was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

/jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 band led by composer and instrumentalist Yoko Kanno

Yoko Kanno

is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...

.

Band history

The name of the band, according to the fictional description given in the anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop

is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...

, derives from how the performers wear seatbelts to be safe while they play hardcore jam sessions.

The band performed the whole soundtrack of the anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series Cowboy Bebop and produced a total of seven albums and one live DVD. Their style is very diverse and ranges from straightforward big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 jazz, blues, acoustic ballads, hard rock, country, funk to electronic, hip-hop and experimental compositions/elements.

Since the band was focused mostly on instrumental work, The Seatbelts had no lead singer. However, Steve Conte

Steve Conte

Steve Conte is an American singer and rock musician and lead singer of the band The Contes, along with his brother John Conte, both formerly members of the band Crown Jewels. He is perhaps more popularly known for his collaborations with composer Yoko Kanno, as well as being former lead guitarist...

 (from The Contes and Crown Jewels) and Mai Yamane

Mai Yamane

is a Japanese singer, well known for her work on the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack with Yoko Kanno. Her career started at the very beginning of the 1980s when she participated in a young singer's contest in Japan. Six months, later she finished her first album...

 participated and sang on many of their songs. The lyrics of these songs were written mainly by Tim Jensen

Tim Jensen

Tim Jensen is a long-time collaborator with anime soundtrack producer/composer Yoko Kanno and her group The Seatbelts, as an original member. He is the voice on "Tank", the opening song of Cowboy Bebop...

 and Yoko Kanno herself. Singers Soichiro Otsuka and Gabriela Robin

Gabriela Robin

Gabriela Robin is a singer and lyricist, credited for lyrics and vocals on many songs composed and arranged by Yoko Kanno.She has long been rumored to be Kanno's pseudonym. Robin stated in a print interview that she was going to sing in front of an audience for the first time at Kanno's...

 (rumored to be a pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 for Kanno) were responsible for the backing vocals on songs such as "Blue".

After a few years in hibernation, The Seatbelts regrouped in 2004 to perform the soundtrack for the second Cowboy Bebop video game, which is currently available in Japan. They all disbanded once they released the last album.

Many of the members of The Seatbelts have also worked with Kanno and with each other on other projects as well, and some have even gone on to compose their own work. For example, guitarist Tsuneo Imahori

Tsuneo Imahori

Tsuneo Imahori is a Japanese guitarist and composer. He started to play acoustic guitar aged 12, inspired by British folk music from the likes of Bert Jansch, and later the work of Frank Zappa and Andy Partridge. In 1986 he formed the band Tipographica, with saxophonist Naruyoshi Kikuchi and jazz...

 also played guitar on the soundtracks for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

is an anime television series produced by Production I.G and based on Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell. It was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, with original character design by Hajime Shimomura and a soundtrack by Yoko Kanno...

and Wolf's Rain

Wolf's Rain

is an anime series created by writer and story editor Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Bones Studio. The series was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto with a soundtrack produced and arranged by Yoko Kanno. It focuses on the journey of four lone wolves...

(both of which were composed by Kanno), as well as composing the soundtracks for Trigun

Trigun

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow, published from 1996 to 2008 and spanning 17 collected volumes....

and Gungrave

Gungrave

is a PlayStation 2 third-person shooter video game developed by Red Entertainment and published by Sega. The game debuted on July 17, 2002 in Japan, September 16, 2002 in North America and November 29, 2002 in the United Kingdom...

.

Many international musicians of some renown have appeared as guests on the Cowboy Bebop albums, and are sometimes credited as members of The Seatbelts.

Japanese musicians

• Drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  : Yasuo Sano, Akira Sotoyama
• Bass
  Bass (instrument)
  Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
  
  : Hitoshi Watanabe, Maki Kitada, Suzuki Bakabon
• Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  : Tsuneo Imahori
  Tsuneo Imahori
  Tsuneo Imahori is a Japanese guitarist and composer. He started to play acoustic guitar aged 12, inspired by British folk music from the likes of Bert Jansch, and later the work of Frank Zappa and Andy Partridge. In 1986 he formed the band Tipographica, with saxophonist Naruyoshi Kikuchi and jazz...
  
  , Masayoshi Furukawa
• Percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  : Mataro Misawa, Ikuo Kakehashi, Yoichi Okabe
• Trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  : Koji Nishimura, Koshio Araki, Yusuke Hayashi, Akio Terashima
• Trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  : Yoichi Murata, Satoshi Kawano, Hideaki Nakaji, Yoshiaka Hashimoto, Masanori Hirohara, Junko Yamashiro
• Saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  : Masato Honda, Shigeo Fuchino, Masakuni Takeno, Takuo Yamamoto, Osamu Koike, Naruyoshi Kikuchi
• Flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  : Hideyo Takakuwa, Kazuhiro Iwasa, Mika Hayashi
• Tuba
  Tuba
  The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
  
  : Kiyoshi Sato
• Harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  : Nobuo Yagi, Ryuichiro Senoh
• Strings: Masatsugu Shinozaki
• Synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  : Keishi Urata
• Producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  /Composer
  Composer
  A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
  
  /Arranger
  Arranger
  In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
  
  /Keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  /Noises/Voices/Mood Setting: Yoko Kanno
  Yoko Kanno
  is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...
  
  
• Recording
  Recording
  Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
  
   & Mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  : Masashi Yabuhara

New York musicians

• Drums: Jim Mussen, Bobby Previte
  Bobby Previte
  Robert "Bobby" Previte is a drummer, composer and bandleader. Previte earned a B.A. in Economics at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz and experimental music scenes...
  
  , Tony Reedus
  Tony Reedus
  Tony Reedus was an American jazz drummer.Reedus first gained notice playing in Woody Shaw's band in the 1980s...
  
  
  
• Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  : Stuw Cutler
  
• Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
   : Mark Soskin
  
• Bass
  Bass (instrument)
  Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
  
  : Booker King
  
• Trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  : Steven Bernstein
  
• Trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  : Josh Roseman
  Josh Roseman
  Josh Roseman is an American jazz trombonist.Roseman was born in Boston, and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. Roseman toured Jamaica with The Skatalites and in Australia with the Christopher Hale Ensemble...
  
  
  
• Soprano Saxophone
  Soprano saxophone
  The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
  
  : Steve Wilson
  Steve Wilson (jazz musician)
  Steve Wilson is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.-Biography:As a teenager, he played in various rhythm and blues and funk bands. After a year accompanying singer Stephanie Mills, he attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he majored in music. In 1987 he moved to New...
  
  
  
• Alto Saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  : Bob Debellis
  
• Tenor Saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  : Paul Shapiro
  
• Baritone Saxophone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  : Jim Hartog
  
• Djembe
  Djembe
  A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
  
  : Mike Wimberly, Jonh McDowell
  
• Harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  : Bill Lynas
  
• Chorus
  Choir
  A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
  
  : Paule McWilliams, Nicki Richards
  Nicki Richards
  Nicki Richards is an American singer, songwriter, producer, actor based in Manhattan, New York City. She is also known as a backing singer for a number of renowned artists and on a big number of studio recordings. Her father was a high ranking African-American naval officer and her mother, Donna...
  
  , Sharon Bryant-Gallwey, Lisa Fischer
  Lisa Fischer
  Lisa Fischer is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 1991 with her debut album So Intense, which produced the Grammy Award winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". Known for her high notes, which extends into the whistle register, Fischer has been recognized as one of...
  
  
  
• Recording
  Recording
  Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
  
   & Mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  : Rudy Van Gelder
  Rudy Van Gelder
  Rudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
  
  
  

Paris musicians

• Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  : Pierre Bensusan
  Pierre Bensusan
  Pierre Bensusan is a French-Algerian guitarist. As a sephardic Jew, his family came from Spain, Spanish Morocco and French Algeria. The genre of his acoustic guitar music is often characterized as Celtic, Folk, World music, New Age, or Chamber jazz. He has also published three books of music and...
  
  
• Percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
   and Voices: Sydney Thiam, Michel Reman, David Mirandon, Philippe Drai, Phillipe Nalry, Thierry Boucou
• Recording
  Recording
  Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
  
   & Mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  : Christophe Dupouy

Guest vocalists

• Carla Vallet
• Tim Jensen
  Tim Jensen
  Tim Jensen is a long-time collaborator with anime soundtrack producer/composer Yoko Kanno and her group The Seatbelts, as an original member. He is the voice on "Tank", the opening song of Cowboy Bebop...
  
  
• Mai Yamane
  Mai Yamane
  is a Japanese singer, well known for her work on the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack with Yoko Kanno. Her career started at the very beginning of the 1980s when she participated in a young singer's contest in Japan. Six months, later she finished her first album...
  
  
• Steve Conte
  Steve Conte
  Steve Conte is an American singer and rock musician and lead singer of the band The Contes, along with his brother John Conte, both formerly members of the band Crown Jewels. He is perhaps more popularly known for his collaborations with composer Yoko Kanno, as well as being former lead guitarist...
  
  
• Masaaki Endoh
  Masaaki Endoh
  is a Japanese singer/songwriter who is prominent in the area of soundtracks for anime and tokusatsu productions. He is one of the founders of the anison supergroup JAM Project and has been a regular member ever since its inception in 2000. The group recently celebrated their 10th Anniversary with a...
  
  
• Gabriela Robin
  Gabriela Robin
  Gabriela Robin is a singer and lyricist, credited for lyrics and vocals on many songs composed and arranged by Yoko Kanno.She has long been rumored to be Kanno's pseudonym. Robin stated in a print interview that she was going to sing in front of an audience for the first time at Kanno's...
  
  
• Masayoshi Furukawa
• Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch
  Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch
  Tulivu-Donna Lynn Cumberbatch, daughter of Harold Cumberbatch , is a jazz singer from Brooklyn, and has been compared to Bessie Smith, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughn, Gloria Lynn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Aretha Franklin in terms of her singing ability.Her African name "Tulivu" translates...
  
  
• SYDNEY with Sister R
  Gabriela Robin
  Gabriela Robin is a singer and lyricist, credited for lyrics and vocals on many songs composed and arranged by Yoko Kanno.She has long been rumored to be Kanno's pseudonym. Robin stated in a print interview that she was going to sing in front of an audience for the first time at Kanno's...
  
  
• Emily Bindiger
  Emily Bindiger
  Emily Bindiger is an American singer, belonging to the award-winning a cappella group The Accidentals....
  
  
• Jerzy Knetig
  Jerzy Knetig
  Professor Jerzy Knetig is an opera singer and the Chair of Vocal Studies at in Warsaw, Poland.-Education:Knetig first studied engineering at the Warsaw Polytechnic, where he graduated in 1973. He then went on to study solo singing under Eugenia Szaniawska at the Secondary Music School in Warsaw,...
  
  
• Aoi Tada
  Aoi Tada
  is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former voice actress and musical actress. She formerly belonged to Gekidan Himawari. Her nickname is "Mamoru Tada".Her most noted voice role is that of Cowboy Bebops Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV...
  
  
• Raj Ramayya
  Raj Ramayya
  Raj Ramayya is a Session Singer/Composer and part of the duo Beautiful Losers with guitarist Brett Boyd. Ramayya was born in Saskatchewan, and is of Indian heritage...
  
  
• Hassan Bohmide
• Scott Matthew
  Scott Matthew
  Scott Matthew is a vocalist and lyricist born in Queensland, Australia. He currently resides and performs as an independent artist in New York City....
  
  
• Reynada Hill
• Soichiro Otsuka

Studio recordings

1. Cowboy Bebop (1998)
2. Cowboy Bebop Vitaminless (1998)
3. Cowboy Bebop No Disc (1998)
4. Cowboy Bebop Blue (1999)
5. Ask DNA (2001)
6. Future Blues (2001)
7. Cowboy Bebop Tank! THE! BEST! (2004)

Miscellaneous

1. Cowboy Bebop Remixes: Music for Freelance (1999)
2. Cowgirl Ed (2001)
3. Cowboy Bebop Boxed Set (2002)
4. Space Bio Charge
   Space Bio Charge
   Space Bio Charge is a compilation album of famous Japanese composer Yoko Kanno with her band The Seatbelts under the name Yoko Kanno Seatbelts. The full title of the album is .-Track listing:Catalog Number: VTCL-60141~3CD 1 Tracklist...
   
   (2009)

External links

• The Jazz Messengers, site with many Cowboy Bebop resources.