Ryo Fukui

Ryo Fukui (1948-2016) was a Japanese jazz pianist from Hokkaido, based for most of his life in Sapporo. Self-taught on piano from the age of 22, he recorded the trio albums Scenery (1976) and Mellow Dream (1977), which found a wide new audience after his death. He also ran the Slowboat jazz club in Sapporo with his wife Yasuko. Fukui started on accordion at 18 before switching to piano. Saxophonist Hidehiko Matsumoto encouraged him in his early years. Scenery features Satoshi Denpo on bass and Yoshinori Fukui on drums.