PoJazz Presents Sharon Dolin and Kaoru Azuma at Cornelia Street Cafe 4/15

Tonight, Thursday April 15 at 6 and 8:30 pm, PoJazz celebrates Poetry and Jazz Appreciation Month with award winning poet, Sharon Dolin, and singer, Kaoru Azuma, at Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia St, New York, NY). In addition to Dolin, other poets include Elizabeth Lara, Ellen Wright, Pat Behrens, Rochelle Goldstein, Sue Melot, and Mary Lyon. They will be joined by host, Golda Solomon and Rosi Hertlein on the violin. Vocalist Kaoru Azuma will follow Dolin at 8:30 pm. She will be accompanied by Kaoru Azuma, vocals; Scott Reeves, trombone; Jesse Forest, guitar; Scott Colberg, bass; and Paolo Orlandi, drums.

The author of 4 chapbooks ("Mind Lag", "Mistakes", "Climbing Mount Sinai", and "The Seagull") and 3 book length volumes of poetry, her first book, "Heart Work", appeared in 1995. Her second and third volumes, "Serious Pink" in 2003 and "Realm of the Possible" in 2004, were written simultaneously and published within a year and a half of each other. "Serious Pink" has garnered a number of reviews, including citation as a notable book by Publishers Weekly for Poetry Month in 2003

"Footprints in New York" by Kaoru Azuma is a fantastic modern jazz album brought to life by a jazz vocalist. Kaoru, though born in Osaka, Japan, has honed her craft as an American singer and will leave you feeling musically satisfied and pleasantly soothed. She has certainly made her way around the New York jazz scene and her experience and poise shines through on her smooth, graceful vocal performances. The musicians behind her are certainly no slouches either. The performances are solid and the arrangements are creative, lively, well-layered, and compliment the vocals well. The album is well-produced, reflecting a perfect balance of instrumentation and vocals, and illuminates a sound that is very crisp and smooth. "High Wire" opens things up with a haunting vocal intro and evolves into an upbeat performance, both in the arrangement and in the vocal performance. "Footprints" invokes images of a smoky, low-lit room and features a great tandem between Kaoru's voice and the trombone. This track is fantastically heavy on the mood. "Turn Out The Stars" wraps things up with nice piano progressions that gives the hint of closure and an intimate vocal performance from Kaoru.

-The RadioIndy. David Devoe, host.

www.myspace.com/kaoruazuma

Cornelia Stree Cafe is located at 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, New York between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village. Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, V, F to West 4th St. There is a $15 cover for both shows. For more information call 212-989-9319 or visit http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com.