Kimiko Kasai

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Kimiko Kasai ( Japanese 笠 井 紀美子 , Kasai Kimiko ; born December 15, 1945 in Kyoto Prefecture ) is a Japanese jazz singer who has emerged as a designer since 1990 .

Act

Kimiko wanted to be a jazz singer as a teenager. In 1964 she moved to Tokyo, where she joined the trio of pianist Yuzuru Sera, with whom she also made her first recordings in 1968. In 1970 she made her first solo album. Over the next several years she was able to work with Mal Waldron , Gil Evans and Herbie Hancock . She has also performed at international festivals in North America, Hungary and Yugoslavia.

For seven consecutive years she was hailed as the most popular Japanese jazz singer in the Japanese trade journal Swing Journal . As a singer, she was therefore able to enter into advertising commitments with companies such as Parco, Sanyo, Hitachi , Suntory and others, for which she also did television advertising in some cases. In 1978 she moved to Los Angeles and continued her career from there.

In 1987 she graduated from the Gemological Institute of America in Santa Monica with a diploma in jewelry design. Since 1990 she has developed her own brand Kimiko by Kimiko , which was exclusively distributed by a large Japanese company for twelve years. In 1998 she finally withdrew from the music business.

In 2002 she opened her own boutique in Ginza to market her design items from there. From 2005 she worked with the Japanese porcelain company Yokohama Masuda-gama , for which she designed dishes. In 2006 she founded the Kasai Kimiko Office and relocated her business, which includes jewelry and tableware as well as watches, to Santa Monica.

Discography

  • Yuzuru Sera Trio Featuring Kimiko Kasai The Modern Playing Mate (1968)
  • Just Friends (1970)
  • Kimiko Kasai & Mal Waldron One for Lady (1971)
  • Yellow Carcass in the Blue (1971)
  • Kimiko Kasai / Gil Evans Orchestra Satin Doll (1972)
  • Umbrella: Works of Haruomi Hosono (1972)
  • What's New (1973)
  • In person (with Oliver Nelson , 1974)
  • Kimiko Is Here (with the Cedar Walton Trio, 1974)
  • This Is My Love (1975)
  • We Can Fall in Love (1976)
  • Tokyo Special (1977)
  • Round and Round (1978)
  • Kimiko Kasai & Herbie Hancock Butterfly (1979)
  • Kimiko (1982)
  • Love Talk (1984)
  • New Pastel (1984)
  • Watching You (1985)
  • My One and Only Love (1985)
  • Perigo a Noite (1987)
  • Kimiko (1990)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short biography
personal data
SURNAME Kasai, Kimiko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 笠 井 紀美子 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese jazz singer and designer
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Kyoto Prefecture , Japan