The Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band was a 16 piece jazz
big band created by pianist
Toshiko Akiyoshi and tenor saxophone / flutist
Lew Tabackin in
Los Angeles in 1973. In 1982 the principals moved from Los Angeles to
New York city and re-formed the group with new members under the name, The
Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. Akiyoshi arranged all of the music for the band and composed nearly all of the music recorded by the two groups over a 30-year period. Tabackin served as the bands' featured soloist on tenor saxophone and flute. The groups recorded 23
albums, toured in North America, Japan and Europe and, after the move to New York, had regular performances at the jazz club "
Birdland" before disbanding in 2003. The bands' recordings received several
Grammy nominations and regularly scored high in
Down Beat magazine's critic's and reader's polls.