BLOOM

A series of watercolor washed canvases, Bloom focuses on Kakitani’s original compositions and arrangements, music that unfolds with poetic flair and canny narrative drive. Her compositions are often inspired by art, literature, and nature, and she captures this inspiration in orchestrational color and melodic development via extended through-composed forms.

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Score/Parts

Tracks:

1. Bloom (10:51)
2. Electric Images (10:08)
3. Bumblebee Garden (8:26)
4. Dance One (9:40)
5. Opened Opened (7:21) (Japanese traditional/A. Kakitani)
6. Dragonfly’s Glasses (8:57) (K. Hirai/A. Kakitani)
7. Islands in the Stream (10:22)
8. Skip (9:23)
All compositions by Asuka Kakitani unless otherwise indicated.
January 10, 2013

All About Jazz

“this music is absolutely superb.”
January 10, 2013

Downbeat

“The sumptuous positivity and organic flow of the writing indicate a natural process and breezy abundance of expression.”
March 21, 2013

WEMU89.1 Linda Yohn

“Colors, texture and sensations weave in and out of her pieces with endless variety – reflective of our natural world. Ms. Kakitani joins the ranks of composers such as Duke Ellington, Bob Brookmeyer, Gil Evans, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Maria Schneider who are skilled at writing music to suit the soloist and foster individual expression while remaining part of the cohesive orchestra.”
January 31, 2013

Lucid Culture

“Although there are many different colors at play here, they tend to be bright, summery and vibrant. Translucent motifs shift through the arrangements with an unlikely nimble, assured, fleet-footedness for such majestic music: both the composer/conductor and her nineteen-piece ensemble deserve credit for manuevering through so many intricate turns.”
January 15, 2013

Bird is the Worm

“Plenty of bursts of euphoria followed by long soaring sections of beauty.”
January 20, 2013

THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MUSIC

“Beams of light shimmer and shine while notes take flight.”
December 30, 2012

Jazz Tokyo

“実際に全曲を繰り返し聴くことで、ここでの高度なオーケストレーションとアンサンブルの磁力に次第に引きつけられる、そんな快感を私は久し振りに体験した。いったん咲き乱れるお花畑に足を踏み入れると、垣谷明日香の創りだすオーケストレーションの多彩さ、テクスチュアの豊かさ、「ひらいた、ひらいた」や「とんぼのめがね」を新たに甦らせたアイディアの斬新さとペンの冴えが、鮮やかな色彩と自然の移り変わりを活写するような響きをたたえて目や耳に飛び込んでくる。その結果、全感覚を総動員して聴く喜びを体験する至福が待っている。”
March 25, 2013

Gapplegate Music Review

“Bloom is what Ms. Kakitani is doing. She is showing herself as a beautiful musical flower. And she is giving us some very lovely new big band compositions.”
March 28, 2013

Jazz Weekly

“Amazingly colorful textures and sounds weave in and out of your ears, and the segue of moods is enticing.”
March 18, 2013

Improvijazzation Nation

“she surely knows how to compose music… the first of the 9 songs, the title track, “Bloom“, is without a doubt the freshest big-band (18-piece, to be exact) tune I’ve heard (yet) in 2013.”
April 25, 2013

TOMAJAZZ

“A Kakitani le gusta partir de un concepto sencillo e ir desarrollándolo con maestría hasta conseguir una densidad armónica notable, ya sea repitiendo motivos que cambian constantemente de contexto o contraponiendo dos acordes, como en “Dance One”.”
April 25, 2013

The Best JazzAlbums of 2013 Lucid Culture