Kazuho Murakami

Kazuho Murakami Jazz Trombonist / Composer

Kazuho Murakami leads the Kazuho Murakami Large Ensemble, a 13-piece group combining a jazz septet with a string quartet. The ensemble creates contemporary music where the dynamism of jazz coexists with the lyricism of strings. In 2021, he released "Memory Sea" (記憶の海) featuring guest drummer Shinya Fukumori, followed by his debut leader album "Growth Rings" in 2022.

Murakami began piano at age five and started trombone and big band jazz upon entering Konan Junior High School's Brass Ensemble Club. As concertmaster, he won first place at the International Jazz Festival Stellar Jam and received the Soloist Award at the Japan Student Jazz Festival.

After enrolling at Doshisha University's Faculty of Commerce, he performed with Doshisha University's The Third Herd Orchestra and Keio University's Light Music Society. As concertmaster of The Third Herd Orchestra in 2017, the band placed 6th at the Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest (5th place in 2016). With Keio's Light Music Society, he earned 3rd place in 2018.

Following graduation, Murakami was active in the Kansai region as a jazz trombonist, performing in combos, musicals, and big bands including the Miki Hirose Jazz Orchestra and the Shojiro Yokoo Big Band.

In 2022, he relocated to New York City to pursue performance and creative work. He earned a Master of Music degree in Jazz Performance from Queens College, Aaron Copland School of Music, City University of New York. In 2025, he returned to Japan to continue his career.

He has studied trombone under Shinsuke Nakai, Hiroshi Munekiyo, Nobuki Isono, Miki Hirose, Shigeki Ikemoto, John Yao, and Ryan Keberle. Composition and arranging with Sangdae Lee and Christopher Zuar.

Born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture.