Ai Kuwabara Trio Project U.S. Tour 2013 - ジャズ Jazz from Japan! - Los Angeles Theatre CenterNEW

Jazz from Japan! Instrumental jazz phenomenon ai kuwabara trio project makes their American debut. Led by 22-year-old piano prodigy Ai Kuwabara, this band has stolen the attention of the entire jazz community in Japan. The band's music is urban contemporary jazz with a strong, experimental feel and a flavor of funk, showing a regard for a wide-range of musical styles and featuring elements of progressive rock and even pop.

After only two albums and two years, the group's originality and fresh sound earned them a spot at the huge Tokyo Jazz Festival 2013, headlined this year by Tony Bennett himself. Japan Times music critic Sean Smith named their second album THE SIXTH SENSE one of his albums of the year.

Location
Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Background
Born in 1991, pianist Ai Kuwabara has previously been introduced in the media as "Genius Girl." With skill and sensitivity that are sure to amaze, she has shot to the top with her music. While her music calls to mind Michel Petrucciani and Esbjörn Svensson, she expresses her creative world with the backing of her lush sensitivity and precise technique. Every original composition that Kuwabara writes down is free and emotional, occasionally avant-garde, and lies beyond the frame of jazz pianists that have existed thus far.

Adding his name as co-producer, bassist Yusuke Morita plays everything from transcendent solos like Jaco and Hadrien Feraud to aggressive phrases that make for a luminary and magnificent backing sound. Drummer Shintaro Imamura, with his active career and experience studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, calls to mind his favorites Chris Dave and Steve Gadd, adding an essential element to the trio.

The transcendental Piano Trio Project that swooped down on the world of Japanese jazz is finally making their American debut!