“Yamanaka’s quartet is the essence of jazz communication and dynamics, a showcase for her inventive piano playing where her flair for melody is balanced by her penchant for dark chords.”
Miki Yamanaka is a 33-year-old New York-based pianist from Kobe, Japan who has established herself as one of the leading personalities of her generation on the piano and beyond. She moved to New York City in 2012, studying piano with Jason Lindner, Jeb Patton, and Fred Hersch, and organ with Sam Yahel and Larry Goldings. In 2015 she was one of three pianists selected to participate in “Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead”, an intensive composition residency at the Kennedy Center.
Yamanaka has appeared in concert with many notable musicians including Steve Nelson, Seamus Blake, Jerry Dodgion, Victor Lewis, Rich Perry, Antonio Hart and Peter Bernstein. She holds residencies at Smalls and Mezzrow Jazz Clubs in NYC, and during the pandemic, she developed a successful in-home live-streaming weekly concert series cleverly titled “Miki’s Mood” where she features a veritable who’s who of NYC talent. The series showcases her vast knowledge of jazz standards and tunes, often featuring themed offerings of various composers from both the Great American Songbook as well as iconic jazz composers. She has a myriad of glowing reviews from her recorded work, including her debut album “Miki” (Cellar Live), her 2020 5-part suite entitled “Human Dust Suite,” and gained international recognition for her most recent and most intimate release, “Stairway to the Stars” (Outside In Music, 2021).
Joining Yamanaka for the Victoria performance will be drummer Jimmy Macbride, bassist Tyrone Allen, and featured saxophonist and ECM recording artist Mark Turner. Don’t miss this fantastic quartet live as Yamanaka and her band dazzle Victoria audiences at Hermann’s Jazz Club!

Tickets also available at: Victoria Jazz Society Office (250-388-4423 | 977 Alston St.) No Service Charges at the VJS Office!