Karin Kajita

Based in Shoreline WA

Karin Kajita is a versatile and accomplished performer who is comfortable in a variety of musical settings.

Karin is a graduate of the University of Washington in classical piano whose primary interest now is in jazz and improvised styles. Her repertoire of 600 songs includes jazz, pop, standards, classical, ragtime and originals.

She has performed in bars, restaurants, hotels, private clubs and for many private functions in Seattle, Japan, Canada, Wichita, New York, Denver and Salt Lake City. Karin was the pianist with the Joe Koplin Jazz Quintet, a group that specializes in hard bop. JKJQ appears regularly at jazz venues Tula's in Belltown and Grazie's in Bothell, and at local festivals.

She worked as show band pianist on the Crystal Symphony, with ports in England, Scandinavia and Russia, during the summer of 1999

Some Of Karin's Notable Appearances include:

Crystal Symphony; Crystal Cruise Line; West Coast Bellevue Hotel; Woodmark Hotel, Carillon Point; Seattle Hilton Hotel; Norwegian Dynasty; NCL Cruise Line; Angelo's Italian Restaurant, Marysville; Washington Mutual Building Atrium; Queen of the West Cruise Line; Twenty-Two Eighteen Restaurant; Pelican's Wharf, Kirkland,; The Rhododendron at the Inn at Virginia Mason Hospital; Ginza Tobu Hotel, Tokyo, Japan; Warwick Hotel, Seattle; Matsuyama ANA Hotel, Ehime, Japan; Sorrento Hotel, Seattle; Overlake Country Club, Bellevue; Westin Hotel, Seattle; Hiroshima ANA Hotel, Japan; Sheraton Hotel, Seattle; Wichita Club, Wichita, Kansas; Frederick's Eighth Floor Restaurant, Seattle; Alexis Hotel, Seattle; Sheraton Denver Tech Center, Colorado; Holiday Inn West, Golden, Colorado; Marriott Hotel, Denver, Colorado

Now Released On CD Summerland!
"Summerland" features Karin on piano, talented vocalist Yvonne Cannon, Brian Kent on tenor sax, Clipper Anderson on bass and Brian Kirk on drums. "Summerland" debuts nine new tunes by Karin, two by Karin and Yvonne and two by Seattle pianist/composer Steve Rice. Yvonne and Karin have performed together since 1991.

Norm Bobrow: "Brand new to the music of Yvonne Cannon and Karin Kajita, I remained floored weeks later by the impact of the singing, the piano playing, and the words and the music, all of their own infectious creation. Their songs have an instant appeal. How fortunate you'll be when you discover them for yourselves!" Barney McClure: "Karin Kajita has arrived!. No newcomer to the scene, Karin has spent years honing her craft, perfecting her performance until it finally met her own standards and could be recorded and shared. Karin has assembled a stellar cast to showcase her compositions and musical genius."

Earshot Jazz/Crossroads: "Original music and jazz classics with sophisticated style."
Sue Reynolds, owner of Now Hear This! CD's and Tapes: "This is a group that deserves any advantage which can help them reach a larger audience because they have that special ability to take us with them during performance to an exciting musical place we hunger for."