Maki Asakawa was a Japanese jazz and blues singer, lyricist, and composer who
was born in Mikawa, Japan, in 1942. She achieved early professional recognition
in 1967 with the debut recording Tokio Banka and is famous for being a prominent
voice of Japan’s urban counterculture and for her nickname the “Queen of the
Underground”. After moving to Tokyo, Asakawa performed at US Army bases and in
cabarets before signing with the label EMI Music Japan. She gained wider
notoriety following a series of concerts organized by Shūji Terayama at the
Sasori-za Theater in 1968. Her discography...