Kanoko Kitajima: Long Way to Go

May 11, 2025

Long Way to Go is the title of pianist Kanoko Kitajima’s debut album, recorded and released in 2019. The sound of her piano trio recalls the swinging, bluesy trios of pianists like Wynton Kelly, Red Garland, and others from the 1950s and 60s Blue Note era. Added to that rich background is a dedicated Japanese interpretation of classic American jazz with an exciting New York City vibe as shown in the album cover.

The charm of the NYC backdrop is not used simply for glamorous postcard photos, however: Pianist Kitajima and bassist Motoi Kanamori, both based in Japan, joined up with longtime New York resident Fukushi Tainaka on drums for the recording of this album in his adopted hometown. It seems that the energy and legacy of the big city inspired the players as they recorded the music for this album, raising them up as if standing on the shoulders of the past jazz giants that they love.

Kitajima shows off her style influences through tributes to the legendary jazz piano players who are some of her favorites. Through her attention and dedication, she focused here on Bobby Timmons (track #1 “Soul Snappy”), Sonny Clark’s (#4 “Sippin’ at Bells”), Bud Powell (#6 “Tempus Fugit”), and Error Garner (#8 “Erroll’s Dream”). These admirable goals are realized by the trio’s locked-in skills, effort, and dynamic energy as they run through the moods of soulful bop, jazz blues, smooth bossa nova jazz (#3 “Estate”), Afro-Cuban jazz (#9 “Manteca”) and swing, swing, swing.

Along with the six jazz standards and covers, Kitajima also introduces four of her original compositions on her debut. Along with her refined, reverential playing style, her creative songwriting also honors the essence of true jazz in the tradition of good-feeling, hard-swinging jazz piano trios.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Kanoko Kitajima’s original Japanese liner notes.)

This album was completed with the cooperation of many people. I want to dedicate this album to all my family and friends who always look after me, the listeners and club owners who support me, and my late grandfather who taught me about the joy of music.

On this, my first album, I am fortunate to be joined by the superb drummer Fukushi Tainaka, who has been continuously playing at the forefront of jazz in New York City for forty years. I’m so pleased to have made this album, which was recorded in a historic New York studio with such excellent musicians and audio engineers. I hope that you will enjoy this record, created with a whole-body swing feel, for a long time to come.

Soul Snappy / Kanoko Kitajima

This is an original song that I wrote with inspiration drawn from a pianist I admire a lot, Bobby Timmons. I put my sense of his powerful and beautiful playing into this song.

Long Way to Go / Kanoko Kitajima

Jazz is deep, and I often feel a whole life can be devoted to pursuing it. Listening to so many songs and getting the chance to perform with my respected mentors has been an amazing experience for me. I wrote this song with the determination to examine and devote myself daily to continue to work hard over the long run.

Estate / Bruno Martino

This song, whose title means “summer” in Italian, is magnificent and melancholic. I focused on trying to make the melody sing beautifully without losing the song’s atmosphere. Tainaka’s deep mallet playing and Kanamori’s sexy bass lines stand out, making this song great for hot summer days.

Sippin’ at Bells / Miles Davis

This is another one of my favorite songs, also included in the album Cool Struttin’ [Sonny Clark, 1958]. The title refers to drinking slowly at a bar called Bells. Check out Tainaka’s drum solo, full of emotion.

Sometimes I Feel / Kanoko Kitajima

Often, when the day’s over and I’m thinking about whatever happened that day, I get lost in thought. This song came to me during one of those times. We recorded it as a piano trio for this album, but I was thinking about using horn instrumentation when I wrote it, and I’d like to record it as a quartet someday.

Tempus Fugit / Bud Powell

Bud Powell left us with many spectacular songs and performances. Among those is this song, one filled with his new approach to melody and speed, and one that was a challenge for me. It’s a difficult song to play through the melody with many coordination spots for the three of us as we run towards the ending. Tainaka’s wonderful brushwork is really enjoyable.

If You Could See Me Now / Tadd Dameron

The prolific songwriter Tadd Dameron wrote this song for Sarah Vaughan, a vocalist he performed with a lot at the time. When I first heard this song I was deeply moved by its beauty, and I have treasured playing it ever since.

Erroll's Dream / Kanoko Kitajima

Erroll Garner, famous as the composer of “Misty”, is one whose piano playing makes me happier the more I hear it. His music fills my heart when I close my eyes and listen to his tremendous lyricism and colorful touch. I tried to include that dreamlike sentiment into this song.

Manteca / Dizzy Gillespie

This song is very memorable for me. In 2013, I attended Junko Onishi’s jazz workshop at the Saito Kinen Matsumoto Festival, and the assigned piece was this song. I still remember her saying “Use the whole piano like an orchestra, from top to bottom, and play with your entire body.” It became a dynamic performance together with Kanamori’s firm beat and Tainaka’s incredibly cool groove.

Serenade in Blue / Harry Warren

Harry Warren gave us more than 800 impressive compositions, including “The More I See You” and “There Will Never Be Another You”. I learned about this composition when I was living in Fukuoka and was a member of Junya Hidaka’s AMG (Advanced Music Gallery) big band, and we played this beautiful song. I remember it being very romantic at the time, as we played it in an outdoor setting where the neon lights of Nakasu joined the night sky. I brought the album to a close with this favorite and memorable piece, “Serenade in Blue”.

北島佳乃子 Kitajima Kanoko

Obi Notes

A brilliant debut record from a pianist with a naturally sophisticated talent! You’re moved to smile with every note from all the songs… this is real jazz!