Background
Matsunaga was born and raised in Kobe. At the age of five he first played a piano and Hammond organ that his father had. His father also took him to jazz clubs.
松永貴志
Matsunaga was born and raised in Kobe. At the age of five he first played a piano and Hammond organ that his father had. His father also took him to jazz clubs.
After winning an electric organ competition at the age of ten, Matsunaga took lessons from Tadao Kitano, who also taught Makoto Ozone. Matsunaga played his first concert as a professional when he was 15, appeared on television in 2002, then signed with Toshiba-Electric and Music Industries and released his first album the following year. As an 18-year-old, Matsunaga was promoted by Toshiba-Electric and Music Industries as "the youngest pro jazz pianist in Japan".
Storm Zone, his 2004 release and debut album for Blue Note, contained only his original compositions.
"Matsunaga has a busy, almost frenetic, bop-based playing style, with dense clusters of notes and a profusion of riffs and melodic ideas."
A reviewer for The New York Times commented that Matsunaga composes in "various stylistic idioms, including Latin-tinged numbers gentle ballads and swinging tours de force".