Kimmel Center’s Mellon Jazz Up Close Series "Goes Global" with the Debut of Japan’s Triumphant Jazz Trumpeter Tiger Okoshi and his Band November 17
November 5, 2007
Classic American jazz standards take on new meaning with the debut of Japanese trumpeter Toru "Tiger" Okoshi and his Band’s performance in Perelman Theater on Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 7:30pm. Okoshi first gained national exposure playing with the Gary Burton Quartet in 1978, followed by various collaborations including George Russell’s Living Time Orchestra in the early 1990’s and a recording with Bob Moses. A transmigrant who settled in the United States, Okoshi sold his airline ticket during a visit in 1972 to pay for his tuition at the Berklee College of Music, where he now resides as associate professor. His dual nature is first implied in his name - "Tiger," his musical nickname; and Toru, his alter ego and Japanese name. His recordings include Echoes of Note, a modernized interpretation of Dixieland standards, as well as the more recent Hustle Tigers, among others. His program introduces Japanese inspired works juxtaposed alongside American jazz standards.
"When I’m playing, I want to paint the air with my colorful tone. Choices between long and short strokes, quickly or slowly, high in the canvas or low, brighter color or darker, with a fat brush or a pen. Paint the air one note at a time." — Toru "Tiger" Okoshi
This year’s Kimmel Center Presents Mellon Jazz Up Close series "Goes Global" featuring artistic performances from various internationally renowned artists from continents all over the world. Tiger Okoshi Band concert is the first concert in the Mellon Jazz Up Close "Goes Global" series scheduled for the 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be Canada with leading Toronto soprano saxophonist Jane Bunnett on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 7:30pm.
Tickets for Japan, Tiger Okoshi Band are $43 and $37, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Toru "Tiger" Okoshi knew he wanted to pursue his artistic inclination to become a trumpeter when he was just 13 years-old and heard for the first time a performance by Louis Armstrong in Osaka, Japan. After graduating from Kwansei Gakuin University in 1972, Okoshi then married and traveled to the United States. The transformative experience initiated a series of successive engagements - he enrolled at the Berklee College of Music, and performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall with British composer Mike Gibbs, to then share the stage with the legendary Bill Evans trio. Soon after, he formed the popular Boston-based "Tiger’s Baku" fusion group, which included Grammy® Award winning guitarist Bill Frisell as one of the original members and received several regional awards. In 1978, he joined the Gary Burton Quartet, and recorded Times Square on ECM featuring Roy Haynes and Steve Swallow.
Okoshi has performed with various well known jazz, pop and R&B performers including Tony Bennett, Grammy® nominated LA-NY Dream band lead by Dave Grusin, Pat Metheny, Gunther Shculler, Lyle Mays, Bob Mintzer, Bela Fleck, Teddy Pendergrass, O’Jays, Four Tops, Stylistics, Little Anthony and Imperials, among others. In 2007, he was invited to perform the national anthem to open the first game of the season between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston. His trumpet playing was accompanied by 20 trumpets, 10 trombones and seven Japanese Taiko drummers playing his original arrangement.
Recent albums include Hustle Tigers (2003), Color of Soil (1998) and Two Sides to Every Story (1995). In 2002, Berklee Press published his first book, Practice Method. Okoshi has his own music column in the Arts magazine in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in Japan. He has appeared as a guest speaker at several music symposiums, including the "History of Jazz" at Sapporo Cultural Hall in Japan (2007); and "Music and Autism" at Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University (2001). He is committed to furthering the education of other younger aspiring musicians and participates in various master class sessions abroad and in the United States.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARC Wheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and American Express. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-Pop, WXPN and WXPN's Kids Corner 20th Anniversary.
Free In The Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Saturday, November 17, 2007 | 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Mellon Jazz Up Close Series
Japan
Tiger Okoshi Band
Tiger Okoshi, trumpet, composition
Leo Genovese, piano, synthesizer
Justin Purtil, bass, voice
James Williams, drums
FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENT:
Saturday, November 17, 2007 | 6pm
Commonwealth Plaza
Starfinder’s Young Stars Photo Exhibit
The Starfinder Foundation and the Kimmel Center partnered to enrich the lives of approximately one thousand children in Southeastern Pennsylvania this summer. The Starfinders’ young stars took photographs of soccer in their communities in a unique combination of arts and sports. The children’s photographs will be exhibited in Commonwealth Plaza.
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