I wrote a lot of comments in Japanese page, but, it is very difficult to translate all of them for me.
So, in this English page, I am very sorry, but I could prepare only
If it is possible, please come to Pages in Japanese
Akiko Yano was born in 1955, and her original name was Akiko Suzuki.
She began to play piano in jazz club in her high school days, and recorded the first album "Japanese Girl" in 1976. She married with Makoto Yano who was the producer and arranger of that album, so her name was changed to Akiko Yano. In after, she divorced Makoto Yano, and remarried with Ryuichi Sakamoto, who is known as a member of YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra). He is also known as a composer of sound tracks who got Academy Award by the music of "Last Emperor". So, her real name is Akiko Sakamoto, but she uses Akiko Yano.
Her debut caused a sensation in Japanese music scene, because "Japanese Girl" had a great quality and originality, and it was supported by Little Feat that was a very famous rock band in the West Coast.
In early '80s, YMO did world tour, and she joined the tour as a support keyboard player. She became well known for her marvelous piano play, so she made friends with many Western musicians, for example, JAPAN, the UK's rock band, supported her album "Ai ga nakuchane" and you can hear her voice in Thomas Dolby's debut album "Golden Age of Wireless".
In '90s, she moved to New York, and plays with many Jazz musicians, Pat Metheny, Gil Goldstein, Toninho Horta, etc.
Her music has many elements, classic, rock, jazz, pops, Japanese traditional music, children's songs and techno. But it is meaningless to analyze her music. Her music is just "YANO MUSIC".