Pianist Yoko Miwa And Her Trio Return To Scullers Jazz Club In October

Acclaimed Japanese-born pianist Yoko Miwa takes the stage in a return performance on Friday, October 4 at Scullers Jazz Club, DoubleTree Suites, 400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston. Joining Miwa will be bassist Brad Barrett and drummer Scott Goulding. 7 p.m. Tickets $35-$110. Information at scullersjazz.com.

Miwa's musicianship evokes the harmonic finesse and rhythmic brilliance of key influences like Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner and Oscar Peterson. Her expansive, versatile writing presents both a remarkable ear for melody and an earthy, intuitive feel for groove. As a bandleader, Miwa heads one of the finest jazz trios playing today. In his 4-star DownBeat review of Miwa's 2019 release Keep Talkin', Carlo Wolff noted “the blend of intimacy and power this unusually gifted trio can muster.”

The trio's most recent release is 2021's acclaimed Songs of Joy (February 12, 2021 on Ubuntu Music). It features Miwa's longstanding trio with bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding, along with a guest appearance by bassist Brad Barrett. The album combines songs that have provided solace and inspiration to Miwa with five original pieces composed as a means of escape from the lockdown routine.

Internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Yoko Miwa is one of the most powerful and compelling performers on the scene today. Her trio, with its remarkable telepathy and infectious energy, has brought audiences to their feet worldwide. Yoko was named a Rising Star Pianist in the 2022, 2023, and 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll. The Yoko Miwa Trio's 2021 release Songs of Joy received wide acclaim and reached #1 on national jazz radio charts and was voted a best jazz album of 2021 in the DownBeat 86th Annual Readers Poll. The album enjoyed seven weeks in the top 10 on Jazz Week's charts, much like its predecessor, Miwa's 2017 release Pathways, which also made Jazz Week's top 10 for several weeks. In a 2017 feature article on Miwa, DownBeat noted her “impressive technique and a tuneful lyricism that combines an Oscar Peterson-ish hard swing with Bill Evans-like introspection.”

For more than a decade Miwa's trio has played regularly at major jazz clubs in their home city of Boston, as well as venues around the world. A favorite of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Miwa was chosen to play on “Marian McPartland & Friends,” part of the Coca-Cola Generations in Jazz Festival. She was also chosen to perform at Lincoln Center's annual Jazz and Leadership Workshop for The National Urban League's Youth Summit. Miwa also appears regularly at New York's famed Blue Note Jazz Club as well as Birdland and has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of jazz greats including Sheila Jordan, Slide Hampton, Arturo Sandoval, George Garzone, Jazzmeia Horn, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Washington, Kevin Mahogany, John Lockwood, Dominique Eade, Calvin Keys, and Johnathan Blake. In 2018 she performed on the main stage at the Atlanta Jazz Festival and the Litchfield Jazz Festival, where her trio drew the largest audience of any act. She is a Yamaha Pianos Artist, JVC Victor Entertainment and Ubuntu Music recording artist, 10X nominated and 2019 Winner in the Boston Music Awards, and Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll winner.

A native of Kobe, Japan, Miwa didn't pursue an interest in jazz until she met and studied with Minoru Ozone, a popular television organist and nightclub owner who is the father of pianist Makoto Ozone. Miwa worked at Ozone's club and as an accompanist and piano instructor at his music school until the great Kobe earthquake of 1995 destroyed both facilities. Then, while continuing to take private lessons from Minoru Ozone, she also pursued musical studies at the Koyo Conservatory in Kobe. From there she won first prize in a scholarship competition to attend Berklee. Miwa quickly began playing with a host of talented students and teachers, and she formed a strong bond with vocal great Kevin Mahogany, who chose the pianist to serve as accompanist in his classes and on his gigs.

Miwa has released nine highly acclaimed CDs: In the Mist of Time (Tokuma, 2000); Fadeless Flower (Polystar, 2002); Canopy of Stars (Polystar, 2004); The Day We Said Goodbye, recorded live at the studios of WGBH-FM (Sunshine Digital, 2006); Live at Scullers (Jazz Cat Amnesty, 2011); Act Naturally (JVC Victor Entertainment, 2012), Pathways (2017), Keep Talkin' (2019), and Songs of Joy (Ubuntu Music, 2021).

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