Composed by Asuka Kakitani
Text by Emily Dickinson 
Performed by Quince Ensemble at Kracum Performance Hall at Carleton College on March 18th, 2022

In This Short Life

Composed by Asuka Kakitani 
Performed by Asuka Kakitani Jazz Orchestra
Released on Nineteen-Eight Recordings (2013)
Recorded at Systems Two in Brooklyn, NY

Bloom

Bumblebee Garden

Commissioned by the Bridge Chamber Music Festival. Premiered by Artaria Quartet on August 25, 2019, at Kracum Hall, Carleton College.

Night Bird (String Quartet)

Composed by Asuka Kakitani

Performed by Zeitgeist at Studio Z in St. Paul, MN, in 2019.

Ghost Story of Yotsuya

When I moved to Northfield from Brooklyn, NY, in 2016, I became captivated by Minnesota’s vibrant nature. Summer is shockingly colorful and brilliant, and winter is unimaginably cold, but its beauty is breathtaking. The winter night is so dark I cannot see my feet as I walk, but when I look up, I can see many stars. The sunrise and sunset are magical, and clouds are often in fascinating shapes, which I could watch for hours. This piece contains 12 movements inspired by nature in Minnesota. I tried to capture the spirit and feel of particular moments from each month of the year.

Twelve Months In Minnesota - November (Dance Of The White Sprites) -  - Eri Isomura, Percussion

When I moved to Minnesota from Brooklyn in 2016, I was shocked to discover that the night was much darker in my new neighborhood. Walking back home, I realized I could not see my own feet, but when I looked up, I saw many stars. This experience stuck with me, so when I heard that this commission piece for the creative lab could be science and astronomy-inspired, it made me think about light pollution. I learned about Globe at Night, an international citizen-science campaign, from Amanda, an astronomer at Yerkes Observatory. Reading about light pollution on their website immediately inspired me, and they generously allowed me to use the text, which I am very grateful for since the text became the center of the piece. 
It has been a joy and privilege to experience inspiring collaboration and witness my piece come alive with the excellent care and thoughtfulness of amazing Maiani, Daniel, and Alex.

Light and Dark

Inspired by The Enigma of the Owl, a stunning photo book, Owls and Trees reflects my immersion into the captivating world of owls. As I composed, I kept a webcam feed open to watch the nest of a barred owl, feeling as though I was right there with them. I also listened to recordings of owl calls, working to imitate their unique sounds within the music rather than directly using recordings. This close observation, alongside the photobook, inspired me to translate the beauty and presence of these birds into music, capturing their calls and movements—from preparing to take a flight to hunt in the night woods and soaring through vast skies. The book also heightened my awareness of their shrinking numbers due to habitat loss, a concern woven into the piece’s emotional undertones.

Owls and Trees

秋 (Autumn) is one of four movements in The Pillow Book, alongside Spring, Summer, and Winter. This work draws inspiration from The Pillow Book, an ancient Japanese collection of essays written in 1002 by Sei Shōnagon, a court lady. I selected passages in which Shōnagon reflects on the beauty of each season and composed four short movements, each capturing her vivid, evocative descriptions of these seasonal moments.

Aki (Autumn) from The Pillow Book

Premiered on July 2018 at Studio Z in St. Paul.

Dark Woods Where The Wolf Lives

06 Dragonfly's Glasses

01 Bloom

08 Skip

Still Dark

“A musical impressionist and supreme colorist” (Hot House Magazine) aptly characterizes the Japanese-born composer Asuka Kakitani. At the forefront of Brooklyn’s burgeoning big band scene, Kakitani has attracted some of New York’s finest jazz artists with her adventurous, melodically charged charts. Asuka was selected as a 2013 DownBeat Critic Poll Rising Star Arranger six months after her 18-piece Asuka Kakitani Jazz Orchestra (AKJO) made a stunning debut with Bloom on Nineteen-Eight Records. The album was featured on the international radio program PRI’s The World, depicting Bloom as “full of complicated harmony . . . but it also makes room for simplicity.” Also Bloom was selected as one of the best debut albums on the 2013 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. Other accolades include Jazz Wax’s Marc Myers saying “Kakitani and her ideas and pen are the real deal;” while DownBeat Magazine described Bloom as having “sumptuous positivity and organic flow (★★★★);” and All About Jazz called it “absolutely superb.”

The images of nature that are often the inspiration for Kakitani’s works are clearly felt by many of her listeners, including The International Review of Music who illustrates how “Beams of light shimmer and shine while notes take flight.” WEMU’s Linda Yohn continues the imagery with: “Colors, texture and sensations weave in and out of [Kakitani’s] pieces with endless variety – reflective of our natural world.” In addition to her own works on Bloom, Kakitani’s rejuvenation of two Japanese children’s songs are heard as portraying “original ideas and clarity of style” (Jazz Tokyo) filtered through the language of her distinct harmonic and melodic concept which is “luminous, lush and symphonic” (Lucid Culture).

Kakitani founded her orchestra in 2009, featuring some of the most creative musicians in New York City, including Mark Ferber, Jason Rigby, John O’Gallagher, Pete McCann, John Bailey, Sara Serpa, and more. AKJO has been performing her music in venues in the New York City area such as Drom, ShapeShifter Lab, Bowery Poetry Club, St. Peter’s Church, and regularly at Tea Lounge as a part of the “Size Matters” Large Ensemble Series. Her awards include the BMI Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, the Manny Albam Commission, and Composer Assistance Grants from the American Music Center in 2009 and 2010.

Personnel:
Asuka Kakitani (composer/arranger/conductor)
John O’Gallagher (alto & soprano sax, flute)
Ben Kono (alto & soprano sax, flute)
Jason Rigby (tenor sax, clarinet)
Mark Small (tenor sax, clarinet)
Kenny Berger (baritone sax, bass clarinet)
Jeff Wilfore (trumpet, flugelhorn)
David Spier (trumpet, flugelhorn)
John Bailey (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Matt Holman (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Mark Patterson (trombone)
Matt McDonald (trombone)
Jacob Garchik (trombone)
Jeff Nelson (bass trombone)
Pete McCann (acoustic & electric guitar)
Mike Eckroth (piano, rhodes piano)
Dave Ambrosio (acoustic & electric bass)
Mark Ferber (drums)
Sara Serpa (voice)


Asuka Kakitani

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