In the 1950s, Toshiko Akiyoshi was a force to behold. Inspired early on by pianist Bud Powell's bop attack and lightning-fast fingers, she grew up in Japan after World War II when her parents moved back to the country from Manchuria, China. She began playing piano at age 7, entertained U.S. troops in Japan and fell in love with jazz after hearing a Tedd…
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