Gerald Oshita
Gerald Oshita (1942–1992) was an American musician, composer, and sound recordist.
Oshita, who was of Japanese ancestry, lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and specialized in unusual wind instruments, particularly those of especially low register. He performed and recorded with straight alto saxophone, tenor and baritone saxophones, contrabass sarrusophone, and Conn-o-sax, and also made shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flutes).
Oshita's music drew on elements of jazz as well as contemporary classical music, and was often partly or wholly improvised. Among the musicians with whom Oshita frequently worked were Roscoe Mitchell and Thomas Buckner, and this trio released two recordings on the 1750 Arch record label. His work shows the influence of Asian music and philosophy, and he is considered one of the seminal musicians in the development of Asian American jazz.
In 1994, the Gerald Oshita Memorial Fellowship was established in Oshita's memory by an anonymous donor. The fellowship is presented annually to a composer of Asian, African, Latino, or Native American heritage, and supports a residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program on the Program's ranch in Woodside, California.
Discography
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2011) |
Space
with Roscoe Mitchell and Tom Buckner (1750 Arch Records, 1984)
Jam Rice Sextet - Jam Rice Relaxin’ (Frasco, 1976)
Compilation - New Music For Woodwinds And Voice / An Interesting Breakfast Conversation (Mutable Music, 2000)
As sideman
With Roscoe Mitchell
- Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound and Space Ensembles (Black Saint, 1983)
External links
See also
- Articles to be expanded from July 2011
- All articles to be expanded
- Articles using small message boxes
- AC with 0 elements
- American male composers
- American male saxophonists
- 1942 births
- 1992 deaths
- American musicians of Japanese descent
- 20th-century American composers
- 20th-century American saxophonists
- 20th-century American male musicians