photo by Monica Frisell
Emi Makabe is a Japanese composer, vocalist, shamisen player, and educator based in New York City. Described by New York Music Daily as creating "rapturous, adventurous Japanese folk-influenced jazz," her music encompasses jazz, pop, rock, classical, and improvised traditions while reflecting her background in Japanese music. She sings in English and Japanese as well as wordlessly, and accompanies herself on piano and shamisen, a traditional Japanese string instrument that she has adapted to her own musical language. She has performed at renowned venues and festivals throughout New York City, Europe, and Japan.
After moving to New York in 2008, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz performance and the Pro Music Award from the City College of New York, followed by a Master of Music from the Aaron Copland School of Music. Her studies focused on jazz and classical harmony, theory, and vocal techniques. Her teachers include Theo Bleckmann, Janet Steele, Charenee Wade, Jen Shyu, Donna Doyle, David Schober, Jeb Patton, Billy Harper, Thomas Morgan, Jason Moran and Bill Frisell. Counterpoint is at the heart of her approach to composition, and she has taken counterpoint lessons with Paul Caputo and studied Schoenberg harmony with Judith Berkson. Since completing her formal studies in 2016, Emi has been actively performing her original music, both with her ensemble and as a solo artist.
During her high school years in Japan, she had the opportunity to play traditional Japanese string instruments, such as the koto and shamisen, receiving lessons from Sumie Akiyama of the Michio Miyagi lineage. While continuing to learn traditional shamisen techniques from Tamami Imafuji, Emi has embarked on a journey to reintegrate her background into her music, adapting her playing style. In addition to her studies of traditional shamisen techniques, she has embraced the goze style as a primary aesthetic influence. Goze were blind women who were not only skilled shamisen players but also singers. Their unique sound and artistry reflected their resilience as they traveled and earned their livelihoods despite their disabilities. This style embodies a spirited and unaffected quality, somewhat akin to the Appalachian banjo tradition, creating a bridge to American music.
Her debut album, Anniversary, consisting of eleven original pieces, was released on October 30, 2020, under Dave Douglas’ curation on Greenleaf Music. Her second album was released in May 2025 from Sunnyside Records. Jason Moran worked as a co-producer and an artist educator for the album. This album features Emi's quartet along with special guest artists Bill Frisell (guitar), Jason Moran (piano), and Meshell Ndegeocello (MC).
Emi was invited to perform at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 2018. She was selected for the Millay Colony artist residency in August 2020 and received grants from Chamber Music America in 2021, 2024, and 2026. Additionally, she was awarded a grant from the New Music Creator Fund by New Music USA in 2026. She actively performs in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, collaborating with musicians such as Kenny Wollesen, Thomas Morgan, Vitor Gonçalves, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Jonathan Blake, Rudy Royston, Kit Downes, Nate Wood, Gerald Cleaver, Fabian Almazan, Ches Smith, Chris Tordini, Joe DysonK, Skúli Sverrisson, Jacob Sacks, Billy Mintz, Satoshi Takeishi, and Billy Harper. In 2022, she embarked on a UK tour with a trio featuring British pianist Kit Downes and American bassist Thomas Morgan, during which they gave a masterclass at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The trio toured Japan in 2023 and performed in Europe again that year. Emi toured Japan in 2024 as a duo with Thomas Morgan, with whom she also gave a concert in Iceland in 2025. She is also a Steinway Associate Educator, teaching voice, piano, and music theory.
About the Emi Makabe Quartet
The Emi Makabe Quartet has been active in New York’s jazz scene for nearly eight years, performing at venues like Bar Bayeux, St. Peter’s Church, and the now-closed 55 Bar and Cornelia Street Café to enthusiastic, often sold-out audiences. The band includes Emi Makabe (vocals, shamisen), Thomas Morgan (bass), Vitor Gonçalves (piano, accordion), and Kenny Wollesen (drums). Emi’s compositions blend jazz with Japanese folk, pop, Brazilian, and polyrhythmic influences. She sings in English and Japanese, plus wordless vocalizations, accompanying herself on shamisen—a traditional Japanese stringed lute played with a plectrum, which Emi adapts for jazz.
Their debut album, Anniversary (2020), was released on Dave Douglas’s label; their second album, Echo (2025), was released by Sunnyside Records, featuring Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, and Meshell Ndegeocello. The quartet completed their first US tour earlier in 2026, making stops in Houston, Santa Cruz, and Palo Alto. The quartet emphasizes collaborative improvisation, highlighting each member’s voice to create dynamic, emotionally resonant performances bridging cultural tradition and modern innovation.
Time Out NYC:
"Composer Makabe makes imaginative Japanese-folk–influenced jazz, weaving her shamisen-playing and vocals with combos, string quartets and other diverse arrangements."