Casiopea (also spelled ‘Cashiopea’, known in Japanese as カシオペア) is a great and very creative Japanese jazz fusion band which was established in 1976 by the guitarist Issei Noro and the bassist Tetsuo Sakurai. They are among the most popular jazz fusion bands of all time. Their music is a mixture of jazz fusion, jazz-funk, smooth jazz, and city pop. Their music is very elegant, beautiful, technical, and magical. They were initially musically active between 1976 and 2006 and resumed playing since 2012. Throughout the passage of time the band went through multiple line-up changes, with the only constant member over the decades being guitarist Issei Noro. During their musical career, the Japanese jazz fusion group released a total number of 39 studio albums (being quite prolific). These LPs are the following ones (listed in the chronological order of their release):
- Casiopea (1979)
- Super Flight (1979)
- Make Up City (1980)
- Eyes of the Mind (1981)
- Cross Point (1981)
- 4×4 (1982)
- Photographs (1983)
- Jive Jive (1983)
- Down Upbeat (1984)
- Halle (1985)
- Sun Sun (1986)
- Platinum (1987)
- Euphony (1988)
- The Party (1990)
- Full Colors (1991)
- Active (1992)
- Dramatic (1993)
- Answers (1994)
- Hearty Notes (1994)
- Asian Dreamer (1994)
- Freshness (1995)
- Flowers (1996)
- Light and Shadows (1997)
- Be (1998)
- Material (1999)
- Bitter Sweet (2000)
- Main Gate (2001)
- Inspire (2002)
- Places (2003)
- Marble (2004)
- Signal (2005)
- Ta・Ma・Te・Box (2013)
- A・So・Bo (2015)
- I・Bu・Ki (2016)
- A・ka・ri (2018)
- Panspermia (2019)
- New Topics (2022)
- Right Now (2024)
- True Blue (2025)
The band was officially known as Casiopea for most of its history, more specifically between 1979 and 2012. Between 2012 and 2024, they were called Casiopea 3rd (so as to show the fact that the band entered a new era or time period and has a different line-up as well). Afterwards, between 2022 and 2025, they were called Casiopea-P4. Finally, since 2025 onwards they resumed playing under their initial, original name.
The Japanese jazz fusion band Casiopea live in Indonesia in 2015. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
After they released their debut self-titled studio album, the band’s musical style was described as ‘thrills, speed, super technique’. Over the years, the group managed to create a lasting and impressive musical legacy and have a tremendous impact on their growing fan base thanks to their good technical command of their musical instruments coupled with their live performances. Their musical legacy also influenced several jazz fusion bands in Indonesia, namely Krakatau, Karimata, and Emerald Band.
During their early days, Casiopea was influenced by the British-American hard rock and blues rock band Beck, Bogert & Appice and wanted to emulate their musical style. Another notable influence of the band was Chick Corea of Return to Forever. They were also influenced by other legendary jazz fusion bands, more specifically Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra. For the most part, the band music’s consists of instrumental songs, though Casiopea also occasionally included a vocalist in their group in the past. Some of their songs were compared to video game music given their distinctive sound in this particular regard and the similarities they share with this kind of music.
Below you can watch a detailed video on the band’s history by the YouTube channel/creator T2norway (all credits for making this great informative video go directly to him):
P.S. On a personal note, I must thank one of my former university colleagues for endorsing/recommending Casiopea to me at some point during the early 2020s (in 2021 to be more specific, if I recall correctly). It was basically thanks to him that I got to know about them. Thank you so much, Cezarin!
Documentation sources and external links:
- The band’s page on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- Beck, Bogert & Appice on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- The official website of the band on ww.casiopea.co.jp
- The discography of the band on www.discogs.com
- A review of the band on www.jazzmusicarchives.com