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Since the sensational debut as the pianist of
straight-ahead jazz band Black/Note, Ark Sano continuously maintains the
reputation of one of the top pianists on the jazz scene. Beside four
albums, including "Jungle Music" on Columbia and "Nothin' But Swing" on
Impulse with Black/Note, he has appeared numerous recordings in variety of
genre. His latest release and second leader/trio album "In Storm, In
Breeze" is receiving rage reviews worldwide. While he has appeared on live
TV and radio shows nationally, Ark's abundant performing experience also
extends to major national and European Jazz festivals such as North Sea, JVC,
Montreal, Monterey, Victoria, and the Umbria Jazz festival.
URB magazine wrote " the energy and speed in
Ark's playing is mind blowing... rips through solos with a calculating
precision and unprecedented command of Jazz harmony". LA Jazz Scene wrote
"a marvelous, technically adept musician, who plays with a controlled
fury". Ottawa Citizen said, "Ark Sano has dazzling technique and a special
fluency on modal burners". Renowned Jazz critic
Leonard Feather of the Los Angeles Times praised Sano saying he "displayed
a diversity of ideas that ranged from ingenious chording to rapid single
note lines". |
The Sacramento Bee wrote "Sano, who on the boppish opener had
shown a hard hitting attack, framed (ballads) along with tenderly
wonderful chords and changes" and the Los Angeles Weekly wrote "Sano, uses
his McCoy Tynerish chording and broad rippling sounds as the delivery
system for the nerve-twisting harmonic structures".
At the age of 12 he started playing an organ that his parents bought
him. This extraordinary talent was soon realized and he started with
formal training. Within two years, having acquired the ability of
transcribing and arranging the music from TV shows, radio airplay of pops songs, Etc., he decided to
from a band and began performing around his hometown, Gifu, Japan. By the
age of 16, the music of the great masters such as Mozart, Beethoven, and
Chopin had caught his attention so he directed most of his time towards
the piano, and left organ behind.
When he had graduated from high school, he continued to play at the
better local clubs and restaurants. Ark was introduced to Jazz when one of
the local musicians heard this gifted young pianist playing at a club, and
enticed him into joining their band. It didn't take too long before Ark
was totally fascinated by Jazz. Now, Ark decided to dedicate himself to
Jazz music, so he continued listening to and studying the art.
Soon after he was performing with his own jazz band. He quickly gained
attention as a promising newcomer to the jazz scene. However, his passion
and inspiration for the music, as well as his desire to become a better
musician, led him from Gifu, a small town in Japan, to the U.S.A. to study
at Berklee College of Music, which awarded him a scholarship.
While at Berklee, he was quite active, participating in ensemble
audition teams and playing for Berklee project bands, while giving and
performing numerous concerts and recitals. In 1989, he made the finals in
The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. In 1990 he
graduated from Berklee College of Music, Summa Cum Laude, majoring in Jazz
composition, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career. While
performing at local clubs and restaurants, he attended numerous jam
sessions and met Black/Note, which he became a regular pianist of.
His enthusiasm for music keeps his schedule full. He is actively
performing with his own trio and solo piano as well as large ensemble and
big bands, while writing and performing classical pieces and giving
concerts. He is also composing and arranging for various chamber ensembles
including Japan America Chamber Ensemble, for which he serves as a
music director. He also is the conductor of the ensemble and assistant conductor of Symphony 47 as well as Palisades Symphony.
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