is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and frontman for the Southern All Stars, as well of his own solo band, the Kuwata band. He has also done a significant amount of scoring music for films. He went to Aoyama Gakuin University. In 2010, Southern All Stars was ranked No. 1, and Kuwata's solo band, the Kuwata Band, ranked No. 12 on HMV Japan's list of the top 100 musicians in Japan. Kuwata has worked as a record producer, a movie director, has recorded albums as bandleader of his own band, the Kuwata Band, and has worked on projects scoring music to film. Biographical information Keisuke Kuwata was born February 26, 1956, and raised in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kuwata's wife, Yuko Hara, is also a member of the Southern All Stars. She is a vocalist and plays keyboards. The two met while in college, where they were in the same circle of musicians. They married in 1982, after the success of the band's single Chako no Kaiganmonogatari, and invited 3000 fans of the band to their wedding reception. They share a love of the blues and have two sons together. On July 28, 2010, Kuwata announced that he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The operation to remove the cancer was successful and he has made several public appearances since June 2011. Musical style Kuwata plays guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. For one album, Suteki Na Mirai Wo Mite Hoshii (素敵な未来を見て欲しい), Kuwata played every musical instrument and recorded the entire album himself. Kuwata's Western musical influences are varied. Along with his wife, the band's keyboardist and backing vocalist, Yuko Hara, the couple have long been inspired by American folk music, where preferences run from Bob Dylan, the Band, Blues, and Southern rock music, to British and American influences that are arguably pure rock and Roll; with a flattering number of songs covered from the work of Eric Clapton. Aside from Dylan, Kuwata's work has shown emphasis on music of the American South, including that of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Little Feat. Along with the Southern All Stars, Kuwata has performed with Little Feat on several occasions, and recorded cover songs from the band. He was a participant and performer in a tribute concert to the late Lowell George, (Little Feat's original frontman), recording a medley on video that contained his version of "Dixie Chicken". In 1990, American musician Ray Charles released