Yoshihiro Tsujimoto

Tsujimoto was born February 14th, Nara City, Nara Prefecture. In middle school, he joined the brass band and picked up the clarinet. Around his third year in middle school, he began performing as a soloist, winning the 6th Wind Instrument Solo Contest Nara Prefecture Grand Prix and the Yamaha Prize at the 7th Wind and Percussion Solo Contest Kansai. Tsujimoto won consecutive gold medals at the All Japan Band Competition with his high school brass band. He further honed his skills with live street performances, and in his third year of high school, he participated as a soloist in the YAMAHA Kan Kara Festa 2006 National Competition, winning both the Performance Grand Prix and the Audience Award for his performance. After enrolling at university, he discovered the alto saxophone and began performing as a saxophonist.

In 2010 Tsujimoto joined the jazz band, Calmera. In 2013 they had their major debut with Warner Music Japan. Calmera composed music for the works such as the drama King of Minami ZERO, and the Kewpie Mayonnaise commercial, Vegetables Shine. Furthermore, in 2014, he began his career as the leader of POLYPLUS, an all-star team and ensemble jam band of new-generation instrumental jazz, and their debut album, Debut, was so well received that it won the JAZZ JAPAN AWARD 2018 Album of the Year New Star Category. POLYPLUS composed music for Fuji Television's nationwide network drama, Close Tail ~Detective Academy~, and the Kantele/BS Fuji serial drama Convenience Store★Heroes ~I received Your SOS!!~.

Tsujimoto has expanded his activities as multi-instrumentalist of both the clarinet and alto saxophone, and has participated in many projects such as artist support work, and film, drama, and commercial compositions as a solo player. In recent years, he has appeared in the Fuji TV drama/movie ``The Confidence Man JP'', the movie ``Dr. Koto Clinic'', the movie ``Your Lie in April'', the anime ``Love is like after the rain'', and the NHK Saturday period drama ``Nuke''. He has also participated in theatrical soundtracks such as "Mairu" and works by NakamuraEmi, Polkadot Stingray, THE Inazuma Sentai, etc.

On February 24, 2021, Tsujimoto released his debut clarinet solo album, Vermilion. It was a huge hit, reaching No. 1 on the Tower Records and Disk Union pre-order charts even before its release, and selling out in stores and on Amazon after its release date. It was also ranked No. 1 on the iTunes jazz album chart, the Tower Records jazz sales chart, the Disk Union overall sales chart, and the Amazon J-jazz best seller chart. The title song, Vermilion, was also used as the theme song for Kansai Television's Seina Tateyama's CINEMA Concierge.

On August 15, 2021, he held a Clarinet Solo Live performance after receiving an offer from Japan's premier jazz club, Blue Note Tokyo. Composer and arranger Ryo Yoshimata, who has composed music for the NHK historical drama Atsuhime, the drama & movie Between Calm and Passion, and the drama & movie Dr. Coto's Clinic, also participated as a guest pianist, bringing the event to a successful conclusion. His latest release as a clarinetist, Tailwind - sail wind - (Tailwind Hokaze), was written for a Sapporo Beer commercial, Sapporo SORACHI 1984, and at the time of release it was ranked No. 1 on the iTunes jazz song chart.