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The famed jazz pianist and bandleader Toshiko
Akiyoshi and her Jazz Orchestra will be giving
their farewell concert at Carnegie Hall on
October 17th. The 30th anniversary performance
will also be the last for Ms. Akiyoshi and her
Jazz Orchestra, which also features her
husband, the tenor saxophonist and flutist Lew
Tabackin. Akiyoshi said, "After thirty years
of orchestral work, I have decided to devote
my full time to playing piano . . . It is my
sincere wish that our swan song concert will
leave (the audience) with some special, and
hopefully, uplifting feeling."
The farewell concert will have several special guests
joining Akiyoshi's band on stage. They include
the celebrated traditional Korean flutist Won
Jang-Hyun and saxophonist Frank Weiss. Jazz
great Billy Taylor will host the special
event. Among the featured pieces will be the
first full-length performance outside of Japan
of Akiyoshi's critically acclaimed composition
Hiroshima-Rising from the Abyss.
The New York Times has called Akiyoshi "the most
articulate conductor in jazz since Duke
Ellington". Over her long and fabled career,
the repeat Grammy Award nominee has become one
of the most well known ensemble leaders in the
jazz world. Akiyoshi was born in China in
1929, and was first exposed to jazz during the
American Occupation of Japan. A classically
trained pianist, Akiyoshi became a fixture in
the growing Tokyo jazz scene during the 1950s.
She later came to the US to study and perform.
Her collaboration with giants like Charles
Mingus and others, cemented her reputation as
one of the greatest innovators in jazz and big
band music. Over the years many of Akiyoshi's
compositions have reflected upon her
experience of being Japanese. She once said
"it was a positive aspect in that I could draw
something from my own culture and perhaps
return to the jazz tradition something that
might make it a little bit richer than
before."
For more information on the concert, and to purchase
tickets, please visit
www.carnegiehall.org, or
call (212) 247-7800. |
