Aki Takase
| Aki Takase | |
|---|---|
Aki Takase in June 2008
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| Background information | |
| Born |
January 26, 1948 Osaka, Japan |
| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Associated acts | Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra |
| Website | www.aki-takase.de |
Aki Takase (高瀬 アキ?) (born January 26, 1948) is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer.
Takase was born in Osaka. Raised in Tokyo, Takase studied music at Toho Gakuen School of Music. Starting in 1978, she performed and recorded in the US. Her collaborators included with Lester Bowie, David Liebman, and John Zorn. Since 1981, she performed repeatedly at the Berlin Jazz Festival in Germany.
For many years, she has been working with her husbandAlexander von Schlippenbach, as well as with Eugene Chadbourne, Han Bennink, Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, Fred Frith and others, and in duets with Maria João, David Murray and Rudi Mahall.
In various projects, Takase has dealt with famous jazz musicians: Duke Ellington (1990), Thelonious Monk (1994), Eric Dolphy (1998), W.C. Handy (2002), Fats Waller (2004), and Ornette Coleman (2006).
In 2002, Takase recorded with writer Yoko Tawada. Takase had read some of Tawada's poems, and, as the writer reported, she "started composing melodies and settings for my texts. When we got together, I read my poems in the same way that I always read them out loud. Aki played, listened carefully to the poems, and started improvising." In later performances, Takase used more unconventional instruments when accompanying Tawada.
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