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Ayumi Tanaka

Ayumi Tanaka is a Japanese pianist and composer who began playing music at the age of three, influenced by classical, and later on, Nordic improvisational musicians and her own mentor, the late Misha Alperin at the Norwegian Academy of Music where she studied from 2011 until 2016. Starting in 2018, Ayumi began collaborating with Manfred Eicher at ECM Records which culminated in her Trio’s album  “Subaqueous Silence”. Currently, she is performing globally with different ensembles as well as developing her own solo music.


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8

Album Review

Ayumi Tanaka, Thomas Morgan, Thomas Strønen: Windflower

Read "Windflower" reviewed by Frank Housh


Ayumi Tanaka's Windflower uses Nordic jazz's musical vocabulary against an ancient Japanese landscape, creating depth and beauty by the space left empty. Tanaka is a Japanese pianist and composer for whom Norwegian jazz feels “very personal," explaining how it “made the air feel alive." She was determined to figure out how. She moved to Norway in 2011 and earned a master's degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. She augmented her studies by improvising “together with the ...

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Album Review

Ayumi Tanaka, Thomas Morgan, Thomas Strønen: Windflower

Read "Windflower" reviewed by Neil Duggan


Japanese pianist and composer Ayumi Tanaka has become a distinctive voice on the Scandinavian jazz scene since settling in Oslo. A graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music, she has forged musical relationships with Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and American bassist Thomas Morgan, whose intuitive rapport lies at the heart of Windflower. Following early performances at Oslo's Victoria, Nasjonal Jazzscene, the trio attracted the attention of ECM producer Manfred Eicher, leading to this debut recording. The album follows on ...

3

Radio & Podcasts

Ayumi Tanaka, Alan Hawkshaw, Leslie Bricusse, Franco Cerri & New Releases

Read "Ayumi Tanaka, Alan Hawkshaw, Leslie Bricusse, Franco Cerri & New Releases" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


We open with tributes to three artists that passed in the past few days, Alan Hawkshaw, Leslie Bricusse and Franco Cerri, before delving into new releases ranging from the straight-ahead hard-hitting energy of Pete Rodriguez to the sound (and silence) explorations of Ayumi Tanaka and her Trio.Happy listening!PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Brian Bennett, Alan Hawkshaw “Name of the Game" Kpm 1000 Series: Hot Wax (KPM) 0:16 Host talks ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Windflower

ECM Records
2026

buy

Red Lamplight On The...

Jazztrau (Sublabel of Hærverk Industrier)
2021

buy

Subaqueous Silence

ECM Records
2021

buy

Videos

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