A Horror-Film Bit Player, a Clarinetist's Rhythm Aces, and the Jazz Singer Whose Debut Agency Shaved Two Years Off Her Age

Yasuko Agawa was born Yasuko Satō in Kamakura on October 16, 1951 — though when she debuted in 1978 her agency listed 1953, the sort of adjustment Japanese pop management of the era made without much embarrassment. Her route to jazz ran through the screen: she left the Bungakuza theatre institute after a year and took small parts in Toho films, including the 1974 horror picture Evil of Dracula and 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla, before quitting over being cast in nude scenes as a minor player. A Ginza jazz club led to the clarinetist Shoji Suzuki, whose Rhythm Aces she joined as singer in 1974. Her debut album, Love-Bird, came out on Victor in 1978. Her fourth, Journey (1980), reportedly sold some 90,000 copies, a startling figure for a jazz vocal record, mostly to office workers. Decades later, DJs found her again: "L.A. Night" now turns up on city-pop compilations worldwide.