Mamiko Watanabe

Japanese jazz pianist Mamiko Watanabe plays in a style deeply influenced by tradition but with a distinctive individualism that has seen her compared to McCoy Tyner. Born in Fukuoka, Watanabe won a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music, where she studied jazz piano, improvisation, and composition, receiving several awards. Twice a semi-finalist at the Montreux solo piano competition, she toured Europe and played with the likes of Joe Lovano and Bobby McFerrin while still in college. In 2003 she moved to New York and got involved in the scene there. Watanabe recorded her debut album as leader, One After Another, in 2005. The self-released albums Origin/Jewel (2007), Mother Earth (2010), and Flying Without Wings (2018) followed, before she signed with Jojo Records. Her debut for the label, Being Guided by the Light, was released in 2024.