Akiko Yano: A Legendary Singer-Songwriter and Pianist

Singer-songwriter and pianist

Akiko Yano will be performing solo concerts in San Francisco on Thursday, October 10th and in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 12th. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to meet everyone in California. I’ll be performing a selection that includes songs that are popular with everyone and songs from my album. It’ll be a surprise as to what songs will come. I’m sure you’ll be glad to have had the chance to hear them live. Please come and see them.”

She made her solo debut in 1976 with the album “JAPANESE GIRL”. Since then, she has performed with Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), participated in sessions and recordings. She has been active in a wide range of fields, performing with artists of various genres such as Sayuri Ishikawa, Hiromi Uehara, and YUKI, in addition to musical units such as “yanokami” with Ray Harakami, “yamori” with Ryoko Moriyama, and “yano et agatsuma” with Hiromitsu Agatsuma.

She moved to New York in 1990. “The reason I moved to New York was because of family work, but New York is the home of jazz. I love jazz, so I expected I would have many opportunities to come into contact with the music I love, and that I would find more fellow musicians to share my music with, and that’s exactly what happened. The biggest thing about living in New York was that it changed my way of thinking. There are an endless number of musicians in America, so it’s important to clearly present the type of music you’re making.”

Last year, she released an album with astronaut Noguchi Soichi, “I Want to See You, So Much.” How did this unusual collaboration come about? “A mutual friend introduced us, and a conversation between Noguchi and me was published as a book. In connection with this, I met Noguchi in Houston before he departed on his third space flight, and I asked him, ‘Write down whatever comes to your mind in space. I’ll write a song for you and sing it,’ and he said, ‘That sounds interesting.’ When I read it, I felt like I went to space with him, as he expressed his feelings for his family and the beauty of the Earth that he saw.”

She never loses her excitement about creating new works and her pure heart for music. “When you create music, there should be no lies or malice in it. I keep that in mind, and I want the people who listen to it to feel happy. That’s the main reason why I continue making music.”

Los Angeles Performance
Date and time: Saturday, October 12th, 8:30pm start
Venue: JACCC Aratani Theater, Los Angeles
Buy tickets: jaccc.org
$35～$50　※All seats reserved/assigned.
Inquiries: 213-628-2725