Billboard Chart-Topping Jazz Artist Keiko Matsui Returns To The McCallum

The McCallum Theatre and Jim "FITZ" Fitzgerald co-present Keiko Matsui on Saturday, February 23, at 8:00pm as part of the Fitz's Jazz Café at the McCallum series. A producer, contemporary jazz pianist and composer, Keiko Matsui's career spans three decades, over twenty CDs, and numerous continents receiving international acclaim. Her music transcends geographic, generational, and musical boundaries and her unique melting pot of musical influences have garnered her a devout international following. "Music has no borders and it creates a oneness among people," confides Matsui. "There have been many occasions when I have felt like music saved me. There is a connection between my fans and I, and together in my music we are sharing harmony."

Keiko Matsui is, in the words of Duke Ellington, "beyond category." Keiko (pronounced kay-koe, meaning "happy, celebratory child" in Japanese) was the first Japanese musician to top theBillboard Contemporary Jazz Charts.

Keiko made her U.S. recording debut in 1987 with A Drop of Water, followed by Under Northern Lights (1989). Her subsequent albums include No Borders (1990), Night Waltz (1991), Cherry Blossom (1992), Doll (1994), Sapphire (1995), and Dream Walk (1996), which remained on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart for over 15 months. She released Full Moon and the Shrine in 1998, accompanied by the PBS-TV special "Keiko Matsui: Light Above the Trees." In 2000, the special earned Keiko a National Smooth Jazz Award for "Best Long-Form Video Achievement" and she was honored with an award for "Best Female Artist." She claimed the award again in 2001.

Keiko's Deep Blue (2001) topped Billboard's Contemporary Jazz charts for three consecutive weeks; she was the first Japanese artist to achieve this honor. The Ring (2002)with its message of peace, compassion, and humanity was followed by The Piano (2003), featuring reinventions of some of her most loved original works. In 2009, she was asked to put together a Christmas show at the Blue Note club in Tokyo. That same year, she made her sold-out debut at the Blue Note in New York. In 2011, Keiko recorded with pianist Bob James on a four-hand piano project called Altair & Vega. Her Top 5 Billboard Recording The Road (2011)featured Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona and saxophonists Kirk Whalum and Jackiem Joyner, among others. Soul Quest (2013) featured an all-star cast, including producer and drummer Narada Michael Walden,guitarist Chuck Loeb, saxophonist Kirk Whalum and bassist Marcus Miller. Keiko's most recent CD, Journey to the Heart (2016), confirms that she is one of the most dynamic and important voices in instrumental music and assures us that her journey continues.

A humanitarian, Keiko has lent her voice to raise awareness for such causes as The Daniel Pearl Foundation, The United Nations World Food Programme, Be the Match Marrow Registry, and The National Donor Program and Marrow Foundation, among others.

In 1997, she launched a tour dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer, and released a four song CD, A Gift of Hope, that benefitted the Y-Me Breast Cancer Organization. Her music was featured in "Say It, Fight It, Cure It," a Lifetime special profiling courageous women battling breast cancer. In 1999, she performed at "A Golden Moment," a skating concert featuring Olympic figure skaters Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski, Ekaterina Gordeeva, and Katarina Witt,which benefitted the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

In 2004, the title track of Keiko's Wildflower was used to support the United Nations World Food Programme's efforts in Africa. Keiko collaborated with A3M (Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches) in numerous charity concerts. Proceeds from her 2001 mini-CD A Gift of Life went to The National Donor Program and Marrow Foundation in support of A3M.

The 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami left close to 30,000 people dead or missing. Keiko who was in Japan at the time of the earthquake states, "I felt like my life was going to end that day. In the Northern part everything was shaking. Luckily my family was fine but I had family in Sendai who were unreachable for ten days." She has lent her efforts to the continued revitalization and healing of Japan in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima disasters.

In 2013, Keiko participated in the second International Jazz Day, sponsored by UNESCO, celebrated around the globe and held in Istanbul. She performed at the star-studded event that included luminaries Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter Hugh Masekela, George Duke and countless others.

This performance is sponsored by United American Mortgage, Studio Dentistry, CBS Local 2 and CV 104.3.

Tickets for this performance are priced at $75, $65, $45 and $35. Tickets are available at the Theatre's website at www.mccallumtheatre.com or by calling the McCallum Theatre Box Office at (760) 340-2787.

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