Violinist, composer and erhu player, Meg Okura leads a group of virtuosi, Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, inventing and defining “world chamber jazz” today. Hailed by New York Times as “vibrant” and “sophisticated,” the ensemble ". mixes a classically trained mastery of strings, piano and drums with quick-witted compositional twist performed with high energy" (Down Beat Magazine). Their self-titled debut album was one of the finalists of the 2006 “Best Album” in the Independent Musicians Awards. Today, the album is still the No. 1 Top -Seller in the “Chamber Jazz” category on the CDBaby, and received the Editor’s Choice in “Jazz -World Fusion” category.
Juilliard trained Meg Okura takes advantage of compositional techniques of classical counterpoint, and jazz voicings, while incorporating traditional music from Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle-East. Her compositions also feature the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese violin, as well as the shinobue, a bamboo flute from Japan. As an arranger, she also puts her unique spins on masterpieces by composers ranging from Paganini to Coltrane, making them completely new and radical.
Members of the ensemble are graduates of the top conservatories in the country, going onto performing with some of the biggest names in jazz, gospel, rock, pop and world music as well as major symphonies.
As Elliot Simon from All About Jazz puts it “…the best jazz New York has to offer,” this New York-based ensemble features some of the most talented musicians from all ethnic, cultural, and musical backgrounds.
Native of Japan, Meg Okura toured throughout Asia as the concertmaster and the soloist with the Asian Youth Orchestra while attending the Toho School in Tokyo. As a teenager, she made her Kennedy Centre debut with the late Alexander Schneider’s New York String Orchestra. She then settled in New York City to pursue her classical study at The Juilliard School. While in school, she realized that studying jazz was the only way to become the most complete musician anyone could be, and made the difficult shift from classical to jazz upon graduation.
Today, her credit includes over fifty appearances on albums, movie soundtracks, and television and music videos, performing with musical icons such as David Bowie, Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Diane Reeves, Steve Swallow, and others.
Since the ensemble’s debut at New York’s Stone in February of 2006, Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble has performed at NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center, MoMA, Kumble Theater, University Settlement, Saint Peters Church, Saint Paul’s Chapel, as well as New York clubs such as Makor, Drom, and Knitting Factory. In 2008, the ensemble made its Japan debut, playing all sold out the concerts.
This summer, the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble was presented by Lincoln Center in the “Meet The Artist Library Series” as a part of Lincoln Center’s 50th anniversary celebration. The ensemble will make its west coast debut at the end of the summer at Memorial Park in Pasadena, California as a part of Levitt Pavilion’s “Tru Jazz New Jazz” series.
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