Kickstarting her career by spending money saved up for her honeymoon on recording her first solo album, Keiko Matsui has become an international star renowned for fusing together traditional Japanese music with jazz, classical and soul melodies into moving ambient compositions.

Growing up in Tokyo, she started playing piano at the age of five and studied classical greats like Sergei Rachmaninov and Jean Sibelius while at the Yamaha Music School and formed an interest in acts as diverse as Stevie Wonder, Maurice Jarre and Chick Corea. She cut her teeth playing with local avant-garde, synth-pop act Cosmos on four studio albums during the 1980s but, after marrying new age flute player Kazu Matsui, the pair spent their savings on making her debut solo record 'A Drop of Water' rather than taking a romantic vacation. Full of delicate tinkling and swelling, dramatic mood music, the 1987 album's unexpected popularity landed Matsui a deal with MCA Records and she set about establishing herself as one of the most unique artists in world music and jazz fusion with follow-ups 'Under Northern Lights' and 'No Borders'. Her mix of Eastern and Western influences put her in a category all of her own, but she also performed with Miles Davis, Bob James and Hugh Masekela and became the first Japanese artist to top the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts in 2001 with 'Deep Blue'.

In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Matsui sought to offer a message of peace and hope on 'The Ring', and she subsequently became well known for her humanitarian work, which includes working with charities for Hiroshima victims, breast cancer sufferers and bone marrow programmes. She has also produced soundtracks for the Japanese animated series 'Hidamari No Ki', worked with full orchestras and celebrated 30 years in the music with 'Journey to the Heart' in 2016.

Keiko Matsui

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