Bassists Tetsuo Sakurai and Kenji “Jino” Hino had the audience stomping their feet and clapping their hands asking for more as the duo plucked at their guitar strings.
The night was a real treat for the guests with the Hard Rock Café’s staff on their feet the whole time serving sumptuous appetizers, steaks and other food items from the menu and beverages, particularly Sapphoro Premium Beer and Pepsi.
In between breaks, Hard Rock Café staff entertained the audience with dance numbers.
Jino told the Variety that it was the duo’s first time to perform on Saipan.
“The people here are very friendly and warm, and we are very glad that they appreciate our music,” Jino said.
“It’s a wonderful feeling when we see that our audience relates with the kind of music we perform,” he added.
The two musicians arrived on Saipan on Saturday and were scheduled to leave yesterday.
Hard Rock Café Saipan assistant manager Aldwin Cullat said that they organized the show to give the community a variety of entertainment from off-island artists.
Sponsors for the show were DFS Galleria, Sapporo Premium Beer, Pepsi and the Hyatt Regency Saipan.
Jino was born in Tokyo. Influenced by his father Terumasa Hino who was a trumpeter, Kenji took up the trumpet at the age of eight in New York. He later entered High School of Music and Art and studied jazz fusion.
At 16, Kenji took up the bass after meeting Marcus Miller and began playing jazz, soul and R&B music as a street musician in New York.
Throughout the years, Kenji has worked, performed and recorded music with various famous American and Japanese musicians and artists including Boyz II Men, Joe,Jessica Simpson,Deborah Harry,Eagle-Eye Cherry and a lot more.
Tetsuo Sakurai is also a composer, producer, and instructor who started to play bass when he was 13 years old.
He had composed and played his own music as a solo performing artist in numerous concert tours with Japanese and foreign musicians, and has released several albums.
Visit jinojam.com and tetsuosakurai.com for gig schedules, updates and more information on Jino and Sakurai.
