Toshiko Akiyoshi

Toshiko Akiyoshi
Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1978
Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1978
Background information
Birth nameToshiko 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 94)
Liaoyang, Manchuria, China
OriginBeppu, Japan
GenresJazz
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • arranger
InstrumentPiano
Years active1946–present
LabelsNorgran, Columbia, Victor, RCA Victor, Discomate, Inner City, Nippon Crown
Member of
Formerly ofToshiko – Mariano Quartet
EducationBerklee College of Music
Signature

Toshiko Akiyoshi (秋吉敏子 or 穐吉敏子, Akiyoshi Toshiko, born 12 December 1929)[1] is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader.[2]

Akiyoshi received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat magazine's annual Readers' Poll. In 1984, she was the subject of the documentary 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.[3][4]

  1. ^ Robinson, J. Bradford; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "Akiyoshi, Toshiko". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Vol. 1 (2 ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 22. ISBN 1561592846.
  2. ^ Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 5. ISBN 0-141-00646-3.
  3. ^ "In Conversation with Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin". www.jazz.com. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference NEAJM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).