Masayuki "Jojo" Takayanagi (高柳 昌行, Takayanagi Masayuki, December 22, 1932 – June 23, 1991) was a Japanese jazz / free improvisation / noise musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. In the 1960s he formed New Direction (later New Direction Unit), which recorded several albums throughout the 1970s. He also recorded several albums with saxophonist Kaoru Abe, including Kaitai Teki Kohkan, Gradually Projection and Mass Projection.
New Direction (a trio with Motoharu Yoshizawa and Yoshisaburo Toyozumi) started to perform in 1969.[1] The absence of melody and rhythm in their playing, together with their volume, meant that their early performance opportunities were largely limited to the jazz coffee shop Nagisa in Tokyo.[2] One attendee wrote: "The sound was so loud that the paint on the ceiling, shaken by the vibration, would flake off and fall like snow on the heads of the audience."[3] Takayanagi sometimes dragged a metal chain over the guitar strings and hit them with a stick.[3] His instructions to the rest of the trio were: "Play forte at all times. Don't repeat any phrases. Listening to what the others are playing and trying to play along is strictly forbidden."[4]
For most of his career, Takayanagi played a 1963 Gibson ES-175.[5]
