a nonprofit presenter of jazz artistic and education programs

Toshiko Akiyoshi, solo

Saturday, October 28 • 2pm

Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor
  • venue info
  • $30 GA
    • "One of the finest living be-bop pianists." — The New York Times

    Program Notes

    Every music fan craves a chance to see legendary musicians in the most intimate of settings. This afternoon’s SFJAZZ Members-only concert provides just that, presenting a solo recital of renowned big band arranger and pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi at the exquisite Florence Gould Theatre.

    Akiyoshi’s history as a jazz pianist dates back to the late ‘40s in Japan. The postwar era in full swing, young Akiyoshi had no trouble finding piano gigs at the many nightclubs catering to American soldiers. A chance encounter with Oscar Peterson, touring Japan with the famed Jazz at the Philharmonic band, garnered her a record date with Verve Records impresario Norman Granz. Soon after she enrolled as the first-ever Japanese student to study jazz at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where she pursued her nascent interest in composition. Her first marriage to alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano was a creative partnership that yielded a string of quartet recordings in the ‘60s.  Akiyoshi formed her first big band in Los Angeles with her second husband, tenor saxophonist and flutist Lew Tabackin, in the early ‘70s, and then moved cross-country to New York City a decade later, where she’s lived ever since. 

    Though most of her accolades have come via her work as a composer and arranger, solo jazz piano has remained a lifelong passion—one documented on the classic album Toshiko Akiyoshi at Maybeck and on display tonight in this very special Members-only engagement. With a heavy influence of the classic bop style of Bud Powell, her solo playing, like everything else Akiyoshi turns her prodigious skill to, is truly one of a kind.

    Personnel:
    • Toshiko Akiyoshi, piano