Akiyoshi and her husband Lew Tabackin are best known for their Akiyoshi-Tabackin Big Band, which Len Lyons has described as "perhaps the last great hope for [the] continuance" of the big band. Akiyoshi has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat magazine's Readers Poll.
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the Akiyoshi-Tabackin Big Band's album Insights (RCA), which is available from Amazon.com.
Akiyoshi performs a piano solo, "The Village," here:
Robert
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