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Akira Tana | |
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| Born | March 14, 1952 San Jose, California, United States |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Labels | Sons of Sound |
Akira Tana (March 14, 1952) is an American jazz drummer.
Tana grew up in Palo Alto, graduating from Gunn High School in 1970. [1] Tana then obtained a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in the social sciences, playing gigs on the side, then enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music. There he performed in both classical and jazz idioms, playing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and student ensembles as well as with musicians such as Helen Humes, Milt Jackson, Sonny Rollins, George Russell, and Sonny Stitt.
Tana recorded frequently as a sideman in the 1980s, and began releasing albums as a leader in the 1990s. He formed a group, Tana Reid, with Rufus Reid, and added Kei Akagi on occasion to form the Asian-American Jazz Trio. Tana's performing and recording associations include Charles Aznavour, Ran Blake, Ray Bryant, Al Cohn, Chris Connor, Art Farmer, Carl Fontana, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Jim Hall, Jimmy Heath, Major Holley, Lena Horne, J.J. Johnson, Warne Marsh, Tete Montoliu, James Moody, Spike Robinson, Jimmy Rowles, Zoot Sims, Cedar Walton, and Frank Wess.
With Rufus Reid
With Masaru Koga, Saki Kono, Art Hirahara and Ken Okada
With James Moody
With Zoot Sims
With others
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