995, Kento live in New York where he worked in the area of music production and worked with such notable producers as Phil Rubin and Lee Shapiro.
After returning to Tokyo in 1994, Kento continued to work on various musical projects, including recording 100 original pop songs which were written (music and lyrics), arranged, and performed (keyboards) by Kento and producing his original solo album "MYOJYOW" in 1998, which was mastered by Bobby Hata (recipient of numerous gold records for his work at Warner Bros. Records). In 1999, Kento Masuda established his company, Kent on Music, Inc.
Shortly afterwards, in 2002, Kento released his original album HANDS, working with Japanese music producer, Ted Namba (who produced X Japan's vocal Toshi's solo recording, T-Square and many others) in LA field. It was with his album, HANDS, that Kento Masuda's music began to be played by radio stations internationally. With the opening notes of his classic piece "Time," HANDS takes the listener on a journey in which the soul of the music reaches into a very spiritual realm.
This success was followed (in 2006) by Kento's latest album, GLOBESOUNDS. Once again, Kento illuminates the air with sounds and images of places, nature, dreams, and feelings. Kento travelled to Vermont to join forces with producer Charles Eller (who has worked with Dr. John, Taj Majal, Shawn Colvin, and Keith Jarrett among many others) to mix GLOBESOUNDS. According to Eller, "Kento is an artist as well as an incredible craftsman at writing highly imaginative music that defies categorization in a good way. The music has extremely lush textures that work by defining intricate themes that evolve throughout each spellbinding composition." GLOBESOUNDS was released by international music label JPMC Records and grew hugely popular in Germany, leading Kento to give an interview at Klassik Radio Hamburg, which garnered him even more fans.
In 2011, Kento was also nominated to the International Songwriting Competition in the Instrumental category. Kento also composed music for renowned designer Yohji Yamamoto's very successful Paris fashion week show.
He continues to record and has recently released a two-volume recording entitled "299,792,458 m/s = Light Speed" along with a single entitled "Godsend Rondo." Kento looks forward to performing in the many countries in which he enjoys a strong and growing fan base.
To listen to and purchase music from "Hands" and "Globe Sounds," please visit Kento Masuda at iTunes
and enjoy Kento Masuda!