Kyoko Kitamura at Voice Box Series at Cornelia Street Cafe

Kyoko Kitamura, one of the most highly respected vocal improvisers in the New York creative music community, will present an evening of original compositions for voice and piano from her 2012 solo album Armadillo in Sunset Park, and will also be joined by percussionist Andrew Drury for a selection of recent pieces for her Moving Music Ensemble. The evening is part of the Voice Box series curated by vocalist Sara Serpa.

Kitamura has garnered critical praise for her “great vocal range, veering from wordless vocalese to near operatic feats” (AllAboutJazz) and her “smoky alto that at turns belongs to a children’s storyteller, slam poet or blues singer” (New York City Jazz Record), with All Music Guide describing her as “an expressive vocalist who knows how to be quirky and eccentric but is also quite musical.” Her talents have been sought out by legendary composer/bandleaders like Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman, and Steve Coleman, along with musical peers like Taylor Ho Bynum, Jim Staley, and Mari Kimura....

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Kyoko Kitamura, one of the most highly respected vocal improvisers in the New York creative music community, will present an evening of original compositions for voice and piano from her 2012 solo album Armadillo in Sunset Park, and will also be joined by percussionist Andrew Drury for a selection of recent pieces for her Moving Music Ensemble. The evening is part of the Voice Box series curated by vocalist Sara Serpa.

Kitamura has garnered critical praise for her “great vocal range, veering from wordless vocalese to near operatic feats” (AllAboutJazz) and her “smoky alto that at turns belongs to a children’s storyteller, slam poet or blues singer” (New York City Jazz Record), with All Music Guide describing her as “an expressive vocalist who knows how to be quirky and eccentric but is also quite musical.” Her talents have been sought out by legendary composer/bandleaders like Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman, and Steve Coleman, along with musical peers like Taylor Ho Bynum, Jim Staley, and Mari Kimura.

Her first solo album, Armadillo in Sunset Park, collects songs written for her collaboration with choreographer Mark Lamb. The compositions draw the surreal out of the ordinary, from the title track’s Brooklyn culinary encounter to stories of parasites, zombies, and cannibalistic cartoon characters. Disturbing tales wed to catchy melodies, sung with graceful musicality and subtle virtuosity, Armadillo In Sunset Park is currently streaming in its entirety at http://kyokokitamura.bandcamp.com.

Kitamura’s more family-friendly side is represented by her Moving Music Ensemble, a group that uses graphic scores and conduction to encourage audience participation, offering a unique way to bring new listeners into the improvisatory process of creative music.

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