For Living Lovers, founded in 2002, developed while Ross and Takeishi were band members in Henry Threadgrill’s quintet, “Make A Move”. Realizing a shared musical sensibility, they premiered their collaboration at a music center named Tonic on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Ross featured the duo in his compositions on two of his solo records, Costume (2004) and Puppet (2006), both released under the Japanese label Intoxicate. Those recordings led to unique collaborations in Japan and also in other countries.

In 2014, the duo released their debut full length document “Revealing Essence” on Sunnyside Records, USA to superlative reviews. “Revealing Essence” consists of slow musical reflections and is a blend of folk music and improvisation.

At the Viljandi concert, Brandon Ross & Stomu Takeishi’s usual all-acoustic format will be adapted to an amplified format, giving the opportunity to explore new ways of playing the music and incorporating electronic effects into their ensemble language. They will be performing compositions that will be included on their upcoming release on Sunnyside Records in 2024.