Nagi Okamoto
Tenor Saxophone Player/Composer
Biography
Activity
Nagi Okamoto was born in the Kouchi city of Kouchi prefecture in Japan on April 3rd, 1986. She started playing piano at the age of three. Nagi acquired her basic musical skills through playing classical piano when she was very young. She had been played at concerts and competitions held by Yamaha Music School.
Nagi loved to improvise in her singing and playing piano throughout child hood, she was playing many instrumentals at the school concert in elementary school. She also joined Kouchi Fuzoku Elementary School Brass Band when she was 10 years old as a Alto sax player and the band won many awards in a prefectural competition.
Nagi started playing the tenor saxophone at 13, and joined Tosa Junior High School Brass Band and started playing as a soloist in the band. She grown up her musical skills through the activity of the band and also started teaching music for the members regardless to the instrument. When she was 16, she started conducting and leading the band to win the junior high school brass band's national competition in Japan. She experienced numerous of performance with the band during her junior and high school days by joining and organizing many events and concerts.
After graduating high school, she attended Koyo Conservatory Kobe. She had been learning jazz and improvisational music with Eichirou Arasaki and Randall Conners, also she was consecutively performing with Grammy nominated jazz guitarist Mike Stern in his masterclass through 2007 to 2009.
Nagi started her professional career at the age of 20. At the time, she was already performing in venues around west side of Japan with various professional musicians. In 2008, she graduated Koyo Conservatory at the top of her class. After graduating the school, she had been supporting many bands as a professional musician to develop her musical career.
2010, she entered Berklee College of Music with scholarships. During the college years, she had been learning with highly acclaimed musicians such as Grammy-award winning saxophonist Fred Lipsius who is known as a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears, also saxophonist for Simon and Garfunkel.
One day after 3.11 2011, she organized collaborative project Play+Pray for Japanese Earthquake Relief and raised more than eight thousand dollars within two weeks by performing with band members and donated the funds to her home country Japan through Consulate-General of Japan in Boston.
After graduating from Berklee College of Music on May 2012, Nagi started playing gigs around Boston area with world most talented young musicians. Also she founded her leader band, which successfully premiered at their first concert with full of audience.
In March 2013, she moved her base to New York City, since then she joined various bands such as the New York Funkiest band founded by Papa Guyo Guyocious “DAYS OF WILD”, Artistic performance group founded by Willard Mogan “Ideal Orkestra”, an international singer songwriter Ruco founded the band “Ruco and Family Cat’s” as a main sax player for all of these three bands.
Also she has been collaborating with various bands such as Akim Funk Buddha - music&dance entertainment group, Yuto Kanazawa -a jazz guitarist who recorded with Grammy Award Winner vocalist Kurt Elling also he is a Winner of International Jazz Competition in 2015, Irma Seleman - R&B singer, Yui Tsuchida -Bossanova Pianist and more.
Now she is currently performing at various venuew such as Blue Note New York, Jazz Standard, B.B.King Blues Club, The Red Rion, Starving Artist Cafe, Whynot Jazz Club, Somethin’ Jazz Club, Lanza’s, CHoGA, Bitter End, Tomi Jazz Club and more venues in New York area.
Tenor Saxophone Player
Leader of Nagi Okamoto group
The band "Cyan-Note's"
Founder of "Play+Pray" Project
Composer/Arranger/Educator
Play Style
Jazz / Latin / Bossanova
Fusion / Funk /R&B / Pop's
Legge / Ska etc...
Experience
DAYS OF WILD - New York Funkiest Band with Dance performance (2014 to Current)
Ideal Orkestra - Original Artistic Fusion Band founded by Willard Morgan (2014 to Current)
Akim Funk Buddha Band - Hiphop/Rap/world music with Dance performance (2014 to Current)
Yuto Kanazawa Band - Original Contemporary Jazz Band (2010 - Current)
Irma Selem Band - Original R&B/Pop Band (2010 to 2016)
Rising Tribe - Original Reggae/Pop Band (2010 to 2013)
Blue Collar Big Band - Jazz Big Band (2010)
Mario brothers band - Game Music Cover Band (2010)
Cyan-Note’ - Original Jazz Fusion Band Founded by Nagi Okamoto (2009-2010)
Air Groove - Jazz/Fusion Band (2009-2010)
FAZ - Original Jazz/Fusion Band (2009-2010)
Rubber-faced group - Pops Band (2009)
Hocus Pocos Orchestra - Pops Band (2009)
Soul of a Child - Original Acid Jazz/Pop Band (2007-2009)
Hip-Bop-Jam - Pop/R&B Band (2007-2008)
Kommits Brass Band - Ska/Funk Band (2006-2007)
Discography
Days Of Wild Live CD&DVD featured Montauk - (2015)
Sonflower Nocturna –Boston Touhou Gakudan (2013)
Live Up! – Rising Tribe (2012)
Touhou Boston –Boston Touhou Gakudan (2012)
Of Growth and Deep Conversation EP – Irma Seleman (2011)
Feel My Heart –Soul of a Child (2008)
Fundraising Project “Play+Pray”
Play+Pray is a fundraising organization founded by Nagi Okamoto, Rumi Matsumura, Chikara Aoshima to support victims of earthquake in Japan on March 12th, 2011.
Raised more than “$10,000.00” by performing in Boston Common.
Performance experience
Education
&
Honors
Educational Background
Berklee College of Music - Professional Diploma in Performance Major (Sep 2010 to May 2012)
Koyo Conservatory of Music - Music Performance Diploma (April 2006 to March 2009)
Honors
Berklee College of Music Dean’s List 2010, 201, 2012
Berklee International Network Scholarship 2010, 2012
Berklee Asian Scholarship Tour 2011, 2012
Koyo Conservatory Scholarship 2009