Toru Dodo

Toru Dodo is a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger born in Tokyo, Japan in 1972. He began studying classical music at age four and discovered jazz while studying economics at Meiji University in Tokyo, later moving to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music, from which he graduated summa cum laude. He has been based in New York City since 1998 and has released several albums as a leader, including DODO (2002), 116 West 238 St. (2004), and DODO 3 (2006). A Grammy-nominated musician, Dodo has worked as a sideman with Kenny Garrett, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes, Ruth Brown, and Terumasa Hino, and is a longtime collaborator of vocalist Somi on piano and Fender Rhodes. He has been one of the regular pianists for the off-Broadway show Sleep No More since 2011, and counts Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Art Tatum among his influences.