Yamamoto was largely self-taught as a pianist, although he did have piano lessons as a child.
[1] As a student there, he played professionally, first as an accompanist to pop singer Micky Curtis; they toured Europe in 1967.
[1] In 1974, he became house pianist at Misty, a Tokyo jazz club.
[1] He also "lived in New York for a year, when he performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Carmen McRae, Sam Jones, Billy Higgins, Elvin Jones, and Sonny Stitt, among others.
"[1] Commenting on Yamamoto's 2008 album What a Wonderful Trio!, Audiophile Audition noted that "Yamamoto seems to favor the very highest reaches of the treble keyboard with great gusto".