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| Sumi Tonooka at the Lincoln Center  Sumi Tonooka will perform two sets for a Special Monday Presentation at the Lincoln Center on June 18th as pianist with the Rufus Reid Quintet (Rufus Reid (bass), Sumi Tonooka (piano), Tim Horner (drums), Freddie Hendrix (trumpet/flugelhorn), Rich Perry (tenor saxophone). During a career now spanning more than 20 years, Sumi Tonooka has been surprising and delighting audiences -- and quietly piling up accolades from jazz writers and her fellow musicians. Working in trio or quartet with such noted jazz stalwarts as bassist Rufus Reid and drummers Akira Tana and Lewis Nash, Tonooka's recordings characteristically blend her own compositions with highly personal readings of jazz standards.Her first professional stint at age 18 was with the Philly Joe Jones quartet, Le Grand Prix. From there she went on to perform with such luminaries as Kenny Burrell, Little Jimmy Scott, Sonny Fortune, Red Rodney, Benny Golson and David Fathead Newman. Ms. Tonooka holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. She studied piano with Bernard Peiffer, Susan Starr, Mary Lou Williams, and Stanley Cowell, and received additional training in piano and composition from Madame Margaret Chaloff of the New England Conservatory of Music. In addition to her jazz recording and performing, she has composed for film and dance. Tonooka's career has been chronicled on several highly regarded jazz books, including “Living the Jazz Life” by Royal Stokes, “ln The Moment” by Francis Davis, and “Madamme Jazz” by Leslie Gourse (all on Oxford University Press). Tonooka currently leads her own trio featuring Rufus Reid on bass, and co-leads a quartet with saxophonist Erica Lindsay that features Bob Braye and Rufus Reid. Two new recordings with these ensembles respectively are, “Long Ago Today” and “Initiation”, both are soon to be released on 'ASR Records. She now divides her time between composing, teaching, and performing for an increasingly widespread audience of jazz aficionados who have discovered her wide ranging talents. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |