David Tamura was a Japanese-American New York City-based multi-instrumentalist. He was a member of Von LMO's band on the album Red Resistor, which was described as "brilliantly tight".^[1] He had played with many musicians on the New York noise rock scene.^[2][3][4] He passed away the June 23, 2023.^[5] That week Downtown Music Gallery talked about his contributions, saying “David was a huge force behind many different projects, and always brought extreme energy and enthusiasm to whatever band he was apart of.” ^[6]

He was one of the main forces behind The Jazzfakers, where he plays guitar, keyboards, and saxophone; one reviewer writes "it’s him that provides the powdery, blues-rich tenor melody that boards the loose-boned march of Oh Rise New, adding a recognizable jazz voice to the restless buzz-keyboard swirls and mosquito-drill guitar, the rambling bass tune and the childlike organ which hangs and fidgets on a single disruptive chord".^[7] Of his release Mystic Mountain, with Marc Edwards, Grego Applegate Edwards wrote “David Tamura adds a welcome and contrastively volcanic tenor sax. But then the threesome of Karl Alfonso Evangelista, Colin Sanderson and Alex Lozupone, the three on very high-crank electric guitars, Alex (who also is leader of the band Eighty-Pound Pug that I have happily covered here) on combo electric guitar and bass.”^[8] In April, 2023, Tamura recorded an album with the group Toadal Package, which was called Final Entrance in a tribute to Last Exit.

Upon his passing, Rachel Mason wrote: "He just had a true genuine quality of kindness- despite the appearance of being some kind of underground-street-gangster. This sight of him was a character out of Quinten Tarantino movie. Exuding cool. Arms filled with tattoos, and a jet black hair almost looking like fire folding around his face. Arms that were Crazy guns- and then the saxophone. He busted it out and he was just a full fledged experimental jazz machine. He really was A Comic book action hero."^[9]

Partial discography

• Charles K. Noyes and David Tamura - duets (1978)
• Von LMO - Red Resistor (1996)
• Julian Cope – Copendium: An Expedition Into The Rock 'N' Roll Underwerld (2012)* Ron Anderson / Robert L. Pepper* / David Tamura / Philippe Petit – Closed Encounters Of The 4 Minds^[10] (2012)
• Scott Rifkin's Music for the Free World (feat. David Tamura, Yuko Pepe & Sky Hall)^[11] (2013)
• Dave Burrells Conception - (featuring Dave Burrell, Joe Chonto, David Tamura) (2013)
• Gene Janas / Matt Luczak / Gene Moore / David Tamura - Music On Monroe Street: Live At Downtown Music Gallery (2014)
• Zilmrah - Looming
• Saturn Big Brother On Acid – Big Brother On Acid (2014)

References