Ayumi Tanaka

Ayumi Tanaka (born March 9, 1986) is a Japanese pianist and composer. She is inspired by Scandinavian jazz and free improvised music. Through the process of seeking her own expression in improvised music, she moved to Norway in 2011.

Tanaka started to study at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, in 2011 where she studied jazz and improvised music, with Misha Alperin, Ivar Antonsen, Helge Lien and others. She soon made her mark on the Norwegian jazz scene. She is inspired by Scandinavian jazz, and also includes elements from her Japanese background into her music. Out of this grows some very attractive music. With beautiful, lyrical swinging elements, it keeps the listener engaged. In 2015 Tanaka placed her trio on the stages Jazz Evidence in Kongsberg and Nattjazz in Bergen among others. Her music is influenced by her different experiences from Japan and from the stay in Norway. She intends to find her own style, and to associate moods from her native Japan and from Norway in her music.

Ayumi Tanaka Trio is a jazz piano trio based on the interplay between three different musical personalities including bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen known from bands like Mopti, and the drummer Per Oddvar Johansen known from bands like The Source and Christian Wallumrød Ensemble, striving to create opportunities through improvisation. The trio debuted with a concert at Nattjazz 2015. The music is composed by Tanaka and it explores improvisation with a lyrical, beautiful and intense sound in a way involuntarily, releasing their debut album Memento January 2016.

As band leader

Ayumi Tanaka Trio with Christian Meaas Svendsen and Per Oddvar Johansen

• 2016: Memento (AMP Music & Records)

Tanaka/Lindval/Wallmrød with Johan Lindvall and Christian Wallmrød

• 2016: 3 pianos (Nakama Records)

Collaborations

With Nakama

• 2015: Before The Storm (Nakama Records)
• 2016:Grand line (Nakama Records)
• 2016:Most Intimate (Nakama Records)

With Mongrel

• 2016: Thick As Thieves (Losen Records)

With Tanaka/Lindvall/Wallumrød

• 2016: 3 Pianos (Nakama Records)