Akiko Yano

Akiko Yano is a Japanese singer, pianist and songwriter, born in Tokyo in 1955. She was active in Tokyo's jazz scene as a teenager and debuted in 1976 with Japanese Girl, on which members of Little Feat played most of the instrumental parts. Her two world tours with Yellow Magic Orchestra brought her an international audience. Akiko Yano married Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1982, and YMO backed her on Gohan ga Dekitayo. She made the classical album Brooch with pianist Yuji Takahashi, singing Stravinsky, Debussy and Schubert in English. Pat Metheny plays on Welcome Back (1989).