DATE COURSE PENTAGON ROYAL GARDEN

Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden (dCprG) is a Japanese experimental afro-jazz/"rock-in-opposition"/fusion supergroup, formed in 1999 by renowned saxophonist Naruyoshi Kikuchi after Tipographica break-up. The band's original line-up, with two performers on each instrument except bass, featured Naruyoshi's bandmates from Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet and members of several other prominent Tokyo underground groups: Rovo, Kuricorder Quartet and Asteroid Desert Songs. In July 1999, DCPRG gave its first live performance, praised by critics and listeners for the fierce energy and innovative sound, inspired by Miles Davis in the '70s "electric funk" period, Japanese composer Masabumi Kikuchi and Afro-jazz polyrhythms. The band's iconic feature was a "multi-BPM" technique, with each musician keeping a different tempo and creating unique cross-rhythmic structures. In the summer of 2001, a reputable Japanese label P-Vine Records presented two debut studio works by DCPRG, a 30-min composition on Sino / Pan-American Beef Stake Art Federations (Japan 2001) (opens in a new tab) split CD with Rovo, followed by the band's full-length Report From Iron Mountain (Japan 2001) (opens in a new tab) studio CD album. In 2002, Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden produced GRPCD1 (opens in a new tab) compilation, featuring seven remixes by Otomo Yoshihide, Rei Harakami, Tatsuya Oe, DJ Me DJ You duo, Tsutomu Kuwata under DJ Quietstorm alias, and Kazunao Nagata.
DCPRG continued touring with an extended horns section: Koji Nishimura, Kunimitsu Kohata and Shiro Sasaki on trumpets and Takerou Sekijima on tuba. The band released its second studio CD album, Structure Et Force (Japan 2003) (opens in a new tab), on P-Vine in September 2003, with Jason Shalton replacing Otomo on guitar, while Sekijima, Sasaki and Taisei Aoki (trombone) joined DCPRG permanently. In September 2004, the group's CD mini-album (opens in a new tab) with covers of "Stayin' Alive" by Bee Gees and David Bowie's "Fame" and the 2-nd part of Kikuchi's debut composition for DCPRG, "Pan-American Beef Stake Art Federation," was jointly released by P-Vine and.
In 2007, following the third studio album, Franz Kafka's Amerika (Japan 2007) (opens in a new tab) 2xCD, which also became the last release for P-Vine Records, Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden went on a hiatus that lasted over three years. The band's live tour history between June 2001 and April 2007 has been documented on a three-part cycle, starting with Musical From Chaos (Japan 2003) (opens in a new tab) 2xCD on P-Vine in June 2003, featuring Tokyo shows at in Shibuya,, and. The second 'live report,' MUSICAL FROM CHAOS 2 (opens in a new tab) CD+DVD, came out in March 2005 on a Japanese label Triad, with concerts recorded at Seibu Kodo, and. The concluding DVD was published by P-Vine in December 2007, compiling live excerpts filmed at various venues across Japan, such, Club Quattro in Shibuya (opens in a new tab), Nagoya (opens in a new tab) and Hiroshima (opens in a new tab),, Kyoto University,,, and.
In 2009, Kikuchi planned a one-off comeback show, invited by Michael Henderson to join the Japanese leg of his "Electric Miles Reunion Band," but these plans fell through. Instead, DCPRG made a solo comeback in October 2010, performing with a renewed line-up at open-air stage in Tokyo's Hibiya Park on a rainy night — a show later released by on DVD. The same month, they gave a second reunion concert at in Kyoto. Kikuchi briefly partnered with EWE Records and Kip Hanrahan's label American Clavé before signing a new deal with prestigious jazz label through UMG's Japanese branch. DCPRG released two CD albums on Impulse, Alter War In Tokyo (Japan 2011) (opens in a new tab) in September 2011, recorded live at in Tokyo with Arto Lindsay as a special guest, and Second Report From Iron Mountain USA (Japan 2012) (opens in a new tab), the first studio work in five years.
In May 2015, DCPRG presented SACD+DVD, the fifth studio album, via Taboo (opens in a new tab), one of imprints in Japan.
Original DCPRG line-up (1999–2001)
Naruyoshi Kikuchi — keyboards, VOX Jaguar organ, CDJ turntables, conduction
Masayasu Tzboguchi — keyboards, electric piano, clavinet, synths
Otomo Yoshihide — guitar
Koki Takai — guitar, filters & effects
Kenta Tsugami — soprano saxophone
Yoshihiro "Gosekky" — tenor saxophone
Gen Ogimi — percussion
Masaki Yoshimi — tabla
Masaki Kurihara — bass
Yasuhiro Yoshigaki — drums
Nobuo Fujii — drums
Guests:
Itoken — drums, tambourine
Koji Nishimura, Kunimitsu Kohata — trumpet
Second installment (2003–2007)
Naruyoshi Kikuchi — keyboards, CDJ turntables
Masayasu Tzboguchi — keyboards, synthesizers
Jason Shalton — guitar
Koki Takai — guitar
Kenta Tsugami — soprano saxophone
Gosekky — tenor saxophone
Gen Ogimi — percussion
Masaki Yoshimi — tabla
Masaki Kurihara — bass
Yasuhiro Yoshigaki — drums
Nobuo Fujii — drums
Takerou Sekijima — tuba
Taisei Aoki — trombone
Shiro Sasaki — trumpet
Current line-up (since 2015)
Naruyoshi Kikuchi — band leader
Masayasu Tzboguchi — keyboards
Tomomi Oda܍ — keyboards
Takayoshi Ohmura — guitar
Gen Ogimi — percussion
Tsugami Kenta — saxophone
Takai Shiohito (opens in a new tab) — saxophone
Shinpei Ruike — trumpet
Arigath ⎨アリガス⎬ (opens in a new tab) — bass
Muneomi Senju — drums
Kyojun Tanaka (opens in a new tab) — drums
܍ Josei played on keyboards on Alter War in Tokyo and Second Report From Iron Mountain USA before Tomomi Oda joined