| Sketches of Japan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 12, 13 January 1998 and 8 February 1999 (New York) 17 November 1998 (Tokyo) | |||
| Studio | Studio A, Avatar Studios, New York City CRS Recording Studio No. 1, Tokyo | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 49:32 | |||
| Label | Nippon Crown | |||
| Toshiko Akiyoshi chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Sketches of Japan is an album by jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. It was released in 1999 by Nippon Crown Records.
The album was recorded over three sessions: at Studio A, Avatar Studios, New York City on January 12–13 and February 8, 1999; and at CRS Recording Studio No. 1, Tokyo on November 17, 1998. [2] Most of the music is played by a trio, and five of the seven tracks were written by Akiyoshi. [1]
Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese–American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader.
Kogun is the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was released in Japan by Victor in 1974 and received the Swing Journal Silver Disk prize for that year. It was later released on RCA Victor in the USA and elsewhere and received a 1979 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band.
Insights is the fourth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band and was voted "Jazz Album of the Year" in the 1978 Down Beat magazine critic's poll. It received the Swing Journal magazine 1976 Gold Disk prize in Japan and was nominated for a 1978 Grammy award in the USA for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band.
March of the Tadpoles was the fifth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album was released in Japan in 1977 by Baystate. The album received two 1985 Grammy award nominations – for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band" and for "Best Arrangement on an Instrumental".
Four Seasons of Morita Village is the fifth album recorded by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. It was released in 1996 and won the Swing Journal Silver Disk Award for that year. The central "Four Seasons of Morita Village Suite" was commissioned by Morita Village in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. This recording is not to be confused with the 1990 Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio recording, Four Seasons.
The jazz big band album Hiroshima - Rising From The Abyss is the eighth audio recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. It was released in 2001 by Video Arts Music in Japan and True Life in the USA. Tracks 2-7 form the "Hiroshima - Rising From The Abyss" Suite.
Toshiko's Piano is the debut recording of jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. It was recorded in Japan in 1953 with guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown and drummer J.C. Heard, who were known at the time for their work as pianist Oscar Peterson's rhythm section for Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. The album was released as a 10 inch LP album on Norman Granz's Norgran Record label. Later 12 inch LP and (Japanese) CD re-issues also include all 4 Akiyoshi tracks from 1957's Verve Records recording, Toshiko and Leon Sash at Newport. The cover artwork is by David Stone Martin.
Toshiko at Mocambo was recorded by jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi at the Mocambo club in Yokohama, Japan, in the summer of 1954. All four tracks from this recording as well as additional tracks from the same all-night live session with and without Akiyoshi were released on the 3 CD Rockwell – Polydor / Universal album, The Complete Historic Mocambo Session '54 – including, reportedly, a performance of "It's Only a Paper Moon" with Akiyoshi attempting to fill in on bass.
Toshiko – Her Trio, Her Quartet is a jazz album recorded by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi in New York, in 1956, and released on the Storyville record label. The album cover artwork is taken from Joan Miró's "Black and Red" series.
Toshiko and Leon Sash at Newport is a live album recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 and released on the Verve record label. All 4 Toshiko Akiyoshi tracks are also included on some later re-issues of the Norgran (Verve) recording Toshiko's Piano / Amazing Toshiko Akiyoshi.
The jazz album Toshiko Meets Her Old Pals was recorded by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi in Tokyo in March 1961 and released by King Records in Japan. All tracks from this album as well as 1961's Long Yellow Road (Trio) were later combined on a single album released by King Jazz as 1961 - Toshiko Akiyoshi, a History of King Jazz Recordings.
Long Yellow Road and the nearly identical release, Tosiko Akiyosi Recital [sic] is a jazz trio recording made by the pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi in Tokyo in February 1961.
1961 – Toshiko Akiyoshi is a compilation of previous Toshiko Akiyoshi recordings from 1961. All 5 tracks from the Asahi Sonorama releases, Long Yellow Road as well as all 6 tracks from the King Records release Toshiko Meets Her Old Pals are contained on this album. All of these tracks, along with those of many other artists, are also included on the 12-CD box set, A History of King Jazz Recordings.
Remembering Bud: Cleopatra's Dream is a jazz trio album recorded by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1990 as a tribute to jazz pianist Bud Powell and released on the Nippon Crown record label in Japan and on the Evidence label in the USA.
Yes, I Have No 4 Beat Today - Toshiko Akiyoshi with Brazilian Friends is a jazz album recorded by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1995 and released by Nippon Crown Records.
Time Stream: Toshiko Plays Toshiko is a small jazz combo album by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi playing her own compositions. It was recorded in 1996 and released by Nippon Crown Records. This recording is not to be confused with the 1984 Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio recording, Time Stream or the 1979 Toshiko Akiyoshi Quartet (Discomate) recording, Toshiko Plays Toshiko.
Hope is a jazz album by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. It was recorded by Nippon Crown Records in December, 2005 and released in 2006.
Since her debut recording for Norgran Records in 1954, jazz pianist, composer, arranger and big band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi has recorded continually – almost exclusively as a leader of small jazz combos and of her big bands – averaging one studio album release per year for well over 50 years. She has also recorded several live albums in solo, small combo and big band settings, including three big band concert videos. Akiyoshi has released multiple albums for Victor / BMG, Nippon Columbia, Toshiba, Discomate, Nippon Crown and other labels in Japan and for Norgran / Verve, RCA, Columbia / Sony, Concord and her own Ascent label in the US. All of her big band recordings and nearly all of her other early works have been re-issued on CDs over the years.
Toshiko Akiyoshi Plays Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" is a 2016 recording by jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi.
Tenor Gladness, is an album by saxophonists Lew Tabackin and Warne Marsh recorded in 1976 and originally released on the Japanese Disco Mate label before being released in the U. S. on Inner City Records.
 | This 1990s jazz album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |