SUMI TONOOKA

Noted jazz critic Francis Davis, one of the first to recognize her as an extraordinary talent, placed Sumi Tonooka "among the best of today's young pianists." During a career now spanning more than 20 years, Sumi Tonooka has been surprising and delighting audiences — and quietly piling up accolades from jazz writers and her fellow musicians. Working in trio or quartet with such noted jazz stalwarts as bassist Rufus Reid and drummers Akira Tana and Lewis Nash, Tonooka's recordings characteristically blend her own compositions with highly personal readings of jazz standards. Her first professional stint at age 18 was with the Philly Joe Jones quartet, Le Grand Prix. From there she went on to perform with such luminaries as Kenny Burrell, Little Jimmy Scott, Sonny Fortune, Red Rodney, Benny Golson and David Fathead Newman. Ms. Tonooka holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. She studied piano with Bernard Peiffer, Susan Starr, Mary Lou Williams, and Stanley Cowell, and received additional training in piano and composition from Madame Margaret Chaloff of the New England Conservatory of Music. In addition to her jazz recording and performing, she has composed for film and dance.

Japanese-American and African-American by background, Sumi Tonooka has also broken new ground in her extended compositions blending Japanese musical instrumentation with jazz. Her 1988 work, "Out from the Silence," for koto, shakuhachi, and jazz ensemble, was commissioned by the Japanese-American Citizens League to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the World War II–era internment of Japanese-Americans. JazzTimes called the music "spellbinding." In 1993 a commission from Meet the Composer and an NEA Jazz Fellowship enabled Ms. Tonooka to continue exploring new musical territory combining Eastern and Western musical idioms. In December, 1993, this led to the New York premiere of the Taiko Jazz Project, wherein 8 interrelated pieces based on the I Ching were scored to feature taiko master Kenny Endo, together with some of the most highly respected players in jazz. Since then, the Taiko Jazz Project has appeared on both coasts in trio and sextet aggregations. Tonooka's career has been chronicled on several highly regarded jazz books, including Living The Jazz Life by Royal Stokes, ln The Moment by Francis Davis, and Madamme Jazz by Leslie Gourse (all on Oxford University Press). She now divides her time between composing, teaching, and performing for an increasingly widespread audience of jazz aficionados who have discovered her wide ranging talents. 
 

SELECT DISCOGRAPHY

o Secret Places
With Rufus Reid (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums). Joken Records, 1998.

o Here Comes Kai
With Rufus Reid (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums). Candid Productions Ltd., 1992.

o Taking Time
With Craig Handy (saxophones), Rufus Reid (bass), and Akira Tana (drums). Candid Productions Ltd., 1991.

o With an Open Heart
With Rufus Reid (bass) and Akira Tana (drums). Radiant Records, 1990

As a Collaborator

o Kindred Spirits
With John Blake, Jr. (violin). Spirit Records, 2000

As an Ensemble Pianist

o Bobby Zankel — Seeking Spirit
Bobby Zankel, saxophones. Cadence Jazz, 1991.

o John Blake — A New Beginning
John Blake Jr., Violin. Radiant Records, 1988. 

Sumi Tonooka – Long Ago Today
© 2008 sutoba-(SESAC) (ARC-2116)

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A standout jazz trio recording highlighting "provocative and compelling music" New York Times , "Long Ago Today" is music from the heart that pulls you in and makes you want to stay, featuring original compositions by Sumi Tonooka.

LINER NOTES - LONG AGO TODAY By SUMI TONOOKA

It seems so long ago today since I first encountered Sumi Tonooka and became aware of her marvelous musicianship. It was in fact nearly thirty years ago that I initially heard her playing in Philly Joe Jones' quartet and was impressed by the then nineteen year old pianist's flawless technique, but it wasn't until later, upon hearing her fronting her own group, that the true depth of her burgeoning ability as a bandleader and composer became apparent. In the three decades since, it has been a distinct pleasure to hear her more than live up to the promise of her early years and blossom into one of the most distinctively talented musicians of her generation.

On Long Ago Today, her fifth date as a leader, Sumi shows just how much her talent has grown in the years since she first began making a name for herself in her native Philadelphia. Her formidable technical abilities, forged through years of study with some of the music's finest teachers, including Madame Margaret Chaloff and Mary Lou Williams, have increased to the level of genuine virtuosity, which she displays judiciously throughout the date. More importantly, her compositional skills have also developed and the nine satisfying originals here, each one with its own story to tell, reveal her to be one of finest creators of memorable melodies in jazz today.

Sumi notes that her tunes “are not very typical harmonically,” which is one of the main reasons the master musician Rufus Reid has been her bassist of choice for all of her recordings as a leader. “He has a very open approach in dealing with the changes,” she says. “It just works when we play together. There's this chemistry. He has always had a sound but now it's even bigger and better. Rufus is truly creative and spontaneous. He has a great sense of humor that comes out in his playing and great love for the music. And like all great musicians he is a great listener and really supports the music.”

Filling out the trio is Bob Braye, a veteran drummer who, despite an impressive resume including stints with Thelonious Monk, Charlie Rouse, Jackie McLean, Pharoah Sanders, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Blue Mitchell, Woody Shaw, Abbey Lincoln, Gloria Lynn, Nancy Wilson, Larry Gales, Horace Tapscott and many more, remains relatively unknown. Sumi met Bob through her friend, the wonderful tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay. “She had been gently suggesting that he would be a good drummer for me to check out,” the pianist recalls. “The first time we played together, I remember having so much fun and getting it -- that this was a world class musician. He has a great feel and doesn't have to play a lot to get that across. Bob's beat is real wide. His style is supportive, expressive and explosive and he has a beautiful drum sound. He's all ears -- right there with the music as it is happening.”

Sumi composed the date's opening track, the vibrant Be The Dance, the week before the date knowing that she was going to record with Rufus and Bob. She says, ”It was really composed with Bob Braye in mind. I wanted to have a tune that would embrace his style of playing, something that he could just romp and play freely through. It's a celebratory 6/8 swing, with the melody primarily in the bass. The bass line just kind of came out at me and I could hear Rufus playing this, with more than one or two raised eyebrows.”

Cole Porter's All of You, the date's lone standard, has long been one of Sumi's favorites. “The arrangement came through a lot of trial and error and just playing it a lot,” the pianist says. “It's one of those tunes that keeps evolving. It's at this place now for me, but it keeps changing and I still want to play it a lot more.” Sumi's improvised introduction reveals her intimate knowledge of the classic composition; while the trio's seamless segue into the melody unmistakably displays the intuitive empathy among the three players.

The Clinging is a tune taken from a collection of compositions that Sumi composed combining Taiko drums with a jazz ensemble. She explains, “The music was inspired by the I Ching, the Chinese book of philosophy based on nature in its various forms. The Clinging has to do with the darker but also invigorating and active aspects of nature.” On this trio performance the piece takes on a more swinging straight ahead jazz temperament, propelled by Braye's invigorating drumming.

The eastern influence on Sumi's music is more clearly evident in the melody of Dreaming of Tibet, a composition based on a dream Sumi had about walking in Ancient Tibet. The tune's 5/4 meter and deliberate tempo inform it with a trancelike character appropriate to its inspiration.

Quantum Question is the second piece that was composed specifically for this date. It's dedicated to Sum's recently departed father, who she says, “spent forty years of his life working on a treatise that he entitled Scientific Cosmism, his theory on the beginning of the universe.” The powerful tune is primarily free, with a form and structure that moves in an open way reminiscent of the work of the late Mal Waldron.

The title track, Long Ago Today, is also informed by Sumi's loss of her father, as well as her mother, a remarkably hip woman who I had the great pleasure of knowing, in the past few years. “It's about a feeling of longing and nostalgia, but not getting lost in it,” she says. “Being clear and present with it, letting the past take you forward by ultimately letting go, but not forgetting.” The thoughtful piece sensitively conveys the wisdom of her feelings.

Renewal is a tune composed by Sumi for her two good friends Erica Lindsay and Francesca Tanksley. She explains, “The three of us had a support group for a while where they helped each other deal with seeing creative projects through and dealing with issues around creativity etc. This tune sprang forth from that experience.”

Sumi credits another close friend, Ghanaian master hand drummer and percussionist Joachim Lartey, as the inspiration for Moroccan Daze. " I learned this Morrocan drum rhythm from Joachim and have him to thank for teaching it to me and for some very inspirational drumming sessions/lessons which provided the seed of the idea for this composition.This piece starts in seven and then releases into 3. We learned the rhythm by speaking it first. ‘Ta ki Ta ki Gam a Da,' which immediately puts the emphasis or accents in the right place, and rises above the analytical approach.”

Just For Now was written several years ago by Sumi while in Kenny Barron's studio at Rutgers University, where she would often substitute teach for the piano master. Sumi credits Kenny as a “close friend and mentor to whom I owe many thanks to for his quiet but firm support over the years.” That support importantly included the release of Sumi's second cd, Secret Places, on his own JoKen label. The music here confirms Barron's faith in her.

The concluding Nami's Song was written by Sumi for her 12 year old daughter Nami, who, according to her mother, has a very melodic and wonderful presence. “She is very upbeat so I'm not sure why this came out as a ballad, but the composing process is just plain mysterious.”

The music world is full of mysteries. One of them is why it's been more than ten years since Sumi Tonooka's last recording as a leader. During that period she has recorded a collaboration with fellow Philadelphian, violinist John Blake, colead a quartet with Erica Lindsay, scored music for numerous films and, most importantly, continued to hone her considerable skills as a pianist and a composer, as is noticeably evident on this long overdue disc. Sumi remains philosophical when considering her lack of widespread recognition, exhibiting the same optimistic outlook she displayed when I first met her long ago. What has changed is that she has now proven that she is one of the finest pianists in jazz today.

Russ Musto
New York City
12 June 2005

Selected list of dance and film scores - Film clips are available for some films in either Real Audio (RA) or Streaming Quicktime (QT) format; click on the links under the photos.

Family Gathering (1988)
A film by Lise Yasui, produced by Lise Yasui and Ann Tegnell. Music composed by Sumi Tonooka.

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On December 12, 1941, Masuo Yasui was arrested by the FBI as a “potentially dangerous enemy alien.” His family was left to fend for themselves; then they were separated by being sent to government internment camps. Family Gathering is a deeply personal exploration by Masuo’s granddaughter of that time period and the family’s memories. This film received an Academy Award nomination and premiered on PBS as part of the American Experience series.

Shizue (1990)
Directed by Emi Tonooka and produced by Nadine Paterson and Emi Tonooka.

Emiko Tonooka, a Nisei American woman (and Sumi’s mother) tells the story of her search in Japan for her half sister whom she had never known. Through story telling, photography and carefully choreographed video work, a powerful portrait of family, history and connection emerges.

Susumu (1991)
Directed and produced by Gei Zantzinger. Musical director: Sumi Tonooka.

This film offers a musicologist’s view of Sumi Tonooka’s original work, Out From the Silence. The piece was dedicated to Sumi’s mother, who at the age of 16 was taken with her family and thousands of other Japanese from her home on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, to internment camps. Jazz Times called the work “spellbinding.” The film includes interviews with Ms. Tonooka and her mother, the late Emiko Tonooka. It also has live footage of the actual piece being performed live in the studio, by a band featuring Rufus Reid on bass, Akira Tana on drums, Wallace Roney on trumpet, Bill Easley on clarinet, Clifton Anderson on trombone, John Blake on violin, Bob Kenmotsu on tenor sax, Fusako Yoshida on koto, Ronnie “Nyogetsu” Seldin on shakuhachi, Steven Hideo Morris on vibes and percussion and Sumi Tonooka on piano.

Japanese Women: A Sense of Place (1992)
Produced by Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro and Leita Hageman. Original music composed and performed by Sumi Tonooka.

This documentary addresses the lives and points of view of Asian American women who examine questions of ethnicity, racism and identity, and how these issues have shaped their lives and experiences.

Mysterical Awakenings (1994)
Dance work commissioned, choreographed and performed by Mariko Tanabe. Original music by Sumi Tonooka, performed by Sumi Tonooka and John Blake.

Mariko Tanabe, a former premier dancer for the Edwin Hawkins Dance Company, now leads her own company, Mariko Tanabe Danceworks. This piece explores the metamorphosis and arrival of a woman's creative soul. With a magical kind of grace, it illuminates Ms. Tanabe’s personal influences, which have included modern dance, traditional Noh and butoh dance from Japan, and flamenco. Scored for synthesizer, koto and percussion.

Voices Found (1995)
Dance piece commissioned, choreographed and performed by Mariko Tanabe DanceWorks. Original music performed and composed by Sumi Tonooka.

Voices Found looks at the connection between mothers and daughters. Through explorations of the past and present, it delves into emotions expressed and transferred in the womb. An intimate view of the maternal bond and its capacity to evoke, sometimes all at once, expressions of love, anger, loss and triumph.

Are You Black, White or What? (1998)
Directed by Lillian Paulmier and produced by PBS. Original music composed and performed by Sumi Tonooka.

A mother examines the effects of identity and race on her bi-racial child. How do parents best help their children to cope with questions such as, “Are you black, white, or what?

Daring to Resist (1999)
Directed and produced by Barbara Attie and Martha Goell Lubell, original music performed and composed by Sumi Tonooka.

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Janeane Garafalo narrates this trilogy of three teenage girls fighting genocide during WWII, taking risks they never dreamed possible: Faye, a photographer and partisan fighter in Poland; Barbara, a ballerina in Amsterdam who hid and moved Jews to safety; and Shulamit, who led groups of Jews in underground border crossings from Hungary to Rumania. Despite losing their own families to the Nazis, these young women chose resistance, rather than submission, and helped keep others alive.

You Don’t Know Me (2000)
Directed and produced by Cambiz Khosravi. Original music composed and performed by Sumi Tonooka.

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This film tells the story behind the trial of Dewin Vargas, a teenage boy charged with the murder of his foster parent. By exploring Dewin's life and the events that led to his act of violence, the film is a window into the institutionalized injustices of the foster care system.

Crosstown (2001)
Directed and produced by Miriam Camitta (2000). Original music composed by Sumi Tonooka.

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The story of how a community saved itself through the dedication, solidarity, struggle and ultimate triumph of everyday people. These hometown heroes came together to prevent the building of a crosstown expressway that would have divided Philadelphia in half and destroyed some of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.