Chihiro Yamanaka

Chihiro Yamanaka

Japanese- born, New York City-based pianist Chihiro Yamanaka is one of her native country’s most popular. She has recorded twenty albums principally for the Verve/Universal label, many of which have featured US heavyweights such as bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts with one reviewer commenting that "Yamanaka is a fierce talent with robust chops, plenty of soul, and a seemingly endless imagination for the musical possibilities of the piano trio". On top of virtuosic, light-speed chops, Yamanaka has an irresistible swing to her playing; of one performance American publication Jazz Times likened her to “Mulgrew Miller on classically trained steroids… right and left, jaws were dropping”. Highly recommended for anyone interested in straight-ahead jazz.

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