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Megumi Yonezawa
Megumi Yonezawa is from Hokkaido, Japan. She began studying classical piano at the age of six. She graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in both Performance and Jazz Composition. During her time at Berklee, she pursued dual majors in performance and jazz composition. Megumi is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as the Jazz Performance Award, Clare Fisher Award and Techniques Endowed Scholarship. After her graduation from Berklee, Megumi received a scholarship from Japan as a trainee of the Hokkaido Cultural Foundation’s Overseas Artist Training. With her scholarship, she had the opportunity to further her research of Jazz in the United States. Megumi also had been an Artist in Residence at Wildacres in North Carolina.
After her graduation, she became the regular pianist for saxophonist Greg Osby and acquired countless performance experiences at prominent clubs and festivals such as the Village Vanguard, Carnegie Hall, Montreal Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival and Trondheim Jazz Festival and many others. Megumi plays on Greg Osby’s Blue Note Records album “Public“. The album features Nicholas Payton, Robert Hurst, Rodney Green and Joan Osborne.
Other projects as a side woman, she played on vibraphonist Mike Pinto’s album “Little Green Men,” released on Steeplechase Records, Jostein Gulbrandsen’s “Looking Ahead” released on the Norwegian record label Curling Legs Records and many others.
In 2016, Megumi released her first album as a leader titled "A Result of the Colors" with bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson on Fresh Sound New Talent. Megumi’s trio was invited to play at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. She is also became a member of a trio with drummer Ken Kobayashi and bassist Masa Kamaguchi. They released the first album “Boundary” in 2018 for the record label ESP-Disk. “Boundary”.
Most recently, she has released her second leader album, "Resonance" with bassist Mike McGuirk and drummer Mark Ferber on Sunnyside Records in May, 2022.
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Megumi Yonezawa: Resonance
by Neri Pollastri
La pianista giapponese Megumi Yonezawa, da tempo residente a New York e collaboratrice stabile di Greg Osby, esce per Sunnyside con il secondo album a proprio nome, un piano trio nel quale mescola brani di propria composizione, alcuni standard e un'improvvisazione totale.La cifra del lavoro è quella di un modern jazz estremamente ricco di articolazioni e sofisticato nel fraseggio, che si fa con frequenza dialogo a tre grazie l'impianto paritetico della formazione. Se infatti la tastiera della leader ...
read moreMegumi Yonezawa Trio: A Result of the Colors
by Tyran Grillo
Those outside of New York City, where Megumi Yonezawa currently resides, may only recognize the Japanese pianist, if anywhere, as sidewoman for Greg Osby (see 2004's Public on Blue Note), who brought her onboard following an enthusiastic endorsement from none other than Jason Moran. It was in Osby's band that she developed a rapport with drummer Eric McPherson, and along with bassist John Herbert forms the trio of this, her leader debut. Being such an inaugural enterprise, it invites listeners ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson
