Monday, February 18, 2008

Toshiko Akiyoshi
This is a Japanese name; the family name is Akiyoshi.
Toshiko Akiyoshi (秋吉 敏子 or 穐吉 敏子 Akiyoshi Toshiko, born December 12, 1929) is a jazz pianist, composer/arranger and bandleader. She is among the first successful female instrumentalists in jazz. She is recognized as a major figure in jazz composition, and her music is studied at several universities. 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, which is currently in its third Japanese printing. Akiyoshi was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2007 by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts.

Toshiko Akiyoshi Discography
see also Toshiko Akiyoshi discography#Awards

2007 NEA Jazz Master (link)
Down Beat magazine Critic's Poll winner:

  • Jazz Album of the Year: 1978 (Insights)
    Big Band: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983
    Arranger: 1979, 1982, 1990, 1995, 1996
    Composer: 1981, 1982
    Grammy award nominations (ref: LA Times):

    • Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1994
      Best Arrangement on an Instrumental: 1981, 1983, 1985, 1994
      Stereo Review magazine (US)

      • Jazz Album of the Year: 1976 (Long Yellow Road)
        Swing Journal (Japanese jazz magazine) awards:

        • Gold Disk: 1976 (Insights), Silver Disk: 1974 (Kogun), 1979 (Salted Gingko Nuts), 1996 (Four Seasons of Morita Village), "Special Award": 2006 (50th Anniversary Concert in Japan)

No comments: