Toshiko Akiyoshi
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese American
jazz pianist
, composer
/arranger
and bandleader
. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy
nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat
magazine's Readers Poll. In 1984, she was the subject of a documentary film
titled Jazz Is My Native Language
. In 1996, she published her autobiography
, Life With Jazz and in 2007 she was named an NEA Jazz Master
by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts
.
, Manchuria
to Japan
ese emigrants. She was the youngest of four sisters. In 1945, after World War II
, Akiyoshi's family lost its home and returned to Japan, settling in Beppu.
Akiyoshi began to study piano
at age seven. When she was 16, she took a job playing with a band in a local club. Beppu was crowded with US
soldiers, and musicians were in high demand to provide entertainment. Akiyoshi had planned to attend medical school
, but she loved playing piano; and since she was earning good money, her family did not object to her pursuing music.
A local record collector introduced Akiyoshi to jazz by playing a record
of Teddy Wilson
playing "Sweet Lorraine
". Akiyoshi immediately loved the sound, and began to study jazz. In 1952, during a tour of Japan, pianist Oscar Peterson
discovered Akiyoshi playing in a club on the Ginza
. Peterson was impressed, and convinced producer
Norman Granz
to record Akiyoshi. In 1953, under Granz's direction, Akiyoshi recorded her first album with Peterson's rhythm section: Herb Ellis
on guitar
, Ray Brown
on bass
, and J. C. Heard
on drums
. The album was titled Toshiko's Piano
, and has been reissued on CD
in Japan.
In 1955, Akiyoshi wrote a letter to Lawrence Berk
asking him to give her a chance to study at his school, Berklee College of Music
. After a year of wrangling with the State Department and Japanese officials, Berk secured permission for Akiyoshi to study in Boston
. He offered her a full scholarship, and he mailed her a plane ticket to Boston. In January 1956, Akiyoshi enrolled to become the first Japanese student at Berklee. (As of 2000, roughly 10% of Berklee's student body comprised Japanese students.) While in Boston, Akiyoshi studied with the music teachers Herb Pomeroy
, Madame Chaloff, and Richard Bobbitt. The latter taught her about Joseph Schillinger
's System of Musical Composition, which influenced her approach to composition. On March 18, 1956, she became known to the entire country as a mystery guest on the popular television game show, What's My Line?
.
Akiyoshi married saxophonist Charlie Mariano
in 1959. The couple had a daughter Monday Michiru
in 1963, but divorce
d in 1967 after forming several bands together. That same year, she met saxophonist Lew Tabackin
, whom she married in 1969. Akiyoshi and Tabackin moved to Los Angeles
in 1972. In March 1973, they formed a 16-piece big band
composed of studio musicians. Akiyoshi composed and arranged music for the band, and Tabackin served as the band's featured soloist
, on tenor saxophone
and flute
. The band recorded its first album, Kogun
, in 1974. The title, which translates to "one-man army," was inspired by the tale of a Japanese soldier lost for 30 years in the jungle, who believed that World war II was still being fought and thus remained loyal to the Emperor
. Kogun was commercially successful in Japan, and the band began to receive critical acclaim. By 1980, the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band
was considered one of the most important big bands in jazz.
The couple moved to New York City
in 1982, where they promptly assembled a new big band (now called the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin). Akiyoshi toured with smaller bands to raise money for her big band. BMG
continued to release her big band's recordings in Japan, but remained skeptical about releasing the music in the United States — since the 1950s, big band music has rarely achieved commercial success in the US. While Akiyoshi was able to release several albums in the US featuring her piano in solo and small combo settings, many of her later big band albums were released only in Japan and were available elsewhere only as imports. On Monday, December 29, 2003, her band played its final concert at Birdland
in New York City, where it had enjoyed a regular Monday night gig
for more than seven years. Akiyoshi explained that she disbanded the ensemble because she was frustrated by her inability to obtain US
recording contracts for the big band. She also said that she wanted to concentrate on her piano playing, from which she had been distracted by years of composing and arranging. She has said that although she has rarely recorded as a solo pianist, that is her preferred format. On March 24, 2004, Warner Japan released the final recording of Akiyoshi's big band. Titled Last Live in Blue Note Tokyo
, the CD was recorded on November 28 and 29, 2003 but she continues to perform and record as a pianist and occasional guest bandleader.
Akiyoshi lives on Manhattan
's Upper West Side
with her husband. Besides being musicians, they are both avid wine
and cigar
collectors.
died in 1974, Nat Hentoff
wrote in The Village Voice
about how Ellington's music reflected his African heritage. Upon reading this, Akiyoshi was inspired to investigate her own Japanese musical heritage. From that point on, she began composing with Japanese themes, Japanese harmonies, and even Japanese instruments (e.g. kotsuzumi
, kakko
, utai, tsugaru shamisen
, etc.) Her music remained planted firmly in jazz, however, reflecting influences including those of Ellington, Charles Mingus
, and Bud Powell
. Akiyoshi has spoken of approaching her arrangements vertically, voicing each chord individually, which contrasts with the philosophy advocated by Herb Pomeroy, Bob Florence
, and others, of writing phrases in a linear fashion. Akiyoshi often uses five-part harmony
in her voicings, which yields a bigger sound from her horn section.
One reviewer of the live LP Road Time
said the music on her big band albums demonstrates
In 1999, Akiyoshi was approached by a Buddhist priest named Nakagawa. He asked her if she would consider writing a piece for his hometown, Hiroshima
. He sent her some photos depicting the aftermath of the nuclear bombing
. Her initial reaction was horror. She could not see how she could compose anything to address the event. Finally she found a picture of a young woman, emerging from an underground shelter
with a faint smile on her face. Akiyoshi said that upon seeing this picture, she understood the message: hope. With that message in mind, she composed the three-part suite
Hiroshima: Rising From the Abyss. The piece was premiered in Hiroshima on August 6, 2001, the 56th anniversary
of the Hiroshima bombing. The Hiroshima suite was featured on a 2002 CD release bearing the same title, Hiroshima - Rising From The Abyss
.
/ BMG, Nippon Columbia
, Toshiba
, Discomate, Nippon Crown
and other labels in Japan and for Norgran / Verve
, RCA
, Columbia
/ Sony
, Concord
and her own Ascent label in the US. All of her big band recordings and nearly all of her other early works have been re-issued on CD
s over the years.
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
jazz pianist
Jazz piano
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
/arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine's Readers Poll. In 1984, she was the subject of a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
titled Jazz Is My Native Language
Jazz Is My Native Language
Jazz is my Native Language: A Portrait of Toshiko Akiyoshi is a documentary film by Renee Cho about the jazz pianist, composer, arranger and big band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi.-References:*Ing, Sarah. Synopsis....
. In 1996, she published her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Life With Jazz and in 2007 she was named an NEA Jazz Master
NEA Jazz Masters
The National Endowment for the Arts , every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians...
by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
.
Biography
Akiyoshi was born in LiaoyangLiaoyang
Liaoyang is a city in China, Liaoning province, located in the middle of the Liaodong Peninsula. The city is situated on the T'ai-tzu River and forms with Anshan a built up area of 2,057,200 inhabitants in 2010....
, Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
to Japan
Japanese diaspora
The Japanese diaspora, and its individual members known as , are Japanese emigrants from Japan and their descendants that reside in a foreign country...
ese emigrants. She was the youngest of four sisters. In 1945, after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Akiyoshi's family lost its home and returned to Japan, settling in Beppu.
Akiyoshi began to study piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
at age seven. When she was 16, she took a job playing with a band in a local club. Beppu was crowded with US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldiers, and musicians were in high demand to provide entertainment. Akiyoshi had planned to attend medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
, but she loved playing piano; and since she was earning good money, her family did not object to her pursuing music.
A local record collector introduced Akiyoshi to jazz by playing a record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
of Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
playing "Sweet Lorraine
Sweet Lorraine
"Sweet Lorraine" is a song by the band Uriah Heep, first released on the album The Magician's Birthday. It was written by Mick Box, Gary Thain and David Byron. Sweet Lorraine reached #91 in the US. It is one of the better known songs by the band, famous, in part, for its Moog synthesizer solo,...
". Akiyoshi immediately loved the sound, and began to study jazz. In 1952, during a tour of Japan, pianist Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
discovered Akiyoshi playing in a club on the Ginza
Ginza
is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
. Peterson was impressed, and convinced producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Norman Granz
Norman Granz
Norman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
to record Akiyoshi. In 1953, under Granz's direction, Akiyoshi recorded her first album with Peterson's rhythm section: Herb Ellis
Herb Ellis
Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis was an American jazz guitarist. Perhaps best known for his 1950s membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson, Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as "an excellent bop-based guitarist with a...
on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
on bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, and J. C. Heard
J. C. Heard
J. C. Heard a.k.a. James Charles Heard was a United States swing, bop, and blues drummer....
on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. The album was titled Toshiko's Piano
Toshiko's Piano
The jazz album Toshiko's Piano was the debut recording of jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. It was recorded in Japan in 1953 with Oscar Peterson's Jazz at the Philharmonic rhythm section and released as a 10 inch LP album on Norman Granz's Norgran Record label...
, and has been reissued on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in Japan.
In 1955, Akiyoshi wrote a letter to Lawrence Berk
Lawrence Berk
Lawrence Berk was the founder of Berklee College of Music, a pianist, composer and arranger, and educator.Berk oversaw the growth of the modest Schillinger House music school into the Berklee College of Music, the largest independent school of music in the world...
asking him to give her a chance to study at his school, Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
. After a year of wrangling with the State Department and Japanese officials, Berk secured permission for Akiyoshi to study in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He offered her a full scholarship, and he mailed her a plane ticket to Boston. In January 1956, Akiyoshi enrolled to become the first Japanese student at Berklee. (As of 2000, roughly 10% of Berklee's student body comprised Japanese students.) While in Boston, Akiyoshi studied with the music teachers Herb Pomeroy
Herb Pomeroy
Irving Herbert "Herb" Pomeroy, III was an influential swing and bebop jazz trumpeter and educator...
, Madame Chaloff, and Richard Bobbitt. The latter taught her about Joseph Schillinger
Joseph Schillinger
Joseph Schillinger was a composer, music theorist, and composition teacher. He was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine and died in New York City.-Life and career:...
's System of Musical Composition, which influenced her approach to composition. On March 18, 1956, she became known to the entire country as a mystery guest on the popular television game show, What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
.
Akiyoshi married saxophonist Charlie Mariano
Charlie Mariano
Carmine Ugo Mariano was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Cologne, Germany.-Biography:Mariano was the son of Italian immigrants....
in 1959. The couple had a daughter Monday Michiru
Monday Michiru
Monday Michiru Sipiagin is a Japanese American actress, singer, and songwriter whose music encompasses and fuses a wide variety of genres including jazz, dance, pop, and soul...
in 1963, but divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in 1967 after forming several bands together. That same year, she met saxophonist Lew Tabackin
Lew Tabackin
Lew Tabackin is a jazz flautist and a tenor saxophonist. He is married to Toshiko Akiyoshi, who is a jazz pianist and a composer/arranger.-Biography:...
, whom she married in 1969. Akiyoshi and Tabackin moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1972. In March 1973, they formed a 16-piece big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
composed of studio musicians. Akiyoshi composed and arranged music for the band, and Tabackin served as the band's featured soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
, on tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
and flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
. The band recorded its first album, Kogun
Kogun
Kogun is the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was released in Japan by Victor in 1974 and received the Swing Journal Silver Disk prize for that year...
, in 1974. The title, which translates to "one-man army," was inspired by the tale of a Japanese soldier lost for 30 years in the jungle, who believed that World war II was still being fought and thus remained loyal to the Emperor
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
. Kogun was commercially successful in Japan, and the band began to receive critical acclaim. By 1980, the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band
Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band
The Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band was a 16 piece jazz big band created by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and tenor saxophone / flutist Lew Tabackin in Los Angeles in 1973. In 1982 the principals moved from Los Angeles to New York city and re-formed the group with new members under the name,...
was considered one of the most important big bands in jazz.
The couple moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1982, where they promptly assembled a new big band (now called the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin). Akiyoshi toured with smaller bands to raise money for her big band. BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
continued to release her big band's recordings in Japan, but remained skeptical about releasing the music in the United States — since the 1950s, big band music has rarely achieved commercial success in the US. While Akiyoshi was able to release several albums in the US featuring her piano in solo and small combo settings, many of her later big band albums were released only in Japan and were available elsewhere only as imports. On Monday, December 29, 2003, her band played its final concert at Birdland
Birdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
in New York City, where it had enjoyed a regular Monday night gig
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
for more than seven years. Akiyoshi explained that she disbanded the ensemble because she was frustrated by her inability to obtain US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
recording contracts for the big band. She also said that she wanted to concentrate on her piano playing, from which she had been distracted by years of composing and arranging. She has said that although she has rarely recorded as a solo pianist, that is her preferred format. On March 24, 2004, Warner Japan released the final recording of Akiyoshi's big band. Titled Last Live in Blue Note Tokyo
Last Live In Blue Note Tokyo
Last Live in Blue Note Tokyo is the ninth recording released by the New York-based Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. Not to be confused with the 1997 Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio release, Live at Blue Note Tokyo '97.-Track listing:...
, the CD was recorded on November 28 and 29, 2003 but she continues to perform and record as a pianist and occasional guest bandleader.
Akiyoshi lives on Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
with her husband. Besides being musicians, they are both avid wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
and cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
collectors.
Music
Akiyoshi's music is distinctive for its textures and for its Japanese influence. When Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
died in 1974, Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
wrote in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
about how Ellington's music reflected his African heritage. Upon reading this, Akiyoshi was inspired to investigate her own Japanese musical heritage. From that point on, she began composing with Japanese themes, Japanese harmonies, and even Japanese instruments (e.g. kotsuzumi
Tsuzumi
The is a Japanese drum of Chinese/Indian origin. It consists of a wooden body shaped like an hourglass, and it is taut, with two drum heads with cords that can be squeezed or released to increase or decrease the tension of the heads respectively...
, kakko
Kakko
The is a Japanese double-headed drum. One way in which the kakko differs from the regular taiko drum is in the way in which it is made taut. Like the Shime-Daiko and tsuzumi, the skin of the heads are first stretched over metal hoops before they are placed on the body, tying them to each other and...
, utai, tsugaru shamisen
Tsugaru-jamisen
Tsugaru-Shamisen is a genre of shamisen music originating in Aomori prefecture in the northernmost area of the Japanese island of Honshū. It is today performed throughout Japan, though associations with the Tsugaru area of Aomori remain strong....
, etc.) Her music remained planted firmly in jazz, however, reflecting influences including those of Ellington, Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, and Bud Powell
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
. Akiyoshi has spoken of approaching her arrangements vertically, voicing each chord individually, which contrasts with the philosophy advocated by Herb Pomeroy, Bob Florence
Bob Florence
Bob Florence was an American jazz arranger and pianist. He began taking piano lessons at five and initially intended to be a concert pianist. However, on taking classes with Bob McDonald he changed direction toward jazz.At the beginning of his career Florence worked as a pianist and arranger with...
, and others, of writing phrases in a linear fashion. Akiyoshi often uses five-part harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
in her voicings, which yields a bigger sound from her horn section.
One reviewer of the live LP Road Time
Road Time, Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big Band
Road Time was the first live concert recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The recording was made at three concerts in Tōkyō and Ōsaka, during a 1976 Japan tour and the double album received a 1977 Grammy nomination in the "Best Jazz Performance - Big Band" category.-Track...
said the music on her big band albums demonstrates
- "...a level of compositional and orchestral ingenuity that made her one of perhaps two or three composer-arrangers in jazz whose name could seriously be mentioned in the company of Duke Ellington, Eddie Sauter and Gil Evans."
In 1999, Akiyoshi was approached by a Buddhist priest named Nakagawa. He asked her if she would consider writing a piece for his hometown, Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
. He sent her some photos depicting the aftermath of the nuclear bombing
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
. Her initial reaction was horror. She could not see how she could compose anything to address the event. Finally she found a picture of a young woman, emerging from an underground shelter
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
with a faint smile on her face. Akiyoshi said that upon seeing this picture, she understood the message: hope. With that message in mind, she composed the three-part suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
Hiroshima: Rising From the Abyss. The piece was premiered in Hiroshima on August 6, 2001, the 56th anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of the Hiroshima bombing. The Hiroshima suite was featured on a 2002 CD release bearing the same title, Hiroshima - Rising From The Abyss
Hiroshima - Rising From The Abyss
The jazz big band album Hiroshima - Rising From The Abyss is the eighth audio recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. It was released in 2001 by Video Arts Music in Japan and True Life in the USA...
.
Discography
Since her debut recording for Norgran Records in 1954, Akiyoshi has recorded continuously – almost exclusively as a leader of small jazz combos and of her big bands – averaging one studio album release per year for well over 50 years. She has also recorded several live albums in solo, small combo and big band settings, including three big band concert videos. Akiyoshi has released multiple albums for VictorVictor Entertainment
is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...
/ BMG, Nippon Columbia
Columbia Music Entertainment
is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as . It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK Columbia trademarks in 1931. The company changed its name to Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. in 1946. It used the Nippon Columbia name until...
, Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
, Discomate, Nippon Crown
Nippon Crown
is a Japanese record label originally established as Crown Records on 6 September 1963. It is a spin-off of Nippon Columbia and is currently owned by karaoke maker Daiichikosho.-Artists:Artists signed to Nippon Crown Music include:* Hanaboy* Kimeru* Metis...
and other labels in Japan and for Norgran / Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
, RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/ Sony
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
, Concord
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
and her own Ascent label in the US. All of her big band recordings and nearly all of her other early works have been re-issued on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s over the years.
Awards and honors
- 2007 NEA Jazz MasterNEA Jazz MastersThe National Endowment for the Arts , every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians...
- Down BeatDown BeatDown Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine Critic's Poll winner:
- Down Beat magazine Reader's Poll winner:
- Big Band: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
- Arranger: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1995
- Composer: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986
- Grammy award nominations:
- Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band: 1976 (Long Yellow RoadLong Yellow Road, Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big BandLong Yellow Road is the second recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album was nominated for a 1976 Grammy award in the category, "Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band" and was named "Jazz album of the year" by Stereo Review magazine.All tracks from this album are also...
), 1977 (Road TimeRoad Time, Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big BandRoad Time was the first live concert recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The recording was made at three concerts in Tōkyō and Ōsaka, during a 1976 Japan tour and the double album received a 1977 Grammy nomination in the "Best Jazz Performance - Big Band" category.-Track...
), 1978 (Insights), 1979 (KogunKogunKogun is the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was released in Japan by Victor in 1974 and received the Swing Journal Silver Disk prize for that year...
), 1980 (FarewellFarewell (Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big Band)Farewell is the eighth studio recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album received a 1980 Grammy award nomination for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band."- Track listing :LP side A# "After Mr...
), 1981 (Tanuki's Night OutFrom Toshiko With LoveFrom Toshiko With Love is the twelfth recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band . It was released in Japan by Victor Records and in the U.S. by Jazz America Marketing – not to be confused with the 2002 Lew Tabackin Trio recording of the same name ...
), 1984 (Ten Gallon ShuffleTen Gallon ShuffleTen Gallon Shuffle is the first recording released by the New York-based Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin...
), 1985 (March of the TadpolesMarch of the TadpolesMarch of the Tadpoles was the fifth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album was released in Japan in 1977 by Japan Victor Records and much later in the USA on the Ascent Records label...
), 1992 (Carnegie Hall ConcertCarnegie Hall Concert (Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra)Carnegie Hall Concert is the third recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. The album received a 1992 Grammy award nomination in the category "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance."-Track listing:...
), 1994 (Desert Lady / FantasyDesert Lady / FantasyDesert Lady / Fantasy is the fourth recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. Not to be confused with the 1989 Lew Tabackin Concord Records release, Desert Lady...
). - Best Arrangement on an Instrumental: 1981 (for "A Bit Byas'd"From Toshiko With LoveFrom Toshiko With Love is the twelfth recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band . It was released in Japan by Victor Records and in the U.S. by Jazz America Marketing – not to be confused with the 2002 Lew Tabackin Trio recording of the same name ...
), 1983 (for "Remembering Bud"European MemoirsEuropean Memoirs is the tenth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. Akiyoshi was nominated for a 1983 Grammy award in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category for the arrangement of "Remembering Bud" on this album.This would be the final recording of the Los...
), 1985 (for "March of the TadpolesMarch of the TadpolesMarch of the Tadpoles was the fifth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album was released in Japan in 1977 by Japan Victor Records and much later in the USA on the Ascent Records label...
"), 1994 (for "Bebop"Desert Lady / FantasyDesert Lady / Fantasy is the fourth recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. Not to be confused with the 1989 Lew Tabackin Concord Records release, Desert Lady...
).
- Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band: 1976 (Long Yellow Road
- Stereo ReviewStereo ReviewStereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles...
magazine (USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
)- Jazz Album of the Year: 1976 (Long Yellow RoadLong Yellow Road, Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big BandLong Yellow Road is the second recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album was nominated for a 1976 Grammy award in the category, "Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band" and was named "Jazz album of the year" by Stereo Review magazine.All tracks from this album are also...
)
- Jazz Album of the Year: 1976 (Long Yellow Road
- Swing Journal (Japanese jazz magazine) awards:
- Gold Disk: 1976 (Insights), Silver Disk: 1974 (KogunKogunKogun is the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was released in Japan by Victor in 1974 and received the Swing Journal Silver Disk prize for that year...
), 1979 (Salted Gingko NutsSalted Gingko Nutsis the sixth studio album released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It is also known by the Japanese title, SHIO GIN NAN...
), 1996 (Four Seasons of Morita VillageFour Seasons of Morita VillageFour Seasons of Morita Village is the fifth album recorded by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. It was released in 1996 and won the Swing Journal Silver Disk Award for that year. The central "Four Seasons of Morita Village Suite" was commissioned by Morita Village in...
), "Special Award": 2006 (50th Anniversary Concert in Japan50th Anniversary Concert in Japan50th Anniversary Concert in Japan is a live concert album recorded by jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and released in Japan on the T-toc Record label...
)
- Gold Disk: 1976 (Insights), Silver Disk: 1974 (Kogun
External links
- Kendor Music.com, Toshiko Akiyoshi biography and list of publications (charts)
- The Berkeley Agency, Toshiko Akiyoshi biography, audio, video, etc.
- USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Endowment for the Arts, 2007 NEA Jazz Master Profile - Toshiko Akiyoshi. Includes a bio, links to a written interview and audio files of Akiyoshi speaking about: ...forming a Big Band; ...Teddy Wilson; ...Bud Powell; ...Jazz in the 50s. - Jazzwiki.it Toshiko Akiyoshi