, is a Japanese jazz

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

and

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. She grew up in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Biography

Kobayashi was born October 20, 1981 in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

. Her father was a photographer and her mother, a piano teacher. Beginning at a very young age, Kobayashi learned to play the piano. When she was 13 years old she joined a brass band and started to play the flute. Four years later she stopped playing in the band, instead choosing to start a relationship with the saxophone. After that she turned to jazz. After four years, having learned from Bob Zangu how to play the saxophone in a jazz setting, she entered the Senzoku College of Music. After graduating, she got a contract with the label

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...

and her first album, ''Solar'', appeared.

Albums

* ''Solar, Kaori's Collection'' (2005) * ''Fine'' (2006) * ''Glow'' (2007) * ''Shiny'' (2008) * ''The Golden Best'' (2009) * ''Luv Sax'' (2009) * ''Precious'' (2011) * ''Seventh'' (2012) * ''Urban Stream'' (2013) * ''Spirit'' (2014) * STORY: 10th Anniversary (2015) * Melody (2016) * Be myself! (2018)

References

External links

Official website

(French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Kaori Japanese jazz saxophonists Women saxophonists Japanese jazz flautists Living people 1981 births 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century Japanese musicians