Shigeru Umebayashi (born February 19, 1951 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka) is a Japanese composer who was once the leader and bass player of Japan's new wave rock band EX.
Composer Shigeru Umebayashi began scoring films in the mid 1980s when the band broke up. Only one year after he started composing film music in 1984, the talent of Shigeru Umebayashi was recognized when his music for the Japanese film production Sorekara (And Then; 1985) won several film music awards.
“Since his discovery through Japanese film director Yoshimitsu Morita in 1985, Shigeru Umebayashi has scored more than 30 Japanese Films. He is also an internationally renowned film composer, best known for creating Yumeji's Theme in Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-Wai's film, In The Mood for Love (2000. Adding further to his diverse portfolio, Umebayashi has worked with Italy's Roberta Torre for Mare nero (Dark Sea; 2006), England's Peter Webber for Hannibal Rising (2007), Germany's Veit Helmer for Absurdistan (2008) and British director Sharon Maguire for Incendiary (2008), starring Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor.
Umebayashi also contributed music to most of Chinese film director Zhang Yimou's films; A Single Man (2009), directed by Tom Ford; Dias de gracia (Days of Grace; 2011) directed by Everardo Gout and winning the Mexican Ariel Award for Best Score; Trishna (2011), directed by Michael Winterbottom; The Grandmaster (2013), directed by Wong Kar-Wai and winning the Asian Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Composer; and Come il vento (Like the Wind; 2013) directed Marco Simon Puccioni. Furthermore, Umebayashi composed the music for the official documentary film of the Beijing Olympics, The Everlasting Flame: Beijing 2008, winning many international awards.”
Info via Bosworth Creative
Listen to the beautiful melody here:
In The Mood For Love - Song Yumeji's theme by Shigeru Umebayashi
