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Akiko


Tokyo born Akiko (Japanese: あきこ) started playing piano at age of 4. She started to listen to rock / punk music, when she was a junior high school student, & then began to take her interest in various kinds of music, including 70s disco music, 60s oldies, 50s rock + country and western. Above all those music, she was especially inspired by old black music like jive, jump blues & doo wop. At age of 18, she happened to listen to Sarah Vaughan & Ella Fitzgerald - thus, discovering jazz. Afterward, she started to sing as a professional at Jazz Club in Tokyo, when she was a university student. In 2001, Akiko signed with Universal Jazz. After she had gained highest praises at International Jazz Meeting in New York, she recorded her debut album in Paris. Legendary French Producer, Henri Renaud, produced this album. Her debut album Girl Talk was selected as Swing Journal's Gold Disc (Seal of Approval) and ranked at 1 of Jazz Chart in Original Confidence (Japanese Bill Board). Right after the debut, akiko made success with her debut concerts in 4 major cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka). And in October, she performed at Blue Note Tokyo with her trio. As the result of these aggressive activities, she won New Star Award of 2001, Swing Journal Jazz Disc Award. In 2002, Akiko released her 2nd album Hip Pop Bop which features 2 songs produced by UK's pop unit, Swing Out Sister. The album also ranked at 1 of Jazz Chart in Original Confidence. In summer, she appeared with h...

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