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| Hiromi Kasuga Releases Jazz CD Featuring Top New York Jazz Artists Jazz music pianist, composer, arranger and educator Hiromi Kasuga celebrates the release of her new jazz CD, Rising Sun and features original compositions, standards and popular songs including "Lush Life" by Billy Strayhorn, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, " "Laura" and others. Ms. Kasuga is accompanied by some of New York's top jazz musicians including saxophonist Seamus Blake, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Mark Taylor. This new jazz CD recording is the follow-up to Hiromi's successful previous release, New York Callin', which was named among the Top 10 Jazz CDs by Epoch Times. Jazz Inside Magazine recently recognized Hiromi Kasuga as "immensely inventive and unique when it comes to arranging and inspiring high level contributions from collaborators and inspired creations herself" on her new jazz CD. Hiromi Kasuga – jazz pianist, composer and arranger, discovered her passion and aptitude for music at age six, when she began playing classical piano. Now living in New York, Hiromi hails from Japan. After studying jazz music at the Berklee College of Music, she received a full scholarship to Long Island University. She continued her studies at Manhattan School of Music, where she earned a Masters of Music degree. While at Manhattan School of Music, she studied with pianist Bruce Barth, saxophonist Dave Liebman and pianist Kenny Barron. She graduated with top honors. In addition to having developed her skills as a gifted jazz pianist, she is also a prolific jazz composer and arranger. She nurtured her passion for writing for big band and studio orchestra by studying with two highly accomplished and well respected arrangers, Jim McNeely and David Matthews. Among her accomplishments are arrangements for big band and string orchestra, under the directorship of alto saxophonist Brad Leali at Texas Tech University. Currently, Ms. Kasuga is active performing at leading jazz venues in the United States including the Blue Note and Kitano in New York City. As an educator, Hiromi has been teaching all genres of music – Classical, Jazz, Blues, Pop, as well as composing and arranging – to students from ages 4 through 80. The proof of her aptitude to teach and inspire students is the result of the numbers of her students who have gone on to pursue their education at such institutions as LaGuardia High School of Music and Arts, Berklee College of Music and City College of New York. "Kasuga shines on both acoustic and electric pianos and is backed by a stellar aggregation of players. Many of the pieces glow with a lyrical resonance that makes for a seamless flow between tunes." – Jazz Inside Magazine write your comments about the article :: © 2015 Jazz News :: home page |