Artist description Yo Kano is a pianist/synthesist/vocalist/composer who combines jazz with pop and funk in a diverse, exciting mix.

Music Style Jazz

Musical Influences Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis

Similar Artists Yo Kano

Artist History YO KANO was born in Japan and started playing the piano at the age of five. At nine he began studying trumpet. When he was in his early teens his interests shifted from classical to jazz and pop music and he began appearing regularly in concert and on various television and variety shows in Japan. At nineteen, Yo Kano became totally blind. But his music career was not impeded. He returned to playing piano and keyboards, continued to work as a composer and arranger and began singing. He moved to Tokyo at the age of 23 and formed his own group that played his original music. They appeared on television and in concert. Yo Kano signed a contract with the recording company Polydor in Japan in 1981. He also received two scholarships at this time which gave him a chance to go abroad. He performed in Australia and New Zealand under a government-sponsored scholarship in 1982 and in that same year he came to the United States to study music as a recipient of a scholarship from the Circle of Love Foundation.Yo Kano arrived in New York and began studying music at the Lighthouse Music School with the late jazz pianist Lance Heyward. He returned to Japan in 1983, but his wish to continue studying jazz and build a career in New York swayed him to return that same year. He worked as a piano player/singer at various clubs in the city and simultaneously worked for several Japanese recording companies (Polydor, JVC, King Records) as a composer, arranger and producer. He released his own album, Manhattan Island, in 1987 under King records produced by Dave Matthews. He recorded a CD and the soundtrack to a Japanese movie with the singer Boro in Hollywood in 1991. That same year he also wrote the theme song for the World Congress on Technology for the Disabled sponsored by the United Nations and the United States held in Washington D.C. He went to Japan in 1993 on a tour with his own group from New York. He is currently working as a composer/arranger using computer sequencing technology. He also performs as a soloist and accompanist and plays regularly with various bands in Japan and the U.S. His wide-ranging talents have afforded him many opportunities to produce radio programs, work as a radio personality, and work as a journalist for various magazines.

Group Members Yo Kano, Vocals, Piano, Synthesizer; Ray Peterson, Electric Bass; Kenwood Dennard, Drums; Lee Finkelstein, Drums;Dave Lavender, Guitar; Tim Hegarty, Tenor Sax & Flute; Shunzo Ohno, Trumpet; Tim Ouimette, Trumpet; Eva Rainforth, Sarah Pillow, Lisa Michel, Backup Vocals

Albums Yo!, Now is the Time

Location New York, NY - USA

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