KENTA SHIMAKAWA
DEBUT FULL-LENGTH RECORD
"Glimpse is an extraordinary album by an accomplished and extremely skilled guitarist, Kenta Shimakawa. In addition to his guitar abilities, Kenta is an imaginative composer with a penchant for exploring forms and harmony outside the norm, a quality I find particularly valuable in any musician in the quest of identity." - Steve Cardenas
"GLIMPSE" IN THE MEDIA
2019 The Walker's, "Vol.58 - Jazz New Disc"
2019 New School News, "Kenta Shimakawa, Jazz '18, Debuts First Album 'Glimpse'"
2019 Everything Is Noise, "The Noise of June 2019"
2019 JazzPress (Polish), "Kenta Shimakawa -Glimpse"
2019 Altprogcore (Italian), "Kenta Shimakawa - Glimpse (2019)"
2019 Can This Even Be Called Music?, "Stavros Gasparatos, The Pneumatic Transit, Gordon Beeferman, Kenta Shimakawa, and Park Jiha"
2018 New School News, "Kenta Shimakawa, Jazz ’17, and Jamael Dean, Jazz ’20, Win DownBeat Awards"
PRAISE FOR "GLIMPSE"
ARTWORK BY
TEY BARTOLOME
PERSONNEL
PERSONNEL
Photo credits below
Louisa Rosi (Voice)
Louisa is the main vocalist for all but one of the tracks on this album! She’s been involved since the early demos of the tunes and has graced many, many silly recording sessions for this record. She hails from Paris and is one of the many talented musicians from France that made it onto this record. Thank you for being part of this Louisa!
Baptiste Horcholle (Tenor & Soprano Saxophones)
From Nice, France is Baptiste, one of my earliest collaborators that helped me birth my first band TinderGodz. He’s a creative force that’s influenced every inch of the writing and recording for this album since day one. New York is very lucky to have this French baguette-wielding sax-hero!
Be sure to keep an eye out for his forthcoming debut EP.
You can catch up with him at https://www.facebook.com/baptistehorseshellmusic/
Guy Moskovich (Piano)
Joining the crazy influx of talented Israeli jazz musicians in NYC is Guy. He’s the final musician to contribute to this record but his sound has had a resounding impact on every song.
Guy brought to life the piano parts to this record in a matter of two days! He’s another monster musician that is going to take the jazz world by storm!
Hear him on the bonus (shred) track of Ambivalence and keep an eye out for him on the web
(I’m sure he’ll be on your radar soon!)
Yoni Livnat (Bass)
I don’t know what it is about Israel but the country knows how to put out musicians that all know how to shred! Yoni is accomplished in technique, sound, and musicianship... but most of all he's excellent at being a down to earth homie. He joined TinderGodz on their last run of live shows and his incredible groove, slaps, and grit are on every track of this record!
Also, he always has Gatorade and beer stocked in his fridge. What a legend!
Guest Musicians
Kana Miyamoto (Flute)
By way of Japan is legendary unicorn flute player Kana! I had Kana sight read Glimpse and she had no idea what she was getting into when I asked her to join this record... and killed it anyway! It's the unicorn power I'm telling you. Kana leads her own group Kanacept, performing in Japan and the east coast with some dear friends of mine! Definitely have a listen to their first record, Spring Doze.
Website: https://www.kanamiyamoto.com/
Spring Doze: https://open.spotify.com/album/4IZpsjcpbwRl3ggkgqCDVE
Sandy Winarta (Drums)
Sandy is one of the first musicians I met in New York that helped me find my footing in the "big scary world of jazz". When I wrote these tunes and thought of who would be capable of ripping through difficult rhythmic material with ease he was the first to come to mind.
He’s got a killer album out and a recently released single exploring new musical territory.
Find him here:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5u5es7Nt5JtALtSPtnzz8f
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/san_drums/
Yosuke Nagayama (Drums)
Yosuke hails from the Japanland and plays drums on Dunuyeah! He's a fellow odd-time junkie that has even sat in for some TinderGodz shows. You'll find him busking the parks of NYC or on bills with all sorts of swinging affairs. You've also heard him with Kanacept, which if you haven't checked out yet... go now!
Liam Zahm (Drums)
You didn't hear him on the TinderGodz EP but you sure as hell heard him rip every one of the tunes when we played live! A fellow lover of Meshuggah, Tigran, China cymbals, and jAzZ jOkEs Liam is behind the incredible drumming in Oiseau. You can also hear him performing with me here!
He's also a writer of incredibly next-level improvised music so keep an eye out... it's gonna be nuts!
Michael Larocca (Drums)
A legend who learned double-kick in roughly a month for this record! Michael is a brilliant drummer who can relentlessly blast-beat through the swinging halls of a jazz school. He's a creator of inventive music and art and has released a wealth of material! Be sure to follow his work at the following:
Bandcamp: https://michaellarocca.bandcamp.com/
Joris Mallia (Alto, Tenor Saxophones)
Joris plays some incredible solos on this record, on the first part of Dunuyeah and the outro of Ambivalence. He's responsible for my love of the alto saxophone and I'm proud to say Yoni and I have listened to his solo on Ambivalence enough to sing it note for note like a passionate jazz karaoke.
No socials to share for now but don't worry he'll be all up in your jazz radar soon enough!
Sunhyun Yoo (Alto Saxophone)
Sun is an incredible alto/soprano player who laid down some horn backgrounds that don't do his shredding potential justice... So please be sure to check him out closer to his final form here.
He's released his first record featuring one of our dearest shred compatriots, Guy!
Bandcamp: https://ssunsax.bandcamp.com/album/meanings
Website: https://www.sunhyunyoo.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1BdfqypgS3gnVNYPBdfmlG
Kaelen Ghandhi (Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet)
Kaelen pulled double duty in the woodwind territory for this record! He's responsible for the peculiar rumble from down under (bass clarinet) and making sure we hear those off-kilter harmonies.
Find him on tour creating inventive, improvised music and catch some of his tunes here!
Billy Duffy (Trombone)
Billy may only play a total of 10 (give or take) notes across the whole record but without him, my jazz-metal horn section wouldn't exist! You can hear him supporting the low-end spank all around New York venues since everyone needs a trombone player like Billy! Thanks for playing!
Photo Credits:
Kana Miyamoto "Recording 2017 photo by Shouko Igarashi"
Kyle Schaefer "Photo by Cat Eye View Photography https://www.facebook.com/cateyeviewphotography/ "
Arta Jekabsone "Arta Jēkabsone Quintet Concert “Light” tour concert hall “Valmiera”. Photo by Roberts Āboltiņš.(2018)"
Sandy Winarta "Freedoms Jazz: Sandy Winarta Trio, https://freedomsjazz.com/fjf0216"
Sunhyun Yoo: Website https://www.sunhyunyoo.com/, Louisa Rosi: Facebook, Yoni Livnat: Facebook, Baptiste Horcholle: SoundCloud
Jack Kwan (Violin)
Jack is doubling the melodies with violin in Oiseau. Yup, those are real strings! I'm glad to have an old musical friend leave a mark on my debut record. Thank you Jack!
Chris Garriga (Drum Solo)
Chris is responsible for the drum solo towards the latter half of Dunuyeah, Pt.2. An incredible player and fellow appreciator of questionable American-Mexican fast food chains.
Thank you for joining me on this record Chris!
Kyle Schaefer (Voice/Screams)
The incredible frontman of progressive metal act Archaeologist, Kyle is behind the gnarly vocals in Ambivalence... and those pipes sound just as good live! He has a wealth of material out, featuring his awesome writing, singing, screaming, and guitar playing. Be sure to check his work out, and look forward to future material featuring him as I can't not collaborate with this awesome guy again!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Archaeologistmusic/
Bandcamp: https://archaeologist.bandcamp.com/
Arta Jēkabsone (Voice)
Arta is a rising vocalist, composer, and musician in the jazz scene that I'm very lucky to have featured on this record! Her dexterity and technique made the vocal parts shine like no other.
She’s already making a name for herself playing with big artists like Kurt Rosenwinkel and Marcus Miller. Check her out on her stunning first record!
Website:https://artajekabsone.com/
Light (LP) On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4WPl5I5HY0ovyfKcrbRU9j