Tomoko Ohno

Tomoko Ohno is a Tokyo-born pianist who became a fixture of the New York jazz scene and the longtime pianist of Sherrie Maricle's DIVA Jazz Orchestra. She played professionally in Tokyo's jazz clubs as a teenager, and after studying law and politics at Rikkyo University she moved to the United States to enter the jazz program at William Paterson University, where she worked with Harold Mabern and Rufus Reid. Her playing sits in the swinging mainstream and bebop tradition, and she has performed or recorded with Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi, Houston Person, James Spaulding, and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Big Band. As a leader she recorded a series of trio and duo albums beginning with Powder Blue in 1997, later exploring Argentine tango repertoire on projects such as Tomoko Ohno in Buenos Aires in 2007 and From Tokio to Buenos Aires in 2011. She has appeared at venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the Blue Note, and Birdland.