Akiko Tsuruga

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Akiko Tsuruga ( Japanese 敦 賀 明子 , Tsuruga Akiko ; * in Amagasaki , Hyōgo Prefecture ) is a Japanese soul-jazz musician on the piano and Hammond organ .

Live and act

Akiko Tsuruga became known while working on the New York City jazz scene in the early 2000s , having recently graduated from Osaka Music School. She played in Japan a. a. with Roy Hargrove , Jeff "Tain" Watts and Grady Tate , who also contributed to their 2004 debut album, Harlem Dreams . Stylistically, she is based on the hardbop and soul jazz organists of the 1960s, such as Charles Earland , Jack McDuff , Jimmy McGriff or Jimmy Smith . In New York in the 2010s she worked with a trio made up of Eric Johnson (guitar) and Vincent Ector (drums), with whom she a. a. performed in jazz clubs like Dizzy's and the Blue Note . In 2019 she was a member of Ralph Lalama's trio Bop-Juice (with Clifford Barbaro ). At the Down Beat Critics Poll 2020 she was the winner as a rising star in the organ category.

Discographic notes

  • Harlem Dreams (M&I, 2004) with Frank Wess and Grady Tate
  • Sweet and Funky (18th & Vine, 2007)
  • Oriental Express (18th & Vine, 2008)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Akiko Tsuruga: Akiko - Jazz organist . Akiko Tsuruga, archived from the original on October 11, 2015 ; accessed on May 31, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
  2. ↑ Information from National Public Radio
  3. ^ Review of Scott Yanow's Sweet and Funky album at Allmusic . Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  4. ↑ Akiko Tsuruga Biography . All About Jazz , 2012, archived from the original on March 6, 2012 ; accessed on May 31, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
personal data
SURNAME Tsuruga, Akiko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 敦 賀明子 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Amagasaki , Hyogo Prefecture