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Protean Labyrinth

by Kyoko Kitamura

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in 5" sleeve featuring artwork by FCKNRX, screen-printed on 100% PCW recycled chipboard. Due to the nature of the recycled chipboard and printing process, each sleeve will be slightly different. CDs are replications, not duplications. Please note that there will be no shrink wrap and the CD will be mailed out in cardboard mailers to reduce plastic waste.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Protean Labyrinth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 150 

      $16 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    BONUS ITEM
    Download includes liner notes and selected scores from the album: Tripwire, Slide, No Exit, Things We Need (aren't all that much), Push Two.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $11 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 3 Kyoko Kitamura releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of eating mantis, Protean Labyrinth, and Armadillo In Sunset Park. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $7.15 USD or more (35% OFF)

     

1.
Lure 01:48
2.
Tripwire 08:08
3.
Push Four 03:31
4.
Slide 08:26
5.
Deadbolt 06:43
6.
No Exit 08:35
7.
8.
Push Two 03:18

about

Chosen as the Bandcamp Album of the Day on 8/13/18.

“...Fans of experimental jazz and contemporary classical music will find much to love in Kitamura’s work...” - Seth Colter Walls, writng for Bandcamp

"...A high point is Slide, which features a wistful three-note theme worked through by Kitamura and Laubrock. Filiano stays in the mostly background with bowed drones, and Seok provides fractured beats. Kitamura expands upon the expressive theme with mournful cries and the rhythm section builds to a frenetic interlude, but the piece as a whole remains surprisingly understated. 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." - Mike Borella, Avant Music News

“…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.” - John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz

“…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.” - Vanessa Vargas, Jazzrightnow

“…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.” - Fabio Francione, il manifesto

"...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." - Franpi Barriaux, CitizenJazz

"...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。" - Atsushi Joe, JazzTokyo

“…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.” - Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

credits

released August 10, 2018

Kyoko Kitamura: voice; Ingrid Laubrock: tenor sax; Ken Filiano: bass; Dayeon Seok: drums

All compositions by Kyoko Kitamura except Lure and Deadbolt

Lure and Deadbolt composed by Ken Filiano (BMI/FLIZMO MUSIC), Kyoko Kitamura (BMI), Ingrid Laubrock (PRS/MCPS), Dayeon Seok

Recorded Feb.15, 2018 at Bunker Studios

Recording engineer: Aaron Nevezie
Assistant engineer : Nolan Thies
Mixed and mastered by Jon Rosenberg
Cover art: FCKNRX
Produced by Kyoko Kitamura

Very special thanks to Ken and Jun Kubo, Taylor Ho Bynum, Anthony Braxton and the Tri-Centric Foundation, Paul Caputo, Ingrid Laubrock, Ken Filiano, Dayeon Seok, Friendship Fund and JazzRightNow.com

In memory of my parents Reiko and Hidefumi Kitamura

All rights reserved
℗ © 2018 Kyoko Kitamura

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about

Kyoko Kitamura Brooklyn, New York

Vocal improviser, composer, bandleader, who feels extremely fortunate to have music in her life and to be able to share it with others.

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