Kokichi(Koh) Tagawa
He graduated magna cum laude from Berklee College of Music in 1995, in Jazz Composition with Vibraphone. He studied with Gary Burton, Ed Saindon, Ted Pease.
A native of Japan, Kokichi has always been passionate about jazz, playing in night clubs after work. He came to Boston with wife and 4 children in 1992 at age of 46 to attend college and fulfill his dream to be a professional musician.
2002-2012 Lexington, KY
Corkscrew Wine Bar 9/14/2014
A
Night with Ko
by David Nollman
A
night with Ko
seems
at first
like
a traditional night of jazz
of
the beautiful standards
of
Porter and Kern and Rogers and Hart.
Soft…
evocative…
a
gentle journey back to a simpler time.
If
you’re a regular,
you
catch it right away
but,
unless you've been here before,
you're
unaware
that,
when he starts to close his eyes,
the
transformation has begun,
and
subtly,
so
subtly you didn't notice,
that
the terrain has changed.
The
melody with all its familiarity is gone,
and
the gentle pianist
has
swept you to a place you've never been.
He
has, once again, drawn you in
and
the soft, evocative place you started
is
now a speck of light on a distant shore.
It’s
no longer
just
Porter, Kern or Rogers and Hart,
but
Tagawa… unleashed!
Tagawa…
mad, furious and unbridled!
Tagawa…
up and off the piano bench!
Tagawa,
so at one with his music
that
it is only after the last cord is played,
after
he has gently brought you back to earth,
after
your breath has begun to return,
that
you realize
that
all this was done,
in
the tradition of the great masters,
with
his eyes completely closed.
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4/14/2015 personal email for Pandafes
4/14/2015 personal email for Pandafes
“Hi Kokichi- Thank you so very much for your outstanding performance! You are very talented and your music was absolutely wonderful! I am so glad you were able to talk to some of our Japanese students! We had almost. 300 people at the event!! I am so glad you were able to get home safely. That does make it a very long day for you. Thank you again for such a great performance! Kim.”
Kim Jackson,Big Bent Community College, Moses Lake, WA