Japanese Pianist Watanabe to Receive New Orleans Jazz Award

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Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--Preservation Hall Foundation, the operator of world-famous jazz club Preservation Hall in New Orleans, will honor Japanese pianist Mari Watanabe, 59, as a winner of this year's Legacy Awards, it was learned Tuesday.

The award ceremony will be held Wednesday.

The prize honors musicians for their outstanding contributions to jazz heritage and the New Orleans community, the birthplace of jazz. Watanabe will be the first Japanese to receive the award.

A native of Tokyo, Watanabe joined a jazz club while attending university. She moved to New Orleans in 1985 and has since been performing there.

At Preservation Hall, Watanabe has been a regular pianist since 1994.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

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