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Hitomi Oba photograph, with brass instrument
Music & Performance
Part of the series JazzPOP 2019

JazzPOP: Hitomi Oba Group

  • This is a past program
“A fluid improviser who can swing on material with many temperatures…Oba is a thinker as well as a swinger: she likes versatility and spontaneity.” — Downbeat Magazine  

Tenor saxophonist Hitomi Oba’s music dances effortlessly between the uncompromising energy of jazz and the refinement of chamber music. Her meticulously crafted melodies snake around angular grooves, with twists and turns and dramatic shifts that surprise from one moment to the next—all anchored by her fierce saxophone playing. Oba is a faculty member at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and recently completed commissions for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and American Composers Orchestra.

Hitomi Oba, tenor saxophone
Sam Gendel, alto saxophone
Nick DePinna, trombone
Erika Oba, flute and keyboard
Dave Robaire, bass
Abe Lagrimas, drums

Hitomi Oba Group

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