TJG Artistic Dir. Rio Sakairi - A Conversation

Learn from the Best Jazz Curator in NYC...The Jazz Gallery Artistic Director, Rio Sakairi. Find out how she discovers and helps countless talented musicians get their start and flourish in this highly competitive field. Can be over food/coffee. Winner assumes the cost of refreshments. 1 hour Conversation.

Expires 11/2024

https://www.riosakairi.com/home

Vijay Iyer, who swept the 2012 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, proclaims, “Rio Sakairi has single- handedly influenced New York's current jazz scene more than anyone I know.” As the Artistic Director and the Director of Programming at The Jazz Gallery since 2000, Rio Sakairi has helped to identify and nurture some of today’s most important jazz artists. By seeking out the next generation of creative jazz players and composers, and by guiding and nourishing their artistic visions over the span of a decade, Rio has had a sizable impact on the jazz scene in New York and beyond. Her focus and vision have been decisive in putting The Jazz Gallery on New York’s cultural map and gaining the worldwide recognition that the venue enjoys. In Iyer’s words, “Rio has helped launch the career of virtually every notable jazz artist under 40 that I can think of. Her tireless efforts have rejuvenated the music and galvanized the musical community.” Rio’s contributions were recognized in 2016, 2014, 2010, when The Jazz Gallery received the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Noted author, photographer, and record executive Hank O’Neal has praised Rio as “easily the finest Director of Programming associated with any jazz organization in New York City or possibly anywhere in the country.” Veteran critic Ted Panken has observed, “Jazz would not sound the way it does today had not The Jazz Gallery served as a locus for New York’s polyglot musical community to exchange ideas and work on moving to the next step.”

Rio’s accomplishments bear this out. She gave decisive early support to young musicians who went on to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition: the trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, the guitarist Lage Lund, the vocalist Gretchen Parlato, and the bassist Ben Williams. In 2001, Rio booked the saxophonist Miguel Zenon’s debut as a bandleader, drummer Dafnis Prieto’s first-ever U.S. bandleader appearance, and some of the pianist Jason Moran’s earliest performances with The Bandwagon trio. All three artists — Zenon, Prieto and Moran — went on to win the highly coveted MacArthur Fellowship. Many of the artists signed to Blue Note Records in recent years — Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, Aaron Parks, Lionel Loueke, Ambrose Akinmusire — all received pivotal early exposure and support under Rio at The Jazz Gallery. Born and raised in Tsuchiura, Japan, Rio came to New York in 1990 and earned a dual degree in music and liberal arts from the New School for Social Research. Rio has drawn connections between musicians of widely varying sensibilities, linking established traditions and newly emerging sounds. Even as Rio has made The Gallery a community hub for younger, up-and-coming artists, she has also hosted repeat performances by such legends as Henry Threadgill, Oliver Lake, Chucho Valdés, Lee Konitz, and Chris Anderson.