Recent Press and Reviews
[Introduction to Syntactical Ghost Trance Music (a film by Kyoko Kitamura)]
Ted Panken (DownBeat magazine January 2024 issue) December 2023
“…the narrative revolves around previously unreleased rehearsal and recording footage of the sessions that generated the album, and a separate interview with Braxton in avuncular professor mode. Edited by director, co-producer and singer Kyoko Kitamura for presentation at an August 2023 Braxton festschrift in Darmstadt, Germany, it’s an invaluable resource for Braxton-philes.”
[Geometry – Geometry of Trees]
Paul Serralheiro (The Squid’s Ear) December 2022
“Kitamura’s voice parts in “Continuing Inexplicability” have the Sprechgesang of a Schoenberg, or Berio or Varese, to these ears, with a purity of tone in tandem with the same-register cornet but also have a swing to them in spots and some Ella Fitzgerald-isms in the scat phrasing…The abstract scat syllables communicate feeling and mood more than actual semantically precise meanings, but that’s the beauty of it.”
Franpi Barriaux (Citizenjazz) November 2022
“Après Geometry of Distance et Geometry of Caves, la ligne qui anime le quartet étasunien, où l’on retrouve la chanteuse Kyoko Kitamura, ne varie pas. Si la droite brille par sa rectitude, l’angle peut parfois s’avérer différent : dans Geometry of Trees, il n’est plus seulement question d’espace et de profondeur, mais aussi de relief…C’est encore une très belle réussite que cette géométrie nouvelle.”
BBC Radio 3 May 2022
“…subtle ferocity of cellist Tomeka Reid, guitarist Joe Morris, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and exquisite vocal work from Kyoko Kitamura. A foursome playing with texture, pitch, and daring presence.”
Phil Freeman (Stereogum) May 2022
The quartet of vocalist Kyoko Kitamura, cornet player Taylor Ho Bynum, guitarist Joe Morris, and cellist Tomeka Reid first came together on 2018’s Geometry Of Caves, which was followed by Geometry Of Distance a year later. This third installment is more of the same: completely free improvisation that never devolves into anarchy, because each of the four musicians is listening carefully to the other three and making sure that what they’re contributing is complementary and adds to the whole picture. Kitamura’s vocals range from Dadaist streams of syllables that could almost be words to a vast array of sputtering sounds, coughs, hisses, pops, and uncanny noises that sound like she’s screaming through a harmonica. Bynum’s cornet has bite, even when muted; Morris’ fingers scrape and pluck the guitar strings, the notes pinched off and bent out of shape; and Reid’s cello playing is ominous and atmospheric, and occasionally percussive. “Imaginary Donuts,” one of the album’s shorter tracks, offers a lot of croaks, murmurs and whistles from Kitamura and Bynum, as Morris and Reid pluck their strings together in a bebop-meets-bluegrass race. This music is absolutely not for everyone, but I love it. (From Geometry Of Trees, out now via Relative Pitch.)
[William Parker’s Migration of Silence into and out of the Tone World]
Will Layman (PopMatters) March 2021
“Perhaps the best of these singer/band sessions is Cheops. Kyoko Kitamura sings with and through an ensemble featuring Matt Moran’s vibes, Parker’s bass, tuba, drums, and soprano saxophone. Kitamura’s wordless voice can be harsh or lush, depending on the context, and it often blends with or winds around the soprano (Toronto’s Kayla Milmine-Abbott) in thrilling ways, as on the title track. On “The Map is Precise”, Kitamura blends spoken word and singing in interesting ways, with the chattering band playing pretty behind her in a somewhat Threadgill-ian manner.”
Christopher Notarnicola (The Paris Review) February 2021
“…if you’re like me, you’ll focus most of your attention on the singing rather than the words. On that front, the disc called Cheops, which features the experimental vocalist Kyoko Kitamura, is stellar, as is Harlem Speaks, with Fay Victor singing, Parker playing bass, and the amazing Hamid Drake playing drums.”
Phil Freeman (burning ambulance) January 2021
“Kitamura is an improvising vocalist who has worked extensively with Anthony Braxton and co-leads a group with Joe Morris, Taylor Ho Bynum, and Tomeka Reid that has produced two albums to date, 2018’s Geometry of Caves and 2019’s Geometry of Distance. On the first track here, “Entire Universe,” her voice leaps and dives, growls and whines, flickering from here to there like a squirrel leaping between branches that seem impossibly far apart until it sticks the landing effortlessly.”
[Geometry of Distance]
Frantz Matzner (New York City Jazz Records)
“…seriously abstract, unabashedly ‘out’music put forward by improvising musicians at the height of their powers. There are many notable elements contributing to what likely will be seen as a lasting contribution to improvisatory music.”
AMN Reviews
“…the most notable aspect of Geometry of Distance is how Kitamura, Bynum, Morris, and Reid manage to make the 50-plus minutes thereof such an engaging listen. In lesser hands, their approach might have fallen apart under its own weight into aimless meandering. But with this quartet, the album is an adventure – one that keeps the listener on edge with evolving meta-patterns and systems. It is a piece of abstract performance art dutifully transcribed to the digital medium. Highly recommended.”
Todd McComb’s Jazz Thoughts
“For this generation … Kitamura in particular continues to extend technique … such that Geometry of Distance includes ongoing developments of overtone singing & noisy breath in waves, shudders & even whistling…”
[Protean Labyrinth]
Bandcamp Album of the Day 8/13/18: Kyoko Kitamura, “Protean Labyrinth” (Seth Colter Walls)
“…Fans of experimental jazz and contemporary classical music will find much to love in Kitamura’s work. A steady constant on this album is the way all the players—bassist Ken Filiano, tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, drummer Dayeon Seok, and Kitamura herself—make the frequent shifts of meter sound natural…”
Avant Music News (Mike Borella) “Protean Labyrinth”
“Despite the instrumentation, this is not jazz. Nor does it groove, or set forth clear melodies. Instead, Kitamura and company offer an emotionally and intellectually satisfying excursion into a world of instrumentals with voice. Each minute of the recording overflows with ideas. Needless to say, this is one of the more compelling releases of the year.”
AllAboutJazz (John Sharpe) “Protean Labyrinth”
“…what they create is very much an ensemble music…Kitamura uses her voice just like another instrument, exerting exquisite control, eschewing lyrics for direct emotion, although sometimes seeming as if she is discoursing in an unknown language somewhere between scat and speech…Kitamura fashions an immersive experience like little else.”
Jazzrightnow (Vanessa Vargas) “Protean Labyrinth”
“…The record speaks on its own. Kitamura, Laubrock, Filiano, and Seok each have something to say through their playing and open a conversation with one another through every piece. There are moments of melodic echoing from one player to another, where the instruments feel vocal, and where the vocalizations blend in with the tones of the sax and bass. This record exemplifies the ability people have of speaking through their music even without the use of words.”
JazzTokyo (Atsushi Joe 定淳志) “Protean Labyrinth”
「何よりアルバムを魅力的にしているのは作品全体を透徹する、モノクロームの夢境を彷徨うような玄妙な美しさであろう。ヴォーカルは言葉を排して「声」そのものに徹し、エッジのマイルドなテナーサックス、包容力豊かなピッツィカートとアルコ、バランスに優れたドラムとのコラボレーションが滋味深い。そしてそのサウンドの起点となっているのが、やはり北村の「声」であり、音楽を導くリーダーシップである。」
CitizenJazz (Franpi Barriaux) “Protean Labyrinth”
“La voix de Kitamura, capable de mutations immédiates qui vont en un instant d’une approche strictement rythmique à des accents lyriques, se retrouve face à Laubrock avec une jubilation certaine, pendant que basse et batterie se découvrent un goût inédit pour la hargne…Une belle définition de cet orchestre et, plus avant, de nos musiques, proposée par une artiste fabuleusement inclassable.”
Il Manifesto (Fabio Francione) “Protean Labyrinth”
“…Con Protean Labyrinth , la Kitamura, alla guida del quartetto multietnico Tidepool Fauna, formato da musicisti come Ingrid Laubrock al sax tenore, Ken Filiano al contrabasso e Dayeon Seok alla batteria, esplora le possibilità sonore e d’improvvisazione della voce in una gamma di variazioni condotte su una terza via che incrocia il dettato contrappuntistico schoenberghiano della prima Scuola di Vienna filtrato da John Cage con le sperimentazioni plurilinguistiche di Cathy Berberian. Con in più il jazz «meticcio» oggi suonato a New York.”
New York City Jazz Records and Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond (Tyran Grillo) “Protean Labyrinth”
“Protean Labyrinth is a tunnel burrowing into the linguistic soil from which we all sprout. It’s a sensation best expressed in a handful of tracks bearing the title “Push”. Of these, “Push Four” is the most emblematic, a spontaneous ramble, which, like the album as a whole, achieves coherence by virtue of its passage through time—pushing indeed against the temptation of meaning in favor of instinctive understanding. At the center of this aphasia is vocalist Kyoko Kitamura, who doesn’t so much lead the band as strike it like flint on rock. Tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Dayeon Seok are chemically bound to her at every moment, tasting the air of possibility like a three-pronged tongue.
Despite the guiding scores from which the music is drawn, the quartet undermines any purchase of exposition. What starts as a bright groove one moment might morph into throaty sinews of darkness the next. That such changes occur without force or hierarchical touch is testament to these musicians’ willingness to smash their compass the moment it’s calibrated. The finest turns are “Deadbolt” and “No Exit”, both masterful containments of wildness. Each is a glass house filled with vocal stones—not thrown but handled so much that they’ve become rounded with care.
Kitamura’s voice, brimming with fierce humility, is central to these goings on. In “Lure”, each of her utterances is an Ouroboros of potential meaning sacrificed on the altar of its own becoming and in “Slide” she breaks out the vocal champagne, bubbling and frothing her way through a subterranean mythos. This is the underside of language, a sonic entity that grows and moves of its own accord.”
Downtown Music Gallery (Bruce Gallanter) “Protean Labyrinth”
“…There is a magic ingredient going on here, a kind of spiritual elixir that glows throughout. The overall vibe is rather dreamy, as if Tidepool Fauna is floating inside one of our collective dreams, on a raft balancing on calm waves. Without a doubt, one of my favorite discs of the month.”
[Geometry of Caves]
The New York Times (Seth Colter Walls) performance review of Geometry of Caves CD release at The Stone (May 23, 2018):
“In recent years, the vocalist Kyoko Kitamura has been a key collaborator with the composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, singing in operas from his “Trillium” cycle and appearing with him in chamber settings. On Wednesday at the Stone, she displayed some striking experimental vocal effects as part of a quartet that also included the guitarist Joe Morris, the brass specialist Taylor Ho Bynum, and the cellist Tomeka Reid (all also Braxton associates).
As on this group’s vibrant new recording, “Geometry of Caves,” issued by the Relative Pitch imprint, Ms. Kitamura occasionally produced dramatic gusts of overtone singing through quick inhalations. By suggesting both harmony and stridency in the same moment, the arresting technique seemed a succinct representation of this ensemble’s memorable approach — one in which improvisational energy never overshadows the fineness of inner details.”
Stereogum album review of Geometry of Caves (May 25, 2018):Geometry of Caves was chosen as one of the best releases of May 2018 by Stereogum‘s Phil Freeman who describes Kyoko Kitamura’s vocals as “…what Diamanda Gálas does but with less of an element of raw terror.”
Todd McComb’s Jazz Thoughts
“…Not only does Kitamura utilize a variety of register alternations over larger periods, but various (non-verbal) phonemes, buzzes, creaks, fast throat articulations etc. within the smallest spaces. The result suggests a conceptual span or tapestry, in which various combinations & configurations might not be arrayed systematically (at least temporally), but yet emerge over the course of the album as mappings of its interiorized spaces. (One might thus suggest a sense of triangulation….) The ensuing sense of balance can feel eerie, given the variety of quick exchanges from which it derives over the course of the seven tracks — feeling its way, as it seems to do, through metaphorical darkness — yet & consequently placing Kitamura’s wonderfully varied vocal figures in sophisticated textural relief.”
CitizenJazz (Franpi Barriaux)
“De la géométrie à la cartographie, il n’y a que la représentation dans l’espace qui diffère. Pour le quartet, on a le sentiment que la musique jouée dans l’instant est une matière brute qu’ils vont tenter d’éclairer à grand renfort de traits droits et de sinuosités, de sécantes et de tangentes…Au fond des cavernes, on en fait du diamant.”
[Tri-Centric]
The New York Times on Tri-Centric’s work with Face the Music featuring Kyoko Kitamura (June 8, 2018): High School Musicians Take On the (Almost) Unplayable (Seth Colter Walls)
CitizenJazz (Franpi Barriaux) interviews Kyoko Kitamura and Carl Testa on the workings of Tri-Centric
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[Performance reviews of the Anthony Braxton Trio (Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Kyoko Kitamura) at Big Ears Festival (Knoxville, TN) on April 2, 2016]:
The Guardian (Seth Colter Walls)
“…I saw two extraordinarily long lines at Big Ears: one for a performance by Eighth Blackbird, Nico Muhly and Philip Glass (I took one look and didn’t even try to get in), and one for Braxton’s second performance of the weekend. (I arrived an hour beforehand.) Though the trio performance was often quieter and more intimate feeling than Friday’s excellent 11-piece set, its effect was somehow even more overwhelming. While once again using his “Zim music” system, the instrumentalists here – Braxton (on saxophones and electronics), brass specialist Taylor Ho Bynum and vocalist Kyoko Kitamura – drew from a different group of Braxton compositions when it was time to create multi-piece collages.
In addition to vocal improvisations that included clear beams of fragmentary song, or else keening screeches and guttural bellows, Kitamura has also performed in Braxton’s most recent operatic productions. So while Braxton’s interactive laptop system emitted electronic washes of sound – and as Braxton displayed his famous wealth of solo saxophone exclamations, timbres and melodies – Kitamura would cue Bynum into strangely comic soliloquies from Braxton’s Trillium opera series. The crowd laughed, where appropriate, but mostly stood in communal rapture for the hour-long set. It was my favorite performance of the weekend – a high from which I still have not come down.
If you missed out: Root for a live album release (as this trio has not issued a recording yet). Kitamura’s vocals can also be heard in the studio recordings of Braxton’s operas Trillium E and Trillium J – while her improvisations with the saxophonist can be heard on four albums included in the massive box set titled 12 Duets (DCWM) 2012.”
The New Yorker (Alex Ross, includes trio illustration)
“…Braxton, wielding an array of reeds, appeared twice, first with an eleven-piece ensemble and then with a trio (Taylor Ho Bynum, on cornet, and Kyoko Kitamura, vocals). Both groups produced dense, fractured masses of sound that could be mistaken for passages in nineteen-fifties compositions by Stockhausen or Nono. Yet Braxton periodically introduced an abbreviated, smokily lyrical bit of melody. Following the rule book that he has devised over the decades, he communicated to his colleagues with coded gestures—play a particular piece, turn to a particular page—and others gave direction as well. In the ensemble, the music had the feel of a freewheeling game; in the trio, it unfolded as a rapt late-night conversation, a collective musing aloud.”
The New York Times (Ben Ratliff)
“…during a rigorous and generous set on Saturday by Mr. Braxton’s trio, with the vocalist Kyoko Kitamura and the cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, I thought: Maybe it is all about packaging. Maybe, with the right hype, any music, no matter how noncommercial, can generate lines around the block.
But that’s not it. Perhaps these people were here because they knew they wouldn’t be pandered to, and that they would have the excitement of figuring out what this group had to do with them. In that moment of connection, you could imagine this music — passionate, unnamable — becoming part of local culture, one enhancing and cultivating the other.”
Concert review by Robert Bush – AllAboutJazz – on the Anthony Braxton Trio performance at Angel City Jazz Fest (Sept.27, 2014, Zipper Hall, L.A.)
“…Kitamura chirped and soared, giggled and roared with an incredible range and laser intonation…Enough cannot be said about the stunning abilities of Ms. Kitamura—she functions at the highest instrumental level and was able to deal with pages of dense notation, acrobatic intervals and intricate layering with devastating surety.” (full review here)
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[Armadillo In Sunset Park]
Review by John Sharpe – AllAboutJazz
“…a genre-defying debut… […] Her expressive, sometimes theatrical, delivery shows a great vocal range, veering from wordless vocalese to near operatic feats via an alluring speech like enunciation. […] The mock serious chorus “always use rubber gloves when handling raw armadillo,” never ceases to amuse. In performance, the dancers don Pepto Bismol-pink rubber hand wear, which would be the cherry on top.” (full review here)
Richard Kamins
“In a little under 31 minutes, Kyoko Kitamura creates a wondrous, if somewhat altered, world with just her voice and piano (with occasional electronics and vocal overdubs.) Playful and serious, this music insinuates itself into your mind and leaves one wanting more.” (full review here)
Bruce Lee Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery)
“This disc is yet another swell surprise as Ms. Kitamura creates her own world with odd stories, voices and sounds. […] Ever since hearing the Mothers of Invention as a teenager, the sound of silly or satirical lyrics sung seriously still cracks me up. Being a mother herself has helped Kyoko to sing these words in a way that is both joyous and ridiculous with a certain innocent-sounding charm. […] Even at a mere 31 minutes, Kyoko Kitamura has her own weird world so that any of us can enter and be swept away by acquiring this splendid offering.” (full review here)
Sergio Piccirilli (El Intruso)
“La calidad de tesitura, peso vocal y timbre de Kyoko Kitamura tanto como su dominio técnico e infrecuente combinación de diferentes formas de improvisación vocal, la han establecido como una de las cantantes con mayor proyección de la escena vanguardista del nuevo milenio. […] Kyoko Kitamura, en Armadillo in Sunset Park, no sólo traduce en términos musicales los elementos visuales implícitos en la coreografía sino que, además, dota de vida a cada uno de los personajes e historias relatadas en él merced a la amplitud de su registro, variedad de recursos expresivos y el acabado uso de un particular sentido del humor absurdo.[…]Kyoko Kitamura, en Armadillo in Sunset Park, unifica de manera novedosa mundos artísticos dispares y lo hace con humor, ingenio, gracia y un invalorable instinto lúdico.” (full review here)
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From the review by Bruce Lee Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery) on Vision Festival 16 (2011)
“The final set of the Vision Festival was an extraordinary orchestral Tribute to Billy Bang […] The lead vocal was performed by Kyoko Kitamura and she did an amazing job, her beautiful, heartfelt voice sailing proudly above the swirling strings, reeds and percussion. There were a number of stunning moments throughout the piece, a duo with Kyoko’s voice and Roy Campbell’s (?) trumpet…” (review for Saturday June 11th, Day 7)
“The second night started with an ensemble called Vocal Flight which included three singers – Fay Victor, Kyoko Kitamura & Jean Carla Rodea plus Ken Filiano on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. I wasn’t so sure on what to expect, but I was much impressed nonetheless. […] The ever-supportive Ken Filiano contributed a wonderful bass solo and there was an amazing duo with Kyoko and Tyshawn. ” (review for Monday June 6th, Day 2)
Review by John Sharpe (All About Jazz) on Go-Zee-Lah’s performance during Vision Festival 15 (2010)
“Fronted by the captivating Kyoko Kitamura, Go-Zee-Lah gave one of the Festival’s most theatrical performances […] Spirited group interplay meant they covered a lot of ground in their 40-minute set […] Kitamura acted as the focal point, introducing the tunes, and moving between torch singing, sprechgesang (an expressionistic technique halfway between singing and speaking) and vocal aerobatics in her accomplished delivery…”
Review by Alex Henderson (All Music Guide) on ok|ok’s “Eating Mantis” (RKM 2008)
“Although vocalists ranging from Betty Carter to Ann Dyer to Kitty Brazelton have made exciting contributions to avant-garde jazz, the vast majority of avant-garde jazz recordings have been totally instrumental. So when a vocal-oriented CD that is relevant to avant-garde jazz comes along, one tends to take notice. Avant-garde jazz isn’t the only ingredient on OK OK’s vocal-oriented Eating Mantis; most of the material combines avant-garde jazz with avant-garde rock, and some fans of art rock and alternative rock are likely to take notice of this experimental recording. But avant-garde jazz is certainly a major part of the equation for OK OK, who have a major asset in lead singer Kyoko Kitamura. Singing primarily in English but occasionally detouring into Japanese, Kitamura is an expressive vocalist who knows how to be quirky and eccentric but is also quite musical…”
Review by Richard Kamins (Hartford Courant) on ok|ok’s “Eating Mantis”
“…Kitamura’s voice is an amazing instrument, with great range. […] If you’re someone who likes to be challenged, who has to go back and listen until what you hear makes sense (or begins to make sense), look no further. “Eating Mantis” is “new” music that should be heard.”
Review from Point of Departure October 2009 Issue by Bill Shoemaker on Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings “Madeleine Dreams” (Firehouse 12 Records 2009)
“…Kitamura is a gifted singer […] electrifying on Ornette Coleman’s “What Reason Could I Give”…”
Review from AllAboutJazz October 2009 Issue by Ivana Ng on Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings “Madeleine Dreams”
“…Kyoko Kitamura flows through the divide between dream and reality with grace. She narrates the first seven tracks, the lyrics of which are excerpts from the story, with a smoky alto that at turns belongs to a children’s storyteller, slam poet or blues singer…”
Review by Richard Kamins (Hartford Courrant) on Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings “Madeleine Dreams”
“…Vocalist Kyoko Kitamura is a wonder here; she serves as narrator, as a character in the song/stories and as another instrument in the ensemble with her siren-like voice…”
Review from JazzTimes about Jamie Baum’s “Solace” (Sunnyside 2008)
“Solace is a no-frills, 74-minute-long major statement by flutist, composer and arranger Jamie Baum. Its impressive centerpiece is her four-part “Ives Suite,” […] Part three, “Questions Unanswered,” is particularly striking, where Kyoko Kitamura’s atonal vocalizing and then her chanting of the words “misleading,” “unintended,” “blame” and “grey zone,” in addition to recorded excerpts from speeches by President John F. Kennedy, all combine to form a powerful anti-war statement. […]” Scott Albin, JazzTimes, August 2008