Shuya Okino (DJ)

A founding member of the legendary Kyoto Jazz Massive alongside his brother Yoshihiko, and an artist famously championed by Gilles Peterson, Shuya Okino is a producer, DJ and curator who has played a major role in bringing Japanese jazz to the international stage. 
A pioneer of the Japanese Jazz Dance movement, he has helped shape the sound and culture of Club Jazz and Crossover both in Japan and worldwide. Shuya is also the owner of The Room, his iconic club in Shibuya, Tokyo - one of Japan’s most influential and active spaces for Club Jazz, Crossover and underground music culture. Alongside Kyoto Jazz Massive, Shuya has built an international career as a DJ, performing across the globe. He is also the author of three acclaimed books: What Makes a Good DJ, The First Book of Club Jazz and Filter Your Thinking for Success. Following his solo album United Legends, Shuya released Destiny in 2011, featuring the standout tracks Thank You and Still In Love. Since 2015, he has also revived the Kyoto Jazz name through his Kyoto Jazz Sextet project, releasing two highly acclaimed albums drawing on Spiritual and Straight-Ahead Jazz, with the influence of the great Pharoah Sanders clearly present in the music. 
Twenty years after their groundbreaking debut Spirit Of The Sun, the two brothers finally returned as Kyoto Jazz Massive with their long-awaited second album, Message From A New Dawn, released in 2022. The album features legendary vibraphonist Roy Ayers alongside vocalist Vanessa Freeman, among others. More recently, a new and unexpected chapter has emerged through Kyoto Jazz Massive’s collaboration - both live and in the studio - with Parisian funk outfit Echoes Of. The result is a thrilling new incarnation of KJM, culminating in KJM EOANDO, released in 2025 to celebrate Kyoto Jazz Massive’s 30th anniversary. Blending jazz-funk, disco, Afrobeat, acid jazz and broken beat, KJM EOANDO brings together two musical worlds and generations, pushing Kyoto Jazz Massive into a new, vibrant and unexpected era.