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Meg Okura

The New York Times recently described jazz composer and violinist Meg Okura’s music as "grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing." No. 6 Jazz Violinist/Violist in the International Critics' Poll, Meg Okura blends East and West in modern jazz. Okura dares to combine erhu (Chinese violin) with the harp, bass clarinet, flutes and the soprano saxophone in her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, a one-of-a-kind jazz group based in Harlem. The ensemble has released four albums- Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble (2006), Naima (2010), and Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto (2013), and the Ima Ima (feat. Tom Harrell in 2018). From Lincoln Center to Levitt Pavillion in Los Angeles, Winter Jazz Fest to KL Jazz Festival in Malaysia, Knitting Factory to sold-out concerts in Japan, the PACJE has captivated audiences at home and abroad for over ten years.

A native of Tokyo, Meg Okura made her U.S. solo debut with the late Alexander Schneider’s New York String Orchestra at the Kennedy Center as a 19-year old concert violinist. With her two suitcases and a violin, she moved to New York City and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from The Julliard School. Advancing her career as a jazz violinist while at the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles, Okura was soloist and the concertmaster for the orchestra backing up Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, and Terence Blanchard, under the batons of music icons as Quincy Jones, Jerry Goldsmith, and Jack Elliot.

Okura has received the Grammy nomination as the violinist on the album Second Half by the Emilio Solla y la Inestable de Brooklyn in the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Okura has also appeared on several dozens of recordings with a wide range of artists including David Bowie, Lee Konitz, Diane Reeves, Sam Newsome, Jesse Harris, and Ziggy Marley. She has toured internationally with the late Michael Brecker, Steve Swallow, Tom Harrell, appearing at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Barbican, Madison Square Garden, Village Vanguard, Blue Note Tokyo, Hollywood Bowl and at numerous festivals and concert halls around the world. In 2016, Okura held a week-long residency at the Stone in New York City, performing and presenting 12 concerts with her ten different groups.

Okura is a recipient of numerous grants and awards including the most recent (TBA), New Music USA Project Grant, Metlife Creative Connections Grant (Meet The Composer), Brand Personality Award (Asia Pacific Brands Foundation), Jerome Composers Commissioning Program (American Composers Forum). Okura's credit as a composer and arranger appear on several film and television programs such as The Congregation (documentary) and Louie (TV series). She has also composed for the New York Symphonic Ensemble, Sirius String Quartet, and C. Eule Dance.

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Album Review

Erica Seguine: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Impegnandosi nel ruolo di produttore, Darcy James Argue dà particolare considerazione al debutto discografico di quest'ensemble, fondato nel 2011 a New York dalle compositrici Erica Seguine e Shon Baker. La prima è anche arrangiatrice e guida dell'orchestra, la seconda entra nel cast come sassofonista. Dopo varie esibizioni in locali chiave della Big Apple, le due leader hanno selezionato sette composizioni originali dal loro repertorio, incidendole con un ampio organico comprendente talentuosi solisti della metropoli. Alcuni di essi ...

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Album Review

Eunmi Lee: Introspection

Read "Introspection" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Eunmi Lee is a quick learner. The South Korean-born pianist, who now makes her home in New York City, did not become acquainted with or interested in jazz until a friend introduced her to the GRP Records catalogue. That was more than a year after she had received a degree in contemporary piano from the Seoul Institute for the Arts, in 2005. Eager to learn more, Lee came to California in 2007 to take part in an open house at ...

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Album Review

Eunmi Lee: Introspection

Read "Introspection" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Korean-born, New York-based pianist and composer Eunmi Lee opens her debut record, Introspection with her original composition, “Gimmick." And, if there is a gimmick, it sounds as if it might be her strong compositional voice and her way with an arrangement. The tune features Alan Ferber on trombone, saxophonist John Ellis, a guitar, bass and drums rhythm section, and Lee in the piano chair. In spite of the album's title, this opener is a bright, sassy roller. Maybe the gimmick ...

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Album Review

Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The New Day Bends Light, the debut recording by the twelve-year-old Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra, is interesting on a number of levels, not the least of which is emotional. The leaders and their twenty-one piece ensemble are clearly committed to the music and do their best to breathe life into each of the album's seven numbers, three of which were written by Seguine, three by Baker and the other ("Ose Shalom") by Nurit Hirsh. Aside from that, there is the ...

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Album Review

Andrew Green: Dime Dancing: The Music Of Steely Dan

Read "Dime Dancing: The Music Of Steely Dan" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


It is not hard to imagine jazz versions of Steely Dan songs, as they are rich in knotty harmonies and dark lyrics that belie their mainstream pop success. But you would probably have to be guitarist Andrew Green to imagine them arranged for chamber ensembles dominated by woodwinds and strings (as well as vocalist Miriam Waks and Green's guitar). Ironically, Green's dramatic departure from the iconic recordings grew out of his love for them: he was convinced that no rock ...

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Radio & Podcasts

A Conversation with Violinist Meg Okura

Read "A Conversation with Violinist Meg Okura" reviewed by Lorens Chuno


Meg Okura is a distinguished violinist/composer who has been decorated with several awards. Her latest album, Ima Ima, is a collection of well thought out and very well executed compositions that stem out of her role as a mother. Join Meg and I as we talk about composing, motherhood, David Bowie, and other somewhat related things. Ima Ima features Meg Okura on violin, vocals, and erhu; Tom Harrell on trumpet; Sam Newsome on soprano sax; Sam Sadigursky ...

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Album Review

Meg Okura: IMA IMA

Read "IMA IMA" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Heritage isn't merely defined by blood and DNA. It's about who we are, who we choose to become, and what we take from the past to bring to our individual present and presence. So says this most personal of albums from Meg Okura & The Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble. “Ima"--the Hebrew word for “mother" and a Japanese word for “now"--stands as a three-letter summation of Okura's being with its cross-language connections and meaning. It represents her ...

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Website

All About Jazz Top 10 Tracks: April 2018

All About Jazz Top 10 Tracks: April 2018

Source: All About Jazz

All About Jazz features a free song every day spanning all genres of jazz, and of the 30 tracks featured in April, these ten represent our personal favorites. We also included the top ten reader favorites as indicated by total listens. Musicians and record labels can submit full length MP3s for consideration here. Enjoy! EDITOR'S PICKS IMA IMA (feat. Tom Harrell) Meg Okura From: IMA IMA (feat. Tom Harrell) 06:10 Mysterious Maze ...

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Recording

“Ima, You Don’t Look Jewish,” A Three-year Old Said To Her Mother.

“Ima, You Don’t Look Jewish,” A Three-year Old Said To Her Mother.

Source: Lydia Liebman Promotions

On Mother’s Day, Meg Okura, who converted to Judaism four years ago, will release Ima Ima, featuring trumpeter Tom Harrell and guitarist Rez Abbasi. Ima Ima (mom in Hebrew and now in Japanese) will be her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble's fourth album, showcasing extensive works composed since her pregnancy, for 10-piece chamber jazz ensemble. She sees this album as a musical platform for exploring her new Jewish faith, her Japanese heritage, her passion for jazz, and love for family. ...

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Performance / Tour

Meg Okura's Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble to Peform at St Paul's Chapel

Meg Okura's Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble to Peform at St Paul's Chapel

Source: All About Jazz

The Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble Meg Okura, violin and erhu Jun Kubo, flute Jennifer Vincent, cello Mamiko Kituara, piano Rich Stein, percussion Monday April 23, 2007 1 PM $2 Suggested Donation St Paul's Chapel (Broadway at Fulton Street) On Monday April 23rd Trinity Concerts will welcome Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble into the intimate musical confines of ...

Bandcamp Daily "There are some stunning moments on this set from the NPO Trio of violinist Meg Okura, saxophonist Sam Newsome, and pianist Jean-Michel Pilc. Their music is a balancing act between cohesion and chaos, allowing the music to fall into one of those states while still grasping tight to its counterpart. This sense of everything coming apart at the seams creates the most intoxicating tension as the balance of power shifts back and forth. The intensity is magnified by corresponding changes in influence, from avant-garde to classical to Yiddish to modern post-bop. Recorded at NYC’s The Stone back in 2016, the electricity of the live performance comes through strong, and the presence of this music is immense." (Dave Sumner)

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Primary Instrument

Violin

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Clinic/Workshop Information

Meg Okura has conducted clinics and lecture concert programs for the past three years, creating unforgettable memories for over 10,000 students of all ages across the United States.

“Jazz Violin and Improvisation Workshop”
A program for students of all levels to learn the secrets of improvisation. The program will de-mystify the process of improvising by showing the basic methods for improvising, while students having a ton of fun. The program includes brief demonstrations of various styles of improvisation

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Introspection

You&Me Music
2023

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The New Day Bends...

Self Produced
2023

buy

Dime Dancing: The...

Shifting Paradigm Records
2020

buy

NPO Trio - Live at...

Chant Records
2018

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IMA IMA

Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemle
2018

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Music of Ryuichi...

Self Produced
2014

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Mr. Weird

From: Introspection
By Meg Okura

Narcissism

From: Introspection
By Meg Okura

IMA IMA (feat. Tom Harrell)

From: IMA IMA
By Meg Okura

Videos

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