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Kyoko Kitamura

Oddball vocal improviser, pianist, and composer

About Me

A former journalist with childhood piano training at Juilliard Pre-College and a stint as a one-time war reporter on her résumé, Kyoko Kitamura is an oddball vocal improviser and composer who has performed and/or recorded with many distinguished musicians including Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman, Steve Coleman, Jim Staley and Taylor Ho Bynum. Recently, she appears on Trillium E (New Braxton House 2011), the first ever studio-recording of an Anthony Braxton opera, and released her first solo album ”Armadillo In Sunset Park,” a collection of music written for the New York-based dance company Mark Lamb Dance.

She can also be heard on the critically acclaimed Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings release Madeleine Dreams (Firehouse 12 Records 2009), Jamie Baum’s Solace (Sunnyside Records 2008), and Steve Coleman’s Lucidarium (Label Bleu 2004) among others. She currently works with Anthony Braxton as a vocalist in his Tri-Centric Orchestra and as a board member of his Tri-Centric Foundation. Her own songs are often based on her real-life experiences. AllMusicGuide calls her “a major asset... Kitamura is an expressive vocalist who knows how to be quirky and eccentric but is also quite musical.”

Free MP3 download from her latest album available here (”Charlie Brown's Wandering Eye” from the album “Armadillo In Sunset Park”): http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/jazzdownload.php?id=7510

Take Five (Q&A) with Kyoko Kitamura here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=41925

Website:http://kyokokitamura.com