Junko Onishi (musician)

Junko Onishi

Birth name| Ōnishi Junko
Born|  (1967-04-16) April 16, 1967 (age 57)
Kyoto, Japan
Genres| Jazz
Occupation(s)| Musician, composer, producer
Instrument| Piano
Years active| 1989–present
Labels|

* Somethin' Else (EMI Music Japan, Blue Note)
* Verve (Universal)
* Taboo (Sony Music)

Website| Official website

Musical artist

Junko Onishi (大西 順子, Ōnishi Junko, born April 16, 1967 in Kyoto) is a Japanese jazz pianist; she plays in the post-bop genre.

## Early career

[edit]

After studying at Berklee College of Music, Onishi moved to New York City, where she played with Joe Henderson, Betty Carter, Kenny Garrett, and Mingus Dynasty. She has also worked with Jackie McLean, Holly Cole, and Billy Higgins, among others, and recorded eight CDs for Blue Note (Somethin' Else in Japan) as a leader.

In May 1994, Junko Onishi played for a week at the Village Vanguard, with Wynton Marsalis's sidemen, bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Herlin Riley.[1]

Although she lists Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Ornette Coleman as her primary influences, her playing is also reminiscent of McCoy Tyner and contemporaries such as Kenny Kirkland and Mulgrew Miller.

Onishi appeared in the documentary Blue Note: A Story of Modern Jazz (1997), playing the song "Trinity" ("Quick") from her album Play, Piano, Play.

## Hiatus and later career

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Onishi stopped performing in the late 1990s, having chosen to study and practice. When Jaki Byard, her mentor at that time, died in 1999, she stopped playing completely for two years: "I felt like I lost everything; I felt like I didn't have any more mentors".[2] She had to redevelop her technique when she decided to return, and started going to a gym to help her cope with the physical demands of playing.[2]

Blue Note released her trio album, Musical Moments in 2009. Baroque (Verve), with Onishi leading a much larger group, followed a year later.[2]

## Discography

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### Albums as leader

[edit]

Year recorded  | Title  | Label  | Notes

|
|
|

1992  | Wow | Somethin' Else  | Trio, with Tomoyuki Shima (b), Dairiki Hara (d)
1993  | Cruisin' | Somethin' Else
/Blue Note | Trio, with Rodney Whitaker (b), Billy Higgins (d)
1994  | Live at the Village Vanguard | Somethin' Else
/Blue Note | Trio, with Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d).
1994  | Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol II | Somethin' Else
/Blue Note | Trio, with Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d).
1995  | Piano Quintet Suite | Somethin' Else
/Blue Note | Quintet, with Eiichi Hayashi (as), Marcus Belgrave (tp, voc), Rodney Whitaker (b), Tony Rabeson (d)
1996  | Play, Piano, Play | Somethin' Else
/Blue Note | Trio, with Shigeo Aramaki (b), Dairiki Hara (d). In concert
1997  | Self Portrait | Somethin' Else  | Compilation
1998  | Fragile | Somethin' Else
/Blue Note | Onishi also plays keyboards. With Reginald Veal (b), Karriem Riggins, Motohiko Hino, Tamaya Honda (d; separately)
2008-09  | Musical Moments | Somethin' Else
/Blue Note | Trio, with Yousuke Inoue (b), Gean Jackson (d). Bonus track from 2008 is trio, with Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d)
2010  | Baroque | Verve |
2016  | Tea Times | Taboo (Village Records)  | with Terreon Gully, Yunior Terry, Tokuhiro Doi, Kazuhiro Kondo, Ryoji Ihara, Masakuni Takeno, Kei Suzuki, Eijiro Nakagawa, Nobuhide Handa, Ryota Sasaguri, Koichi Nonoshita, Eric Miyashiro, Koji Nishimura, Masahiko Sugasaka, Atsushi Osawa, Yosuke Miyajima, Naruyoshi Kikuchi, OMSB, JUMA, Saya Yoshida, Ayumu Yahaba,
Ryoji Ihara, Tokuhiro Doi, Kei Suzuki, Eijiro Nakagawa, Nobuhide Handa, Ryota Sasaguri, Eric Miyashiro, Koji Nishimura, Masahiko Sugasaka, Atsushi Osawa
2017  | Very Special | Taboo (Village Records)  | with Takayoshi Baba, José James, Miho Hazama, Takuya Mori, Yoshie Sato, Shinnosuke Takahashi, Yousuke Inoue
2017  | Glamorous Life | SOMETHIN'COOL  |

### Other recordings

[edit]

Year recorded  | Leader  | Title  | Label  | Notes

|
|
|
|

1994  | Shigeharu Mukai | J Quintet Featuring Junko Onishi | Somethin' Else  |
1996  | Jackie McLean | Hat Trick | Somethin' Else (Blue Note)  |
1996  | Joe Lovano | Tenor Time | Somethin' Else  |
1999  | Phil Woods | Cool Woods | Somethin' Else  |

## References

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1. ^ Gourse, Leslie (1995). Madame Jazz. Oxford University Press. p. 246.
2. ^ a b c Murph, John (November 2010) "Junko Onishi: Time to Reflect" JazzTimes.

## External links

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* Official label website - verve music group
* Official website
* JAZZDISCO.org Junko Onishi Catalog
* Junko Onishi Trio discography at MusicBrainz
* Junko Onishi discography at MusicBrainz
* Junko Onishi Triol discography at Discogs
* Junko Onishil discography at Discogs
* Junko Onishi \- last.fm

* v
* t
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Junko Onishi

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.

Studio albums|

* Wow (1992)
* Cruisin' (1993)
* Shigeharu Mukai J Quintet featuring Junko Onishi (1993)
* Piano Quintet Suite (1995)
* Hat Trick (1996)
* Tenor Time (1996)
* Fragile (1998)
* Cool Woods (1999)
* Musical Moments (2009)
* Baroque (2010)
* Tea Times (2016)
* Very Special (2017)
* Glamorous Life (2017)

Live albums|

* Live at the Village Vanguard (1994)
* Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. II (1994)
* Play, Piano, Play (1996)

Compilations|

* Self Portrait (released 1998)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* United States

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* MusicBrainz
* 2

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