Mike Tanaka & Friends play jazz music in and around Providence and throughout New England. The individual members of the band have been playing together in various configurations and combinations for more than thirty years. Mike Tanaka and Rich Lataille have been performing together since 1983. Mike and John DeBossu since 1980. The group in its current configuration (Mike Tanaka, guitar; Rich Lataille, sax; John DeBossu, bass; and Rick Couto, drums), have been together since 2006.  They host the Blackstone Club Music Series Jazz Jam at Rosinha’s Restaurant, 999 Main Street, in Hope Artiste Village, Pawtucket, every Tuesday night.  Check them out, you will be glad you did. 

- Band Bio’s -

	Mike Tanaka (electric guitar) Mike Tanaka has played in jazz, rock and blues bands, and also performs solo acoustic guitar. He played jazz guitar in groups led by saxophonist Joe Ferguson, B-3 organ player Lenny Nalls, and played blues guitar in the George Thomas Band. In the 1980’s he played twangy, reverb-laden guitar in the local surf band the Coppertones. He currently plays electric bass guitar with Grammy-nominated, Providence Phoenix Music Award-winning singer/songwriter Mark Cutler, and leads a number of local jazz groups, including Mike Tanaka & Friends. Mike is a graduate of Northwestern University and studied guitar with mandolin legend Jethro Burns.
	Rich Lataille  (tenor, alto, soprano sax and flute) Rich Lataille is a founding member of the Grammy-nominated, W.C. Handy Award-winning and Providence Phoenix Music Award-winning Roomful of Blues. Playing in the legendary, contemporary blues band Roomful of Blues for forty years, he is the sole remaining original member. Rich performs and has recorded with many local jazz and blues artists, including Duke Robillard and Al Basile. With Mike Tanaka & Friends, Rich demonstrates his great versatility, playing tenor, alto and soprano sax, as well as clarinet and flute. He’s also been known to take to the microphone to belt out a vocal on a tune.
	John DeBossu  (upright bass and electric bass guitar) John DeBossu grew up in France and Switzerland, is classically trained, and has performed in Europe and throughout New England. He studied in Geneva, Switzerland with B. Waelday, former principal bassist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and in Boston with Miroslav Vitous of Weather Report. John has performed and recorded with a number of local and regional groups including the Joe Parillo Ensemble. Current projects include the gypsy-jazz band Minor Swing, the gypsy-classical ensemble the Bohemian Quartet, Al Basile’s Swingin’ Strings (with Rich Lataille), the soul-funk band Soul Power (with Rick Couto), and Mike Tanaka & Friends.
	Rick Couto (drums) Rick Couto has been drumming in the band Rizzz for going on thirty-five years. One of the best-loved and legendary rock bands in New England, Rizzz has been a fixture on the local music scene for the past five decades, and Rick was one of the founding members. Rick has also played and recorded with the critically acclaimed LaMoia Percussion Ensemble, the Joe Parillo Ensemble (with John DeBossu), and currently plays in the soul-funk band Soul Power, Mike Tanaka & Friends and performs with many local musicians including Drew Sullivan and singer/songwriter Mark Cutler. Rick is part of a multi-generational drumming family. His father was a noted and well-regarded professional jazz drummer, and Rick’s son, Max, has taken up the sticks as well, currently performing and recording with local singer/songwriter Jack Babineau.