is a Japanese jazz pianist; she plays in the post-bop genre.
Early career After studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, 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 has recorded eight CDs for Blue Note Records (Somethin' Else, in Japan) as a leader.
In May 1994, Onishi played for a week at the Village Vanguard, with Wynton Marsalis's sidemen, bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Herlin Riley.
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 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." 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.
Blue Note released her trio album, Musical Moments in 2009. Baroque (Verve, 2010), with Onishi leading a much larger group, followed a year later.
Discography
As leader Year recordedTitleLabelNotes1992WowSomethin' ElseTrio, with Tomoyuki Shima (b), Dairiki Hara (d)1993Cruisin'Somethin' Else /Blue NoteTrio, with Rodney Whitaker (b), Billy Higgins (d)1994Live at the Village VanguardSomethin' Else/Blue NoteTrio, with Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d).1994Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol IISomethin' Else/Blue NoteTrio, with Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d).1995Piano Quintet SuiteSomethin' Else/Blue NoteQuintet, with Eiichi Hayashi (as), Marcus Belgrave (tp, voc), Rodney Whitaker (b), Tony Rabeson (d)1996Play, Piano, PlaySomethin' Else/Blue NoteTrio, with Shigeo Aramaki (b), Dairiki Hara (d). In concert1997Self PortraitSomethin' ElseCompilation1998FragileSomethin' Else/Blue NoteOnishi also plays keyboards. With Reginald Veal (b), Karriem Riggins, Motohiko Hino, Tamaya Honda (d; separately)2008–9Musical MomentsSomethin' Else/Blue NoteTrio, with Yousuke Inoue (b), Gean Jackson (d). Bonus track from 2008 is trio, with Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d)2010BaroqueVerve2016Tea TimesTaboo (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 Yahaba2017Very SpecialTaboo (Village Records)with Takayoshi Baba, José James, Miho Hazama, Takuya Mori, Yoshie Sato, Shinnosuke Takahashi, Yousuke Inoue2017Glamorous LifeSOMETHIN'COOL
As sideman Year recordedLeaderTitleLabelNotes1994J Quintet Featuring Junko OnishiSomethin' Else1996Hat TrickSomethin' Else (Blue Note)1996Tenor TimeSomethin' Else1999Cool WoodsSomethin' Else
References
External links
Official label website at Verve Junko Onishi Catalog at JAZZDISCO.org , , Junko Onishi at Last.fm