This Boston jazz pianist is set to return after cancer treatment. Find out who she is

When it came out in the spring of 2021, Boston pianist Yoko Miwa’s album “Songs of Joy” was intended as an antidote to the pandemic, and the isolation and frustration it had brought. The album succeeded brilliantly, its soulful and invigorating melodies bringing both warmth and a sense of sprightly fun to her own originals and some smartly chosen covers.

The album didn’t just reach the top of the charts depicting jazz radio airplay, it won plaudits all over, and landed on lists of best jazz albums of the year, from the Patriot Ledger’s to that of the esteemed jazz magazine DownBeat. Jazziz magazine called it “a radiant new collection,” and JazzTimes judged it “one of the finest albums” of the year. Miwa also was recognized in the DownBeat Critics’ Poll as a Rising Star, for both 2022 and 2023. In one of those ironic music scenarios, she was an overnight success ... with her ninth album.

Miwa returns to the spotlight this Friday night, headlining Scullers Jazz Club in Boston with her trio, which includes her husband, Scott Goulding, on drums and bassist Brad Barrett.

(Scullers is located at 400 Soldiers Field Road in the Doubletree hotel, and the show begins at 7 p.m., with tickets to the show, and also dinner packages, priced from $35-$145. Check scullersjazz.com, or call 617-562-4148 for more information.)

If the music world in general was hamstrung by the pandemic and the closing of various clubs and venues, jazz in the Boston area was especially hard hit. Scullers was closed for a long time, and the RegattaBar in Harvard Square went dark for more than three years. Scullers also took its usual summer hiatus this year, but September marked a return for both major clubs. There is a palpable air of celebration with jazz back at the two iconic clubs, but in Miwa’s case, she has even more to celebrate this weekend.

Miwa, a native of Kobe, Japan, who came to Boston in 1997 to study at Berklee College of Music, is now an associate professor at the school who usually stays busy with regular gigs around the area. But in May of this year, she was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer, and had to step away for treatment. After a lumpectomy and a month of radiation, Miwa has been declared cancer-free, and Friday’s show will be a triumphant return to the stage for one of the Boston music community’s most vibrant and engaging performers.

“We are thinking about a new album, but haven’t started yet,” said Miwa this week from her Boston home. “At the beginning of the pandemic, we had signed a contract with worldwide rights and so on, but since then, it seems we’ve been trying to catch up on lost gigs and so on ... I’m teaching fulltime at Berklee and getting back into steady gigs around town. I’ve been pleased at how well the tickets for the Scullers show are selling. ... I’m always working writing and arranging, so we will have some new tunes for that show. We have played these fall shows at Scullers for 10 years now, and it is a very important place to play for us, which always brings in new fans.”

A quick glance back at "Songs of Joy" indicates the range of Miwa’s work that fans find so accessible. The title cut is a Billy Preston cover, a brightly infectious strut, while her take on Richie Havens’ legendary “Freedom” is like a burst of musical sunshine. Miwa’s cover of Thelonious Monk’s “Think of One” preserved all of that master’s quirky charm, and a reworking of “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You,” a tune made popular by Led Zeppelin, was an inventively dynamic tour de force.

Miwa’s originals on the album displayed her own mastery of storytelling-through-song, as “Largo Desolato” depicted isolation and rebirth in a thrilling way, while “The Lonely Hours” was a heartbreaking ballad reflecting her father’s dying moments in a Japanese hospital during the pandemic. Hearing the album, the plaudits that followed didn’t surprise any music fan.

“I was very surprised to be voted a Rising Star by DownBeat last year and this year,” Miwa said. “You usually have to be releasing albums every year for that kind of recognition, so I’m very happy. It is funny, because I’ve been doing this for quite a while, but it seems now the critics know my name, and like what I’ve been doing, so you have to be happy with that.”

More: 'Who's Next' in Boston this summer? Gov’t Mule

More: Stoughton Grammy winner Lori McKenna touring in her home state. Find out where to see her

Miwa had been close with the acclaimed jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, who died at 92 in April at his western Massachusetts home. He had been working on a final album, and his family has asked Miwa to help finish it, and then perhaps tour with a legacy band celebrating his music.

“Ahmad Jamal was really nice to me, and I loved his music,” said Miwa. “He wrote an amazing letter to me when he was sick, and I have it framed in my living room, so I see it every day. They’re having a memorial concert for him in November, and I was invited but I can’t make it because I am playing at the Falmouth Library on the same day – something I do every year.”

In the meantime, after the Scullers show, fans can look for Miwa at weekly Friday night gigs with her trio at the Mad Monkfish restaurant in Central Square, Cambridge, a residency she’s had for eight years. The restaurant’s owners are opening a second bistro, HobGoblin, in downtown Boston and Miwa expects to be playing there occasionally too.

Collier performs in Fall River

Another Berklee College alumna was busy on the local scene last Saturday as singer/saxophonist Vanessa Collier and her quartet headlined the Narrows Center in Fall River. Collier’s music mixes rock and soul, funk and jazz and her foursome’s 110-minute set featured the kind of fiery vitality that had the crowd roaring all night.

Collier’s latest album is this year’s “Live at Power Station,” featuring much the same lineup as she had Saturday. Most notably, Laura Chavez was along, the reigning Guitarist of the Year in the 2023 Blues Music Awards. The Collier take on Ann Peebles’ classic hit “I Can’t Stand the Rain” was a bit funkier than the original, but what really set it apart was a dazzling sequence of call-and-response between Chavez’ stiletto guitar tones and Collier’s gritty alto sax.

Another spine-tingling cover was the quartet’s rendition of Chris Smither’s “Love You Like A Man,” which went from Collier’s own passionate and full-throated vocal to a lengthy Chavez solo that was both a primer of superb dynamics and an emotional journey, and prompted a mid-song standing ovation. If fans were blown away by the guitarist’s skill, Collier then followed with her own magnificent alto sax solo that was itself a showstopper,and the audience was on its feet once more in roaring tribute. Collier also played guitar on a couple tunes, including evocative acoustic slide on her own tune, “Bloodhound.”

Collier’s originals ranged from the sensitive ballad “What Makes You Beautiful” to the hard funk dance groove of “Sometimes,” which she admitted was inspired by James Brown. Her song “When It Don’t Come Easy,” where Collier played a National Steel acoustic guitar, was another standout example of rock ‘n’ soul that moved your heart and your hips. Collier earned dozens of new fans Saturday night with her scorching show.

American Idol alum coming to town

THURSDAY: Scituate’s Ward Hayden & the Outliers celebrate their second album of Hank Williams Sr. tunes at The Narrows Center. Dopapod jams at Soundcheck Studios. Legendary singer Engleburt Humperdinck at Memorial Hall in Plymouth. Canadian rockers Broken Social Scene at Royale. Electro wizard Zhu opens two nights at The House of Blues. The Shaun England Band heats up The Spire Center. Indie rockers The Front Bottoms are doing two nights at Roadrunner. The bluegrass Li’l Smokes take over The Sinclair. Songsmith Greg Smith at City Winery. Bluesman Matt Swanton at The Fallout Shelter. Roots band Mount Joy opens two nights at MGM Music Hall.

FRIDAY: The BT-ALC Big Band is at Soundcheck Studios, with special guest Fred Wesley, formerly james Brown’s bandleader. Aldous Collins and Like-Minded Folk at Boston Harbor Distillery. American Idol alumna Crystal Bowersox rocks City Winery. Guitar ace Johnny A at The Spire Center. Rock out with Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors at The Paradise Rock Club. Folk favorite Robin Batteau at Club Passim. Daniel Miller & the High Life at The C-Note. Rock and funk with the Evan Goodrow Band at The Fallout Shelter.

SATURDAY: Folksinger Cliff Eberhardt is at the South Shore Folk Music Club. Pop siren SZA headlines TD Garden. 19th Nervous Breakdown – a Stones tribute – at The Next Page. Vineyard rocker Johnny Hoy & the Bluefish at Boston Harbor Distillery. The Edwards Twins – Las Vegas impersonators – play the Spire Center (and also a 2 p.m. Sunday show). Pat Travers rocks The Narrows Center. Comic Patton Oswalt has sold out one show at City Winery, and a second (10 p.m.) has been added. British songwriter Bruno Major at Roadrunner. Inverter – a Stone Temple Pilots tribute – at The C-Note. Alt-rockers Hojean take over Royale. Li’l Yachty gets down at the House of Blues. Sylvan Esso grooves at MGM Music Hall. Songsmith Chris Renzema at Brighton Music Hall. The Dave Matthews Band Tribute at Soundcheck Studios.

SUNDAY AND BEYOND: The Vinegrass Fest in Truro for bluegrass fans Sunday afternoon, noon to about 5 p.m., featuring local favorites like Twisted Pine (1 p.m.) and The High Hawks (4 p.m.) among others. Sunday afternoon also offers the final Rhythm Room Afternoon, at the John Alden Sportsmans Club in Plymouth, with blues star John Primer headlining. Sunday night the instrumental art-rockers Explosions in the Sky are at Roadrunner. Tuesday country-rocker Kim Richey at Club Passim; while California surf-rockers Sunroom hit Royale. Wednesday soul-rocker Joy Oladokun heats up Roadrunner. Oct. 5 finds the Marshall Wood/Donna Byrne Quartet at the Spire Center for jazz fans; while folk/blues/roots sensation Amythyst Kiah makes her Narrows Center debut; and St. Paul & the Broken Bones bring their soul-rock to The Colonial Theater in Boston. On Oct. 6, Soundcheck Studios has Maine’s fine roots rockin’ Mallett Brothers; while r&b singer Macy Gray is at Cary Hall; and bluesman Larry McCary arrives at City Winery. On Oct. 7, look for New England rock legends The Fools, shaking up the C-Note.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Scullers Jazz Club to host Yoko Miwa’s return to the stage