“Make extreme neutral” is the goal of Tokyo-based NEUT Magazine, which in this project with Public Books shines a light on different forms of violence and discrimination against Asian minorities—in Japan and around the world. Today’s essay, ‘To Convey Love Through Sound’: A Jazz Musician’s Comeback in the Aftermath of a Hate Crime,” by Fumika Ogura, was originally published by NEUT in November 2022.
Tadataka Unno is a talented pianist based in New York. Born in 1980 in Tokyo, Unno is considered one of the most gifted Japanese jazz musicians who mesmerizes audiences with his technique, creativity, balanced sensibilities, and beautiful tone. Towards the end of their lives, both the legendary Hank Jones and Japanese jazz pianist Yuzuru Sera mentored Unno, demonstrating the highest confidence in his talents. Unno looked up to them as mentors not just in music, but also in life. When Hank Jones passed away in May 2010 at the age of 91, Unno was by his side. He emerged from this great sadness to take up the baton of Jones’s jazz piano legacy. Unno was the first and only Japanese regular member of the Roy Hargrove Quintet.
Get My Mojo Back is Unno’s miraculous comeback album after his recovery from an attack that shocked the world. In September 2020, he fell victim to an anti-Asian hate crime in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. Unno was assaulted by a group of people in a New York City subway station and suffered serious injuries, including a fractured right shoulder—a fatal wound for a pianist. Doctors declared that he might never be able to play the piano again.
The incident was covered by CBS, among other news programs in the U.S. and Japan. A crowdfunding campaign launched by a musician friend after the incident raised large sums of money.
Since then, Unno has made a spectacular comeback, thanks to intensive physical rehabilitation and the perseverance of his indomitable spirit. His road to…
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