Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with Japanese-born, Chicago-based jazz pianist Hana Fujisaki of Entre Amigos.

We talk about the band’s brand-new 2025 album Magpie – The Music of Joe Clark, her journey from Japan to the U.S., and her role in Chicago’s vibrant jazz scene.

Entre Amigos is a Chicago supergroup featuring saxophonist Roy McGrath, pianist Hana Fujisaki, bassist Kitt Lyles, and drummer Gustavo Cortiñas. While on tour across Asia, the band performed Joe Clark’s music nightly in China and South Korea, making this recording a natural next step.

In this conversation, Hana reflects on her early Love of jazz, studying in Tennessee, and her emergence as a vital voice on the Chicago scene.

More on the album: https://lydialiebman.com/index.php/project/entre-amigos/

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Joe Dimino Podcaster/Artist

Joe Dimino has been writing & creating in a variety of capacities since his college days at the University of Missouri-Kansas City somewhere around 1993. If you are keeping score, that would be about 29 years+. It all began at UMKCs University News as a Sports Writer & turned into a myriad of expressive avenues. Inventing poems, art, video & audio has always been in the proverbial cards.