Junko Onishi

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For the Japanese swimmer see Junko Onishi (swimmer)

Junko Onishi (born in 1967) is a Japanese jazz pianist; she plays in the post-bop genre.

After studying at Berklee she moved to New York City, where she played with Joe Henderson, Betty Carter, Kenny Garrett, and Mingus Dynasty. She has also worked with Jackie McLean, Holly Cole, and Billy Higgins, among many others, and recorded eight CDs for Blue Note as a leader.

Although she lists Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Ornette Coleman as her primary influences, her playing is also reminiscent of McCoy Tyner and contemporaries such as Kenny Kirkland and Mulgrew Miller (check out her solo on "Ja-Hed" from "Live at the Blue Note Tokyo" with alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett).

She appears in the 1997 documentary Blue Note: A Story Of Modern Jazz playing the song "Trinity" ("Quick") from her album Play, Piano, Play: Junko Onishi Trio in Europe.