Aki Takase

Takase was born in Osaka and started to play piano at age 3. Raised in Tokyo, she studied classical piano at Toho Gakuen School of Music.[1] Starting in 1978, Takase began performing and recording in the US.[1] Her collaborators have included Lester Bowie, Sheila Jordan, David Liebman, and John Zorn. Her first European appearance was in 1981 at the Berlin Jazz Festival in Germany. Through her constant touring and appearances at international jazz festivals, Takase quickly became one of the most sought-after musicians for recording and collaboration.

For many years, she has worked with her husband Alexander von Schlippenbach, as well as with Eugene Chadbourne, Han Bennink, Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, Fred Frith and many others, and in duets with Maria João, Louis Sclavis, David Murray and Rudi Mahall.

In various projects, Takase has dealt with the respective oeuvres of numerous famous jazz musicians, including the works of Duke Ellington (1990), Thelonious Monk (1994), Eric Dolphy (1998), W.C. Handy (2002), Fats Waller (2004), and Ornette Coleman (2006). Given her training and adventurous spirit, Takase's new projects exist as a genre between contemporary music and jazz. These include her duo project YOKOHAMA (Intakt 2009) with Louis Sclavis, KANON (doubtmusic 2011) with Kazuhisa Uchihashi and Axel Dörner or Hotel Zauberberg with Ayumi Paul in 2014 (Intakt Records).

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."[2] In later performances, Takase used more unconventional instruments when accompanying Tawada.[2]

With her new quintett JAPANIC (26. April 2019/ BMC) Aki Takase brings together HipHop, Jazz and Improvisation.

Since 1987, Takase has lived in Berlin.[3]

An asterisk (*) after the year indicates that it is the year of release.

• The German Record Critics' Award 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007. 2009, 2017.
• Jazz Award of the German public broadcasting company SWR 2002[6]
• Jazzpreis Berlin, 2018, awarded by the city of Berlin, Germany[7]

• Official site (in German, English and Japanese)
• Representation