A letter from Yuto Kanazawa

Hello -- my name is Yuto Kanazawa. I am a jazz guitarist and composer based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Berklee College of Music and Koyo Conservatory. This past March, I had the opportunity to record ten of my original compositions at a great studio here in Boston. Now, I am working on mixing, designing, mastering, and other post-production stages of this album.

The album will be called "Earthwards". The idea of having my own band and releasing an album has been a dream of mine from my teenage years. After graduating Berklee College of Music in 2009, I started my group "Yuto Trio" and have been gigging frequently. The original lineup featured  Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere on upright bass and Jonathan Pinson on drum set. As the array of my compositions expanded, I started collaborating with many other musicians and performed great shows in Boston, New York, and throughout my home country of Japan.

For the "Earthwards" album, I got the original band members back. We even flew Jonathan Pinson to Boston from L.A., where he is currently set to study at the prestigious Monk Institute this Fall. After a week of solid rehearsals, we spent two great days at Serenity East Recording Studio in downtown Boston.
Building up the band to make my dream a reality made for one of the most exciting weeks of my life.For the recording, the "Earthwards" group recorded most tunes as a quartet - featuring awesome soloists Felix Peikli on clarinet and Mario Castro on tenor sax.
I'd like to thank them and the many other essential, significant people that made this recording happen including: producer Dave D'aranjo ofInterrobang Records; engineers Ryan Hinkle and James Willetts, both ofSerenity East Recording Studio; photographer Yusuke Suzuki; and finally videographers Christopher DeSanty and Jennifer Morgan.So far, I am tremendously impressed with the outcome and I hope you agree after watching some of the videos.
A new video will be released each weekof the Kickstarter campaign. I am very happy to be able to share our progress with you.Please consider being a part of the post-production of "Earthwards" by selecting one of the pledges on the right column. I have a wide selection ofrewards for backers, including digital downloads, name list on videos, signed CDs, concert tickets, performance DVDs, album credit, and even bowling in Boston with the band at our CD Release Party!Once again, thanks very much for your support and I will see you on our journey "Earthwards"!Sincerely,Yuto Kanazawa