Vocalist Kyoko Kitamura was born in
New York and raised partially in Tokyo. She studied piano at the
Juilliard School of Music prep division with pianist Jane Carlson, a
premier Hindemith interpreter who exposed Kitamura to contemporary
composers at an early age. However, curious about the world, Kitamura chose to become a
journalist with Fuji Television Japan, working out of Tokyo and Paris,
traveling around the world (including a stint as a Gulf War reporter).
She came back to NY in 1997, worked for a while as a magazine writer,
and, since 2001, slowly immersed herself in the music scene after a
hiatus of close to 15 years.
Building upon the musicianship
she had as a trained pianist and adding to it her globe-trotting
experiences, she developed a highly personal style of vocal
improvisation which incorporates multi-lingual spoken words,
electronics, as well as hints of different types of music she has heard
in various countries. Finding work as a side-person vocalist,
she honed her craft by performing and/or recording with bassist Reggie
Workman, saxophonist Steve Coleman, cornet player Taylor Ho Bynum,
Argentinean composer Laura Andel, vocalist Jay Clayton, and pianist Art
Lande, among others. Her style has been described as "outrageous",
"forward-looking", "fu*%ed up!", "nightmarish", "one of downtown's
finest singers."
In the spring of 2008, she performed in
Antwerp's deSingel Theater and in Amsterdam's Bimhuis with cornet
player Taylor Ho Bynum's SpiderMonkey Strings (its newest release is
"Madeleine Dreams" from Firehouse 12 Records). In the fall of 2008,
ok|ok, an avant/punk ensemble she co-leads with Mike McGinnis on
clarinet and Khabu Doug Young on guitar and ukulele, released the album
"Eating Mantis" from Ravi Coltrane's RKM label. In the summer of 2009,
she toured Costa Rica with pianist Yayoi Ikawa. Currently, she co-leads
the newly-formed Go-zee-lah, a twisted Japanglish art-pop-rock-improv
band featuring Yayoi Ikawa (p) and Harris Eisenstadt (dms). In New York
City, she frequently appears in downtown venues such as Roulette, Local
269, Jazz Gallery, Downtown Music Gallery, and the Stone.
Performed and/or recorded with: Laura Andel Orchestra, Jamie Baum, Taylor Ho Bynum, Benton-C. (video
artist), Jay Clayton, Steve Coleman, Josef Daley, Erik Deutsch, Harris
Eisenstadt, Shane Endsley, Angie Eng (video artist), Francois Grillot,
Gerry Hemingway, Jason Hwang, Yayoi Ikawa, Khabu, Mark Lamb (dance),
Art Lande, Mike McGinnis, Maria Mitchell (dancer), Tony Moreno, Ras
Moshe, Kirk Nurock, Jessica Pavone, Reuben Radding, Angie Sanchez,
Ursel Schlicht, Ed Schuller, Garth Stevenson, Steve Swell, Take
Toriyama, Tomas Ulrich, Bruce Williamson, Reggie Workman, and others.
Vocalist Kyoko Kitamura was born in
New York and raised partially in Tokyo. She studied piano at the
Juilliard School of Music prep division with pianist Jane Carlson, a
premier Hindemith interpreter who exposed Kitamura to contemporary
composers at an early age. However, curious about the world, Kitamura chose to become a
journalist with Fuji Television Japan, working out of Tokyo and Paris,
traveling around the world (including a stint as a Gulf War reporter).
She came back to NY in 1997, worked for a while as a magazine writer,
and, since 2001, slowly immersed herself in the music scene after a
hiatus of close to 15 years.