Fumio Nanri

Japanese trumpeter Fumio Nanri (1910-1975) was the first jazz musician from Japan to build an international reputation. He was born in Osaka, the youngest of six children. He started on cornet as a teenager, inspired by Louis Armstrong. Dance Hall culture in Japan in the late 1920s was under threat from police and violent activists, so at the age of 19, he travelled to Shanghai with its vibrant nightlife. This gave him the opportunity to hear the many authentic American jazz bands in the city at the time. Pianist Teddy Weatherford gave Nanri some informal lessons. By 1934, back in Japan, he formed his own swing band, Fumio Nanri and his Hot Peppers, recording some of Japan’s first jazz tracks, some with the ‘soon to be famous’ Japanese crooner, Dick Mine.

During the late 1930s, Nanri split his time between China (the city of Dalian) and Japan. He served in Japanese army as a combat medic during the Second World War. In 1946, he reformed the Hot Peppers. He had the opportunity to play with his hero, Louis Armstrong, during his visit to Japan in 1953, who called Nanri the “Satchmo of Japan”. He was a member of a 1961 All Star band put together by the influential Swing Journal magazine. Nanri continued to record into the 1970s. His last recording, made with Toshiyuki Miyama‘s big band shortly before his death in 1975, was issued posthumously in tribute to the Japanese pioneer. A ‘Fumio Nanri’ Award was given out for many years to oustanding Japanese jazz musicians.