Nobuo Hara and His Sharps & Flats has been played on NTS in shows including Black Classical , featured first on 3 September 2016. Songs played include Itsuki No Komori-Uta, Sohran-Bushi and Yasuki-Bushi.

Hara was born in Toyama. He played in a military band during World War II and in a Tokyo officers' club after the war. He took leadership of the ensemble Sharps and Flats in 1952, which he would lead until the 1980s. This band recorded copiously and appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. Sharps and Flats accompanied Chiemi Eri and included sidemen such as Masato Honda, Norio Maeda, Shotaro Moriyasu, and Akitoshi…