Akira Tana

Born on 14 March 1952 in San Jose, California, Akira Tana developed his drumming skills without formal instruction and began performing on a semi-professional basis during his undergraduate years. At Harvard University he earned a degree in East Asian Studies and Sociology before enrolling at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he supplemented his training with private lessons from percussionists of the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras as well as from jazz drummer Alan Dawson. While pursuing these studies he appeared alongside Helen Humes, Milt Jackson, Sonny Rollins, George Russell, Sonny Stitt and other prominent jazz figures, and he also performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra plus several classical ensembles connected to the conservatory.

Throughout the early 1980s Tana continued to work as an accompanist for Al Cohn, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Jim Hall, Jimmy Rowles, Zoot Sims and Cedar Walton, and he appeared with non-jazz artists Charles Aznavour and Lena Horne. His extensive recording activity during this period included sessions with many of those same musicians plus Ran Blake, Chris Connor, Carl Fontana, Jimmy Heath, Tete Montoliu, Spike Robinson and Warne Marsh. In the early 1990s he collaborated with James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Wess, Ray Bryant and J.J. Johnson.

Tana and bassist Rufus Reid established the group TanaReid, and together with pianist Kei Akagi they formed the Asian American Jazz Trio. A drummer of considerable technical command, Tana demonstrates his breadth through the range of artists he has supported, moving with equal assurance behind vocalists or on instrumental ballads and within hard-bop settings. In the ensembles he co-leads with Reid, he supplies a powerfully forward rhythmic momentum. Beyond performing, he has produced or co-produced several recordings by TanaReid, the Asian American Jazz Trio and Project G-7. He regularly leads workshops and clinics at colleges and universities, among them Berklee College of Music, and holds adjunct professorships at two institutions.