Noriko Ueda, originally from Hyogo, Japan, began her musical journey early in life. She studied classical piano at age 4. At age 16, she began playing the electric bass. At age 18, she began her career on the upright bass.

Noriko received the B.E.S.T. Scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she majored in Jazz Composition, graduating in 1997. She then relocated to New York City.

 

Noriko has performed at historic venues, including “Carnegie Hall”,  “Jazz at Lincoln Center - Dizzy’s Club”, “the John F. Kennedy Center”, "Hollywood Bowl", “Birdland”, "Village Vanguard" and "Blue Note New York and Tokyo".

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She has performed, toured and recorded with various groups, including "ARTEMIS", “Ted Rosenthal Trio”, "Bill Charlap Trio", “Frank Wess Quintet” and his Nonet, "Kenny Barron Quintet", “The DIVA Jazz Orchestra”, "Birdland Big Band", "Grady Tate Band”, “Harry Whitaker Band”, Makoto Ozone and Terumasa Hino.

 

Highlights

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Touring internationally with Artemis, led by Renee Rosnes. The ensemble was named “Jazz Group of the Year” by DownBeat magazine for three consecutive years (2023–2025) and received the Jazz Journalists Association’s “Mid-Sized Ensemble of the Year” award in 2025. Their third album, Arboresque (Blue Note Records, 2025), topped the JazzWeek Jazz Radio Chart for five consecutive weeks and was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.

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Her first leader trio album “Debut”, featuring Ted Rosenthal (piano) and Quincy Davis (drums) was released by “Terashima Records” in 2015.

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Ueda performed at Blue Note New York numerous times with her Noriko Ueda Trio and Quartet, as well as with her big band, the Noriko Ueda Jazz Orchestra. (2002–2018)

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She toured Japan with the Ted Rosenthal Trio over 15 times (2006–2026). Their album “Out of This World” reached No. 1 on the national jazz radio charts in 2011.

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She has been a member of Sherrie Maricle & The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and Five Play for over 20 years. Highlights include a collaboration with Johnny Mandel (2010) and arranging a big band piece for Macy’s July 4th fireworks broadcast on NBC (2014). Her compositions and arrangements also appear on albums "25th Anniversary Project" (2017), "DIVA + The Boys" (2019), featuring Claudio Roditi and Ken Peplowski, and "Swings Broadway" (2022).

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She was featured on Japanese documentary TV program “ Gutto Chikyu-bin”, which profiled her life as a jazz musician in NYC. (2009)

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Noriko won the BMI Foundation’s Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize for her original big band piece "Castle in the North”. (2002)

 

Quote

She totally rocked the band with her huge, rich, and clear swinging sound.  Her ensemble playing and solos were outstanding throughout the entire performance.  She also has very creative composition and orchestration skills for small and large ensemble. Noriko Ueda stands tall as a contemporary world-class musician in my book!

-Rufus Reid, Jazz Bassist/Composer