The Seatbelts

The Seatbelts

The Seatbelts are a US rock band led by composer and instrumentalist Yoko Kanno. The group is associated with jazz, blues, rock and soundtrack work, and its output spans straightforward big-band jazz, rock and roll, and blues ballads.

Style and vocals

Most of the band’s work is instrumental, so it does not have a fixed lead singer. Steve Conte and Mai Yamane sing on several tracks, while Tim Jensen and Yoko Kanno mainly write the lyrics for those songs. Soichiro Otsuka and Gabriela Robin contribute backing vocals on some recordings.

Activity and related work

After a period of hiatus, the group regroups in 2004 to record the soundtrack for the Cowboy Bebop game, which is released in 2006. Many members also work with Kanno and with one another on other projects, and some go on to write their own music. Guitarist Tsuneo Imahori also plays on the soundtracks for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Wolf’s Rain, both composed by Kanno, and later composes the scores for Trigun and Gungrave.