Solo Piano by Karin. Click to begin . . .

“One of the city's undersung jazz figures, (Karin) has classical-to-jazz chops, a great sense of swing, and a fascination imagination as she meanders through not-quite-straightahead numbers." Earshot

“Karin displays impressive ability as a jazz pianist, both as soloist and accompanist. Her writing is also impressive, showing a nice sense of line, a fresh harmonic sense and a lively rhythmic imagination." William O. Smith, Professor Emeritus of Composition at the UW.

Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Lee Morgan and Horace Silver are all familiar names in jazz. What is less well known is that they were active in an era known as "hard bop" spanning the fifties and sixties. This was the era of the powerhouse quintets, the B3 players, the tenor players who strode the bar for tips, and clubs that stayed open till 4 AM. Hard bop was in part a rebellion against the sophistication of bebop, and in part an embracing of blues, soul and gospel.

Regrettably, hard bop has not enjoyed the revival experienced by classic jazz standards. This may be because 1) it's not vocal music, 2) it's not mainstream enough for most jazz radio stations and 3) most hard bop tunes are not in jazz fake books, or not in their complete form.

Unable to find sheet music for her newly formed quintet, Karin Kajita undertook in 2000 to transcribe her favorite tunes directly from original recordings by Clifford Brown/Max Roach, Lee Morgan/Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham/Hank Mobley, various incarnations of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and others. She then went on to write her own arrangements of standards (as did the hard boppers) and her own compositions scored for the quintet.

KKJQ has enjoyed considerable success playing at the local summer festivals, including Bumbershoot, the Evergreen State Fair, the Shoreline Arts Festival, the West Seattle Street Fair, the Anacortes Arts Festival, the Central Area Community Festival, the Mercer Island Summer Celebration, Bake's Place in Redmond, a Sounds on the Sound Concert on Pier 57, a Concert on the Green in Issaquah, First Night in Tacoma on New Year's Eve and the Blaine Jazz Festival. KKJQ has played at the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island and at the Bainbridge Commons, sponsored by the Bainbridge Arts and Humanities Council. KKJQ played and taught at a CLASSI seminar promoting arts education in the classroom.