Championed in his homeland as the most renowned guitarist in all of Asia, Tak Matsumoto is best known as songwriter, guitarist and producer of Japanese rock duo, B’z. Formed in 1988, Tak and vocalist, Koshi Inaba have released many albums and singles over the course of their career, continuing to top the charts, while holding the record of 45 consecutive #1 single debuts on Japan’s Oricon Single Chart. B’z have sold over 80 million CDs in Japan alone, making them the best-selling artist in Japanese history.

Besides releasing a long line of number one singles and albums in Japan, B’z are known for their dynamic live shows. In 2011, B’z completed a sold-out North American tour, ending with an unforgettable show with rock band, Linkin Park to raise money for victims of the Japan tsunami and earthquake. They ended the year with a sold-out dome tour in Japan, including 3 nights at the famed Tokyo Dome with 600,000 fans in attendance.

Under the recommendation of Steve Vai, B’z were inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk in 2007 as the first Asian artist. As a world acclaimed six-string virtuoso, Tak joined legendary guitarists Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Ace Frehley and Slash, to become the fifth guitarist in the world to have his own Gibson signature model, the ‘Tak Matsumoto Les Paul.’ In addition, Tak has his own original model, the ‘Tak Matsumoto Double Cutaway,’ and has released 7 models so far.

Beginning his career as a session musician, Tak’s exposure to a myriad of musical styles molded his own unique blend, by incorporating elements of jazz, blues, classical, metal, rock and ska. He released the critically acclaimed instrumental albums, Hana and Dragon From The West, to rave reviews for their powerful flowing melodies and evocative imagery. In 2010, Tak joined forces with jazz guitarist, Larry Carlton and released the album, Take Your Pick. Drawing upon their knowledge and different musical backgrounds, Tak and Larry blended their Eastern and Western guitar styles to create a truly magical and unique album. After a successful tour of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, Take Your Pick won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards in February 2011.

Tak released his latest solo album Strings Of My Soul worldwide in August of 2012. It had great success at the Indie and Main Top Smooth Jazz Charts in the US peaking at #2 and staying on the charts for 5 months. Tak digitally released an instrumental version of “Live Life”, a single from Strings Of My Soul in January 2013 which went to number 8 and spent 3 months on the BDS Billboard Smooth Jazz Radio Top 30.

Tak’s latest album New Horizon was released April 30th 2014. The album made its debut as #3 on Japan Oricon National Chart. The following tour “Tak Matsumoto LIVE 2014 – New Horizon – “ took place 7 cities all over Japan and it was all sold out.

“To begin with, the idea of making this album was to make an album with all of my favorite songs I’ve encountered during my solo career. Not just a “best of” album, but I wanted to try playing them again with my current style. Morelike “A new album of myself”. – Tak Matsumoto

Tak first teamed up with 335 Records in 2010 when he released “Take Your Pick”, a collaboration with Larry Carlton. This release would prove to be a knock – out and went on to win the Grammy for “Best Pop Instrumental Album” at the 53rd annual Grammy awards earning Tak not only his first nomination, but first win.