Jazz Artist ID Needed

[Umphreak]

• • A stunningly beautiful Asian female jazz pianist. That’s all I have.

I saw her, and her band (caucasion drummer, african-american bass player, older asian male on some type of flute), on BET Jazz last night ~ 10:30PM EST. The parts I saw, no name was shown. I looked on BET Jazz’s website … nothing.

Let me just say, she was unbelievably good. She blew me away. She played a piano solo that almost had me in tears.

I know it’s not a lot to go on, but I NEED to know who this artist is. I’ll recognize her if I see her picture.

Thanks

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

Toshiko Akiyoshi is the only female Asian jazz pianist I know of. I saw her in concert many years ago with Lew Tabackin on tenor sax. But I think she’s older, not necessarily “stunningly beautiful.”

[I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter]

Keiko Matsui?

[E.Thorp]

Junko Onishi?

[Umphreak]

@Joe K

Keiko Matsui?

That’s her! Thanks!

And I’ve found the DVD of her Jazz Channel performance!

Keiko Matsui may have won a few Smooth Jazz Awards, but the Japanese- born, classically influenced keyboardist’s music is not jazz–at least not if your definition of jazz includes swinging, the blues, and improvisation, all of which are in relatively short supply in this nearly 90-minute performance (plus DVD bonus features, including an interview with the artist). Not that it matters, really. Whatever you call the style–“contemporary instrumental” seems as good a term as any–Matsui is one of its more appealing, and certainly most popular, exponents. A capable if not virtuosic player, she and her four-piece band (including a Japanese guitarist who seems to have listened to a lot more Jimi Hendrix than Jim Hall) offer up a generous set of 14 songs, all of them Matsui compositions.