Akiyoshi, Toshiko, 1929-

Toshiko Akiyoshi was born on December 12, 1929, in Liaoyang, Manchuria, China.

She is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. In 1952, during a tour of Japan, pianist Oscar Peterson discovered her playing in a club on the Ginza. In 1953, she recorded her first album with Peterson's rhythm section: Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on double bass, and J. C. Heard on drums. The album was released with the title “Toshiko's Piano” in the U.S. and “Amazing Toshiko Akiyoshi” in Japan. In the 1950s, he studied jazz at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. In 1998, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music from Berklee, then known as the Berklee College of Music. Akiyoshi’s Japanese heritage is distinctly present in her music and sets her compositions apart from other jazz musicians. She received many awards, e.g., Jazz Album of the Year: Long Yellow Road, Stereo Review (1976), NEA Jazz Master (2007) and multiple Grammy nominations (1976-1994). Akiyoshi also received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, 2004.