Junko

City pop queen Junko Ohashi’s greatest hits album is available now. The album includes her debut song "Kagi wa Kaeshite!" and "Koi wa Magic" by Junko Ohashi with Monta Yoshinori. Remastered in 2024.

A collection of personal stories and reflections based on the memoirs of Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits.

Junko Onishi has long been one of the most popular pianists in Tokyo. Her years backing famed jazz masters in the States along with her vibrant attitude to the music have earned her respect and fans. This new release comes nearly a decade after her last one, 1999’s rock groove outing “Fragile.” This recording is entirely different from that one, with several self-penned numbers, three Eric Dolphy tunes and three standards. Recorded in New York, except for a live medley at Tokyo Blue Note, it is a vital new work that finds Onishi’s forceful playing unbridled. The result is much more of her as the accomplished and powerful musician she truly is.

Satoshi Shoji, who plays various instruments such as the oboe and is active in various fields from classical music to pop music, and Junko Wada, who continues to play an active role as an organist in various fields, have a musical dialogue. The mellow English horn, the lively and graceful bass oboe, and the soft, rich baroque organ play the masterpieces of Telemann and Bach.

With the release of her 1993 Blue Note debut, pianist Junko Onishi arrived as one of the most promising of Japan-born jazz musicians. Growing up in Tokyo, Onishi received classical piano lessons but became quite interested in jazz. She considers her style to be based on Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Ornette Coleman; her other recordings from the '90s include 1994's Live at the Village Vanguard. "Tea Times" was recorded and released in 2016 on Japanese Village Records label.