Sumi Tonooka (born October 3, 1956) is an American jazz pianist and composer.
[1] Throughout her career, Tonooka has worked as a jazz pianist with musicians such as Kenny Burrell, Little Jimmy Scott, Sonny Fortune, Red Rodney, Benny Golson, Erica Lindsay, Odean Pope, Philly Joe Jones, and David Fathead Newman.
[1] In 1985, she was commissioned by the Japanese American Cultural Association to write a piece based on the experiences of her mother, who was interned at Manzanar, California, during the Second World War.
This work, Out from the Silence, incorporates the koto and shakuhachi alongside standard jazz instrumentation.
[2] In addition to her activities as a musician, Tonooka has contributed as a composer to numerous film scores, such as the documentary Queen of the Mountain (2005).