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 or Joni Michelle.” – Jon Pareles, NY TIMES

“A pianist with an unmistakable voice, a love of synthesizers and an ear for pop melodies, Yano is one of the most celebrated Japanese musicians of her generation.” Anton Spice, The Guardian

Started playing the piano in early childhood, Akiko made her solo debut in 1976 with “JAPANESE GIRL” which she recorded in LA with Lowell George and other members of Little Feat.  With its creative sound that fused Japanese scales, folk songs, instruments with the pop, rock, jazz and contemporary music, it had a huge impact on the music scene at the time and Akikograbbed the music fans’ attentioninstantaneously, as it was said “Here comes a genius girl”.   In 1979-1980, Akiko accompanied Yellow Magic Orchestra a.k.a. YMO (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono & Yukihiro Takahashi)on two world tours as a support member.  Since then, she has been working with a wide range of musicians from jazz/rock to classical music, such as Pat Metheny, Thomas Dolby, The Chieftains, Toninho Horta, and Marc Ribot, to name a few.  She recorded and toured with Anthony Jackson (b) and Cliff Almond (drs) as a trio.  The duo with the electronica prodigy, late Rei Harakami and the piano duo with Hiromi showed us her free, unique, and highly skilled artistry.  The most recent achievement is the piano duet album with Hiromi “Step Into Paradise – LIVE IN TOKYO-“ won the 39th Japan Gold Disc Award 2024.

Also, Yano has composed the music and contributed as a voiceover actor for Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films.

Akiko Yano Trio featuring Will Lee (b) and Chris Parker (drs)

Akiko is a resident of New York City since 1990.   She’s been working with her long time musicians/friends in NYC, Wil Lee (b) (The Fab Faux, Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous band, The Brecker Brothers and more) and  Chris Parker (drs) (Chris Parker Trio, Stuff,  The Brecker Brothers and more) since the 70’s.  Over a decade ago, the golden triostarted performing regularly in NYC and touring Japan.  A trinity of Will Lee who is known for his collaborations with David Sanborn, Steely Dan, and Chris Parker who is known for his collaborations with the original Brecker Brothers, Bob Dylan, Donald Fagen, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, and more, as well as an original member of the legendary group “Stuff”,  performs a wide range of repertoire from originals and covers, which is full of fun and joy of music.

@willlee, @unclewilllee

Chrisparkerdrums.com, #Chris Parker Drummer

Currently,  Akiko releases her records on SpeedstarRecords in Japan.