"Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi (高柳昌行) (December 22, 1932 - June 23, 1991) was a Japanese jazz / free improvisation / noise musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. In the 1960s he formed New Directions (later New Direction Unit), which recorded several albums throughout the 1970s. He also recorded several albums with saxophonist Kaoru Abe, including Kaitai Teki Kohkan, Gradually Projection and Mass Projection."

"Nobuyoshi Ino (born March 26, 1950, Gunma) is a Japanese jazz double-bassist.

Ino began playing professionally in the early 1970s, and worked in that decade with Motohiko Hino, Terumasa Hino, Kosuke Mine, Akira Miyazawa, Masahiko Sato, Isao Suzuki, Hidefumi Toki, and Kazumi Watanabe. Early in the 1980s he played with Masayuki Takayanagi and Aki Takase, then formed a duo with Lester Bowie, performing from 1984 to 1988 (including on the 1985 album Duet). He also worked with Alex Schlippenbach and Sunny Murray in a trio setting and toured with Elvin Jones. He founded an ensemble called Four Sounds in 1989 which featured Kosuke Mine, Fumio Itabashi, and Hiroshi Murakami as sidemen. Later in his career he worked with Masahiko Togashi as well as with Aki Takase once more."

"Masabumi Kikuchi (菊地 雅章, Kikuchi Masabumi, 19 October 1939 - 6 July 2015) was a Japanese jazz pianist and composer known for his eclectic music that ranges from vanguard classical to fusion and digital music. He worked with many diverse musicians, including Lionel Hampton, Sonny Rollins, Woody Herman, Mal Waldron, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Gil Evans, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian, Billy Harper and Hannibal Peterson.

Masabumi Kikuchi was born in Tokyo in 1939, and lived his early life in World War II and post-war Japan. He studied music at the Tokyo Art College High School. After graduating, he joined Lionel Hampton's Japanese touring band. He died from a subdural hematoma on 6 July 2015 at a hospital in Manhasset, New York. At the time of his death, he lived in Manhattan, New York City. "