Noriko Ueda is originally from Hyogo, Japan. Her interest in music began early in her life, studying classical piano at the age of four. At 16, she began playing the electric bass and by 18 she began her career with the upright bass.
Ueda was the B.E.S.T. scholarship recipient for the Berklee College of Music where she majored in Jazz Composition, graduating in 1997. She then relocated to New York City and has since become an in-demand player with such legendary groups such as the Frank Wess Quintet and his Nonet, the Ted Rosenthal Trio, Sherrie Maricle and The Diva Jazz Orchestra, Five Play, Grady Tate’s Band, Harry Whitaker’s Band and with artists such as Marion Cowings, Makoto Ozone and Terumasa Hino.
Other career highlights to date include leading her own small groups and her big band, the Noriko Ueda Jazz Orchestra, and recording her first trio album, Debut, (Terashima Records) in 2015 which features pianist Ted Rosenthal and drummer Quincy Davis. She toured Japan with the Ted Rosenthal Trio for 11 consecutive years (2006 - 2017), and performed on his album Out of this World, which reached #1 on the national jazz radio charts in 2011.
Ueda was featured on a Japanese documentary TV show called “Gutto Chikyu-bin" which introduced the life as a jazz musician in New York City and won the third annual BMI Foundation/Charlie Parker Jazz composition Prize for her original big band piece "Castle in the North.”