Takumi Nakayama is a native of Japan and is leading the way for the new wave of young
jazz players in Japan.
He started out on the piano at age of 5, and learned of the saxophone and jazz when he was 12. 

He graduated from Kunitachi College of Music at the top of his class.
He has studied the saxophone under Yoshiyuki Yamanaka, Atsushi Ikeda, and others.
To date, he has performed with Toshiko Akiyoshi -pf, Yosuke Yamashita-pf,
Takeo Moriyama -dr, Isao Suzuki-b Risa Ono-vo,gt and Makoto Ozone-pf among other musicians. 

As the lead alto saxophone in the High Society Orchestra at Waseda University,
he received the top prize in the Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest for two consecutive
years and received the top soloist prize.
And went on full scholarship to the Grammy Camp in Los Angeles. He also served as the concertmaster for the “Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra” and toured six Asian countries. 

He also performed with his own group at the Baku Jazz Festival in the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 2017 he was selected as “New Artist 60” in the magazine “Jazz Japan”.

He toured with Giuseppe Millaci -b & Vogue Trio (Amaury Faye -pf, Lionel Beuvens -ds),
which is a piano trio based in Belgium, in Japan (also responsible for booking management).
Also they performed at the 90th anniversary party at the Belgian Embassy.

He was a guest with world renowned sax player Sadao Watanabe at the
Shinjuku Pit Inn in April of 2019. In December of 2019 he performed in Tokyo
with his own group featuring world class drummer Akira Tana.

2019 also marked the release of Takumi’s new leader CD, the first release on King International records’  jazz label. In 2021, he came out as gay.

Takumi is not only respected by younger musicians but older statesmen as well.
He is now an active performer mainly in his own band, as well as a composer/arranger,
and is constantly on a quest for music that can strike a deep chord in the hearts of people.

 Takumi Nakayama official website : https://www.takuminakayama.com/