Coco Breeze

Occupation(s) :	Band
Genres :	Caribbean Jazz

Coco Breeze is composed of three of the most talented musicians in Caribbean Jazz. With Hiroyuki Yamada as lead guitarist, Sergo Decius as percussionist and Chico Boyer on the bass, these three expats have been able to create simple yet smarter additions to the Afro-Caribbean Jazz genre. This group was accidentally created after the three musicians spent years practicing together. Hiro’s rock laced jazz style, along Chico’s roots based background, and Sergo’s Latin fused percussion rhythms has created an irreproducible chemistry.

Hiro, an eclectic guitar player, hails from Tokyo Japan. Growing up listening to American and British pop, he started playing his first electric guitar at the age of 14 after receiving it as a gift from his father. Shortly after, he formed several cover bands playing Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. In 1988 he moved to New York where he started studying Jazz. He had impressionable teachers including Ron Carter, who once asked him whether he was a hero or a sandwich on account of his name. His unique and insightful view on music has led him to perform with a wide array of musicians like Edwin Russell, David Comedie. It was not long before he collaborated with both Chico and Sergo subsequently hatching the idea to form their own group. His philosophy is: “We are all coconuts. I mean our lives are like coconuts. We were floating in the ocean, and winds and current took us to New York. We play music, dreaming coconuts and blue ocean” hence the name Coco Breeze. Hiro loves entertaining and making his close friends and family laugh, he currently resides in Manhattan.

Chico, on the bass, is a pioneer in Haitian culture. Known as one of the founding fathers of Haitian roots music, he has used his talent to to transcend genre using his bass to recreate unique sounds. He was one of the moving forces behind the well-known voodoo jazz group Foula. Shortly after migrating from Haiti to New York in the early 1990s, Chico formed Djèvò, the band became very successful in the Northeast, which gave them an opportunity to open for the Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge Tour at Giants Stadium. He has collaborated with the likes of Carole Demesmin, Eddy François, Emeline Michel and many more. Chico Boyer currently owns a recording studio, Kamoken studios, where he has produced some of the best talents in Haitian music as well as World music. Although he stopped publicly playing for a while, he has ended his hiatus to be part of this Afro-Caribbean super group. Presently, he has taken bee-keeping as a hobby, and spends his time with his wife, 3 daughters and his grandson in Brooklyn, NY.

Sergo is one of the best known Haitian conga players. Raised in household where Cuban music was prominent, he quickly developed a love for music. After graduating from two of the best music schools in Haiti, his passion took him all around the provinces of Haiti to study traditional voodoo rhythms. He has played with multiple groups including Piko Ranaya, Papash, Kata, Culture Shock and Echo Des Jeunes. He has also collaborated with Beethovas Obas, Emeline Michel, Ansy Derose, Guy Durosier, Carole Demesmin, John Littleton, Pierre Rigaud Chery and Dadou Pasket. His pursuit of music knowledge brought him to New York in the late 1990s and has led him to promote voodoo rhythms for three years in Japan. Meanwhile, he has become a great music teacher in the Haitian community, mentoring some of the best drummers in the industry. He currently resides in Brooklyn, where he enjoys cooking for his close friends and family.

Yoshi (soprano sax / flute ) has lived in Tokyo, Mexico City, Rome, and New York. After studying at the New School, he released two CDs, one in New York and the other in Rome. Yoshi’s soprano sound is warm and elegant. In 2004, when a legendary sax player, Michael Brecker performed on the same stage, he listened to Yoshi and praised his beautiful sound. Yoshi is also commended for his compositions, which people often describe as poetic and like a painting. After a short interruption in Tokyo, Yoshi has come back to New York in June 2011, and resumed his performances.

Visits: 14