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.
From Toshiko With Love is the twelfth recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was released in Japan by Victor Records and in the U.S. by Jazz America Marketing – not to be confused with the 2002 Lew Tabackin Trio recording of the same name (Tanuki's Night Out). The album received two Grammy award nominations in 1981 for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band" and "Best Arrangement of an Instrumental Recording".
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.
Live at Newport '77 was the second live recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band and was followed by another release, Live at Newport II recorded on the same day. Both albums were recorded at the 1977 Newport Jazz Festival.
Live at Newport II was the third live recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band and the second release of music from the band's performance at the 1977 Newport Jazz Festival.
European Memoirs is the tenth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. Akiyoshi was nominated for a 1983 Grammy award in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category for the arrangement of "Remembering Bud" on this album. This would be the final recording of the Los Angeles-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band before the principals moved to New York City in 1982 and formed a new big band, the "Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin" that released nine more albums and two live performance videos before disbanding in 2003.
Ten Gallon Shuffle is the first recording released by the New York-based Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. The composition Ten Gallon Shuffle was originally commissioned by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity for the University of Texas Jazz Orchestra.
Monopoly Game is the sixth recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. The three tracks, "Kyoto Paradox", Caribbean Dream" and "Urban Rhapsody" make up the three part "Suite for Koto and Jazz Orchestra" commissioned jointly by the San Francisco Jazz Festival and UCLA. The song "Jazz Club" was commissioned by NHK Radio.
Tribute to Duke Ellington is a big band jazz album recorded in New York in 1999 and is the seventh recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. The first three tracks make up the "Tribute To Duke Ellington Suite" which was composed by Akiyoshi and commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Last Live in Blue Note Tokyo is the ninth recording released by the New York-based Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. Not to be confused with the 1997 Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio release, Live at Blue Note Tokyo '97.
My Elegy is a concert video recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. It was released in Japan in 1984 by LaserDisc Corp. as a LaserVision video disk.
The Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band, Novus Series '70 is a compilation album of songs taken from the band's early RCA releases of 1974~1976.
Eternal Best is a compilation album of songs taken from BMG Japan releases of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band and the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin.
Since her debut recording for Norgran Records in 1954, jazz pianist, composer, arranger and big band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi has recorded continuously – 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.
