Celebrating the Organ and Jazz

From: Wynne Racine

Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 3:37 PM

To: Wynne Racine

Subject: KUVO profile– Akiko Tsuruga

Thank you for participating in our Jazz Appreciation Month Listener Poll…today we celebrate the organ. Be sure to tune in to hear all of your favorites, including the remarkable Akiko Tsuruga.

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Akiko Tsuruga was born a world away from American jazz, in Osaka, Japan, but never deviated from her love of the organ, which began to blossom at age 3. By the time she graduated from the Osaka School of Music, she was a Hammond B-3 organ aficionado, playing with local jazz groups and taking in as many performances as possible when American jazz artists came to Osaka. One of them was soul-jazz drummer Grady Tate, who played with her on a Japanese album and then convinced her to move to New York. She arrived in Manhattan in 2001 and has lived there ever since. One of her first gigs was playing at Showman’s Jazz Club in Harlem.

Another mentor who had a profound influence on her was American organ virtuoso Dr. Lonnie Smith, as well as saxophone great Lou Donaldson, who put her in his quartet and took her touring throughout Europe. She eventually led her own band and became a sought-after sideman. By all accounts, this energetic young musician was quickly a regular in the New York jazz scene, playing with Frank Wess, Jimmy Cobb and Jeff Hamilton. She played at clubs and festivals, the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and was a regular at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center. Her touring travels took her everywhere from Vail to Jakarta and the Blue Note in both Tokyo and New York. And she is still going strong, developing a distinctive cross-cultural style that has been described by drummer Jeff Hamilton as “intense, positive, energetic and joyous.”

Tsuruga has released five albums in Japan and four in the U.S. – all four have ranked in the top 20, some in the top 10, of the American national jazz radio charts. Tsuruga mentor Dr. Lonnie Smith has watched with pride and describes her distinct style and unique music this way:  “Akiko’s playing is like watching a flower blooming, a bird spreading her wings in the music world. Akiko is here to stay, making Japan proud after just a few short years in the U.S.A.”