Long Bio:

Born and raised in London to Japanese parents, Karen Shiraishi was classically trained on the piano from a young age. She fell in love with the sound of black American music as a teen, obsessively listening to Stevie Wonder and Art Blakey records. She spent her formative years immersed in the vibrant London music scene, cutting her teeth under the mentorship of Julian Joseph OBE. She went on to study at Berklee College of Music, where she learned from the late great Ralph Peterson Jr, Tia Fuller and NEA Jazz Masters Joanne Brackeen and Terri Lyne Carrington. Her mentors instilled in her a respect for tradition while encouraging her to develop her own voice.

Shiraishi has performed across the country and the world, including the London Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, French Quarter Festival, DC Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s Jazz Club NY, Bern Jazz Festival, Ascona Jazz Festival, Novosibirsk Jazz Festival and more. She is a recipient of the 2021 Countess of Munster Musical Trust Award, as well as a 2025 grant from Chamber Music America’s Performance Plus program, funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Foundation.

Since moving to New Orleans in 2022, she has gained attention in the traditional jazz scene, appearing frequently with Shannon Powell, Kermit Ruffins and the Preservation All-Stars. Equally in demand in the straight-ahead scene, Shiraishi balances an active performing schedule as a sideman alongside her work as a bandleader and composer. She is also one of the founding members of the “Cuttin’ Up” sessions at Vaughan’s lounge, which has become a cultural hub for a new generation of young musicians and diehard live music goers on the local scene.