Akiko Yano

Artist Description

"Akiko Yano is a world class songwriter with a clear, gentle, wide-ranging voice. She is also an accomplished, endearing performer who might be a Japanese Carole King, Joni Mitchell or Meredith Monk�." - Jon Pareles in The New York Times



Akiko Yano is one of the most famous people you never heard of. She has recorded with many of the world's great musicians, and has been a major star in Japan since she was 21. Born in Tokyo, and raised in Aomori Japan, Akiko started playing piano at 3, and quit school in her teens, when she ascended to the top ranks of Japan's studio musicians as a pianist and synthesizer player. At 21, she released "Japanese Girl" -- her first CD, largely recorded in L.A. with her fans Lowell George and Little Feat. She began a collaboration with Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), who played on her next recordings, and joined them on their worldwide tours. Akiko expanded her musical collaborations with YMO on her subsequent CDs, and she married YMO's Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1982.

Akiko has continued to collaborate with some of the world's most renowned musicians: Thomas Dolby, Pat Metheny and The Chieftains -- (whose CDs include Akiko's songs and vocals), singing in both Japanese and English. She has also composed the music for the film "My Neighbors the Yamadas" by the famed Studio Ghibli animation studios as well as for Toei's animated feature "Atashin'chi". Akiko has toured Europe extensively, including concerts at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Cafe de la Danse and Cite de la Musique in Paris, and in London where she sold out a week of special concerts at Pizza Express in 2002. In the U.S., she has performed in L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and of course, New York City, where she periodically plays sold-out concerts throughout the year at the famous Joe's pub at the New York Public Theater. Akiko has released 24 original albums to date. (3 released in the U.S.) Also released are two "Best of" compilation albums, of which one is the most recently released collection of selections from her piano solo works, titled "PIYANO AKIKO".