Asuka Kakitani 'Blooms' Expressive Orchestral Compositions

We welcome Asuka Kakitani to the realm of expressive composers and arrangers with Bloom. Chronologically, March 21st is the second day of spring for 2013, but the weather proved otherwise. So, we dreamed of spring and listened to new music evoking rebirth and the beauty of nature by Asuka Kakitani and her Jazz Orchestra this morning on 89.1 Jazz.

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Asuka Kakitani's Bloom is now available

Asuka Kakitani is originally from Osaka, Japan but she has always been fascinated by American jazz music. Following studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Ms. Kakitani moved to New York and plunged in to the city’s community of composers and arrangers. She quickly rose to the top of the list after garnering the BMI Foundation’s.  Charlie Parker Jazz Competition Prize 

With Bloom she joins composers who work in an orchestral setting rather than a traditional call-and-response big band. Colors, texture and sensations weave in and out of her pieces with endless variety – reflective of our natural world. Ms. Kakitani joins the ranks of composers such as Duke Ellington, Bob Brookmeyer, Gil Evans, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Maria Schneider who are skilled at writing music to suit the soloist and foster individual expression while remaining part of the cohesive orchestra. Of special note are soloists trombonist Matt McDonald on Bumblebee Garden and bass clarinetist Kenny Berger on Opened Opened. Singer Sara Serpa brings a sense of breathless, youthful wonder with her wordless vocals throughout Bloom. For spring and the ages, Bloom by Asuka Kakitani and her Jazz Orchestra is a welcome innovation in orchestral jazz.