Toshiko Akiyoshi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Toshiko Akiyoshi
Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1978
Background information
Birth name	Toshiko Akiyoshi (穐吉 敏子, Akiyoshi Toshiko)
Also known as	"Toshiko", Toshiko Mariano, 秋吉 敏子
Born	(1929-12-12) 12 December 1929 (age 95) Liaoyang, Manchuria, China
Origin	Beppu, Japan
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician composer arranger
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1946–present
Labels	Norgran, Columbia, Victor, RCA Victor, Discomate, Inner City, Nippon Crown
Education	Berklee College of Music
Signature

Toshiko Akiyoshi (秋吉敏子 or 穐吉敏子, Akiyoshi Toshiko, born 12 December 1929) is an American jazz pianist. She is also a talented composer, arranger, and bandleader.

Toshiko Akiyoshi has been nominated for Grammy Awards fourteen times. She was the first woman to win awards for Best Arranger and Composer from Down Beat magazine. In 1984, a movie about her life, Jazz Is My Native Language, was released. She wrote her own story, Life with Jazz, in 1996. In 2007, she was honored as an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts.

Toshiko Akiyoshi's Early Life and Music Journey

Toshiko Akiyoshi was born in Liaoyang, Manchuria. Her family was Japanese, and she was the youngest of four sisters. After World War II in 1945, her family lost their home. They moved back to Japan and settled in Beppu.

A local record collector introduced her to jazz music. He played a song called "Sweet Lorraine" by Teddy Wilson. Toshiko loved the sound right away. She then started to learn and play jazz herself.

How Toshiko Was Discovered

In 1953, the famous pianist Oscar Peterson was touring Japan. He found Toshiko playing in a club in Ginza. Peterson was very impressed by her skills. He convinced a record producer named Norman Granz to record her music.

Later in 1953, Toshiko recorded her first album. She played with Peterson's band members: Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and J. C. Heard on drums. The album was called Toshiko's Piano in the U.S. and Amazing Toshiko Akiyoshi in Japan.

Studying Jazz in America

Toshiko wanted to learn more about jazz. In 1955, she wrote a letter to Lawrence Berk, who ran the Berklee School of Music in Boston. She asked for a chance to study there. After a year of talks with officials, Berk got permission for her to join. He gave her a full scholarship and a plane ticket to Boston.

In January 1956, Toshiko became the first Japanese student at Berklee. She even appeared on a TV show called What's My Line? in March 1956. Years later, in 1998, Berklee gave her an honorary doctorate degree in music.

Toshiko faced some challenges when she came to America. Some people saw her as unusual because she was a Japanese woman playing jazz. She said that some of her early success was because she was "strange" and new. Even though she was born in Manchuria, Toshiko sees herself as Japanese.

Forming Bands and Making Music

Toshiko Akiyoshi married saxophonist Charlie Mariano in 1959. They had a daughter named Michiru. Toshiko and Charlie formed several bands together. They later divorced in 1967.

In the same year, she met another saxophonist, Lew Tabackin. They married in 1969. In 1972, Toshiko, Lew, and Michiru moved to Los Angeles.

The Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band

In March 1973, Toshiko and Lew started a 16-person big band. It was made up of professional studio musicians. Toshiko wrote and arranged all the music for the band. Lew was the main soloist, playing tenor saxophone and flute.

Their first album, Kogun, was recorded in 1974. The title means "one-man army." It was inspired by a story of a Japanese soldier who was lost for 30 years. He thought World War II was still happening and stayed loyal to the Emperor. Kogun became very popular in Japan, and the band started to get great reviews.

In 1982, Toshiko and Lew moved to New York City. There, they formed the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. Toshiko often toured with smaller groups to earn money for her big band. Many of her big band albums were released only in Japan.

The End of the Big Band Era

On December 29, 2003, her big band played its last concert. It was at Birdland in New York City. The band had played there regularly for over seven years. Toshiko explained that she stopped the band because it was hard to get recording deals in the U.S. for big band music.

She also wanted to focus more on her piano playing. She felt that composing and arranging for the big band had taken her away from playing solo piano, which she loved most. On March 24, 2004, Warner Japan released the band's final recording. It was called Last Live in Blue Note Tokyo.

Toshiko Akiyoshi's Unique Music Style

Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band

Toshiko Akiyoshi's Japanese background is a big part of her music. It makes her compositions special and different from other jazz artists. After jazz legend Duke Ellington passed away in 1974, a writer named Nat Hentoff said Ellington's music showed his African roots. This inspired Toshiko to explore her own Japanese musical heritage.

She started using Japanese themes, melodies, and even traditional instruments in her jazz. These instruments included the kotsuzumi, kakko, utai, and tsugaru shamisen. However, her music always stayed true to jazz. She was influenced by great jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Bud Powell.

One reviewer of her album Road Time praised her big band music. They said her compositions were so clever that she was among the top jazz composers. They even compared her to famous names like Duke Ellington and Gil Evans.

The Hiroshima Suite

In 1999, a Buddhist priest named Kyudo Nakagawa asked Toshiko to write a piece for his hometown of Hiroshima. He sent her photos of the city after the nuclear bombing. At first, Toshiko was horrified and didn't know how to compose about such a sad event.

Then, she saw a picture of a young woman coming out of a shelter with a faint smile. Toshiko realized the message was about hope. With this idea, she composed a three-part musical piece called Hiroshima: Rising from the Abyss. It was first performed in Hiroshima on August 6, 2001. This was the 56th anniversary of the bombing. The Hiroshima suite was later released on an album in 2002.

Awards and Honors for Toshiko Akiyoshi

• NEA Jazz Master, 2007
• Jazz Album of the Year: Long Yellow Road, Stereo Review, 1976
• Gold Disk: Insights, Swing Journal
• Silver Disk: Kogun, Salted Gingko Nuts, Four Seasons of Morita Village, Swing Journal
• Special Award: (50th Anniversary Concert in Japan), Swing Journal
• Down Beat magazine Readers' Poll winner:
  • Arranger: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1995
  • Big Band: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
  • Composer: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986
• Down Beat magazine Critics' Poll winner:
  • Jazz Album of the Year: 1978 (Insights)
  • Arranger: 1979, 1982, 1990, 1995, 1996
  • Big Band: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983
  • Composer: 1981, 1982
• Grammy Award nominations:
  • Best Jazz Instrumental Performance – Big Band: 1976 (Long Yellow Road), 1977 (Road Time), 1978 (Insights), 1979 (Kogun), 1980 (Farewell), 1981 (Tanuki's Night Out), 1984 (Ten Gallon Shuffle), 1985 (March of the Tadpoles), 1992 (Carnegie Hall Concert), 1994 (Desert Lady / Fantasy).
  • Best Arrangement on an Instrumental: 1981 (for "A Bit Byas'd"), 1983 (for "Remembering Bud"), 1985 (for "March of the Tadpoles"), 1994 (for "Bebop")
• Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, 2004

Discography

See also

In Spanish: Toshiko Akiyoshi para niños