矢野沙織
Saori Yano was born on October 27, 1986 in Tokyo, Japan.
1996／ age 9 （4th grade）
Joins the school band. She originally hoped to play the flute, but losing in a battle of “rock-paper-scissors”, she found herself stuck with the alto saxophone.
1998／ age 11 （6th grade）
Finds the Jaco Pastorius album in her father’s CD collection. Shocked by Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee” , falls in love with Jazz. Begins to learn Jazz by herself.
2001／ age 14 （8th grade）
Inspired by Billie Holiday’s biography, and the fact that Billie at 14 was performing in Jazz Clubs to make a living, begins promoting herself to local Jazz Clubs. Landing a gig in Nishiarai’s Cafe Clair, she begins her own career on stage.
February 2002／ age 15 （9th grade）
Word of mouth brings her to a record producer, lands a records deal.
March 2003／ age 16 （10th grade）
Plays the Lenox Lounge and the Zynk Bar in New York in a jam session with artists like Frank Wess.
September 2003／ age 16 （11 th grade）
The debut album “YANO SAORI” is released to raving reviews as the newest star of Japanese Jazz. She is the second Japanese artist to release an album for the SAVOY label.
April 2004／ age 17 （12 th grade）
Records her second album “02” at Avatar Studio in New York with guest artists Harold Mabern Trio, Eric Alexander, and Peter Bernstein. Taking the stage in a jam session at New York ‘s famous Smoke Jazz Club ＆ Lounge, receives the highest praise from George Coleman.
Her music is chosen to be the theme tune of the ten o’clock news on TV-Asahi (Hodo Station). A producer of the program heard her album “YANO SAORI”, and insisted on using her music.
March 2005／ age 18 （12 th grade）
Releases her third album with guests Nicholas Payton and Eric Alexander. This album titled “SAKURA STAMP” was her first attempt with an organ trio.
To support this album, she launched her first Blue Note tour, performing on stage with the Jazz Giant (famous for their works with Miles Davis etc.), Jimmy Cobb. Jimmy Cobb called Saori the “Japanese Cannonball Adderley”.
July 2005／ age 18
Invited by Jimmy Cobb, Saori headlined at New York’s Smoke for two nights. With the Jimmy Cobb Trio supporting her, she set the jazz-savvy New York crowd on fire.
November 2005／ age 19
The live recording from the Smoke session was released as “Parker's Mood～Live In NY”. This was Saori’s first live album. She sets out on a nation wide tour together with Jazz legend James Moody. She is featured in the NHK television program “Top Runner”.
June 2006／ age 19
Records her album “Groovin’ High” at Clinton Studio in New York with guest artists Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, and Randy Brecker. These big name artists were invited by James Moody, who has spoken highly of Saori’s talent ever since meeting her on her Japanese tour.
October 2006／ age 19
Releases “Groovin’ High”. Launches a nationwide tour with artists James moody, Slide Hampton, and Randy Brecker
With her debut album appearing at the age of 16, Saori Yano has been the hottest rising star in the Jazz scene ever since. This album is her first best album, and the music is filled with the essence of her life so far. Her relationship with Jazz has been dramatic in its own way ? beginning with the school band, which she joined in 4th grade. Losing out in a battle of “rock-paper-scissors” to choose instruments, she found herself stuck with the alto saxophone. Her first encounter with Jazz was the Jaco Pastorius album that she found among her father’s CD collection. It was in this album where she heard Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee” for the very first time, and fell in love with Jazz. At 14, she read Billie Holiday’s biography “Strange Fruit” and found out that Billie at 14 was performing in Jazz Clubs to make a living. Feeling that she too must play in Jazz Clubs, Saori picked up the phone and called every Jazz Club that was listed on the last page of a Jazz magazine that she happened to have. Nobody was interested in hiring this unknown teenage “player” - except one club who invited her in for an audition.
The trend in the Japanese Jazz scene these days is the increase of “highly-educated” newcomers. Young artists make recording debuts with diplomas from prestigious schools such as Berkely School of Music, The Juilliard School, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts ＆ Music, Toho Gakuen School of Music, etc. However for Saori, she has never received any formal music education. Her training has always been “on the job”, performing more than 200 gigs a year at various clubs. Along the way, she has met great artists like Frank Wess, George Coleman, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jimmy Cobb, and James Moody, who have inspired her greatly to grow as an artist and also as a human being. Saori met Jimmy Cobb on her tour supporting her third album “SAKURA STAMP”, and he invited her over to New York to do a gig at the famous Smoke Jazz Club ＆ Lounge. This was her first overseas performance, and a live recording was made and was released as the album “Parker’s Mood”. James Moody was the guest musician invited to the supporting tour of this album. Recognizing Saori’s lack of theoretical backbone, he took every chance to give her a theoretical lesson. Even after the tour, he sent her textbooks advising her to practice certain etudes. Just this past April, Saori flew over to California to receive lessons from Moody, and their master-apprentice relationship is growing stronger and stronger. Last year, Saori recorded her new album “Groovin’ High” with a big combo with members such as James Moody and Slide Hampton, opening up to a new musical horizon of large ensembles. Hitting the road once again with this album, she celebrated her 20th birthday in October at the Blue Note in Nagoya.
Saori recently made her first appearance in a television commercial for a stylish line of hair-care products, of which her new tune was featured in. Titled the Asian Beauty series, the commercial will be broadcasted nationwide in Japan from mid-May. Filmed in Los Angeles, the commercial is a collage of Saori on stage. It is so full of great shots of her, one might think it is a Saori Yano promo clip. This will definitely boost her celebrity in Japan.
Saori took this chance to take 12 tunes from her previously released four original albums, and add a new tune that is featured in the commercial, and release it as a Best Album. She has always focused on Bebop music, such as tunes from Charlie Parker or Dizzy Gillespie, and jazz standards loved by these great masters. In addition to these repertoires, her self-penned original “new standards” of Jazz can be heard here, plus the theme tune of the ten o’clock news on TV-Asahi (Hodo Station), “Open Mind” by Takashi Matsunaga. Her deep, unique sound and phrasing may seem a bit unlikely for her young age. This may be explained by the fact that her instrument is a vintage Conn saxophone. This album will come with a DVD of Saori’s promo clip, which will allow you to enjoy Saori’s world from both ears and eyes.
At the same time, the tune featured in the commercial “I ＆ I” will be released as a maxi-single (COCY-15999 \1,000tax in.) A making footage of the television commercial will be included in this CD. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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