Japanese-born guitarist June Yamagishi left an established career in Japan in 1995 for New Orleans — and became the guitarist of Papa Grows Funk and a first-call sideman across the city's funk, blues, and R&B scenes.
Biography
June Yamagishi — born Junshi Yamagishi on June 6, 1953 in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan — was a major force in the Japanese blues and jazz scene from the early 1970s: he formed the West Road Blues Band in Kyoto in 1972, joined the soul band Sooo Baad Revue in 1975, released his first solo album Really?! in 1979, played the 1980s with Myx and Chickenshack, and formed the Band of Pleasure with guitarist David T. Walker and drummer James Gadson in the 1990s. In 1995 he walked away from that established career and moved to New Orleans.
Here he became the guitarist for John “Papa” Gros's Papa Grows Funk — twelve years of Monday nights at the Maple Leaf Bar and six albums — and for the Wild Magnolias, while gigging as a first-call sideman with Earl King, Henry Butler, Davell Crawford, Marva Wright, and George Porter Jr.. He appeared as himself on HBO's Treme in 2011, recorded 2007's Together Again – Blues in New Orleans with fellow West Road guitarist Shinji Shiotsugu, and was one of nine winners of the 2025 Fessy Awards for preserving and promoting New Orleans music. He's on the NOLA Funk Fest 2026 bill on Sunday, October 18.
Discography
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