Shoko Igarashi was born in Yamagata Prefecture, Tsuruoka city, Japan. An accomplished tenor saxophonist, she is also a versatile flautist and plays alto and soprano saxophone fluently. She has already made her mark as both an arranger and a composer. Shoko grew up surrounded by dreamlike landscapes of abundant nature in the snowy countryside of Tsuruoka, a mysterious and surreal region renowned for producing the best quality rice in Japan, where she says, “the water and the air feel the purest," and where mountains and shrines overflow with ancient mysticism.
After beginning her musical career in Tokyo, she attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree of music. She then relocated to Brooklyn, New York where she began regularly performing live alongside innumerable talented jazz musicians. In 2018, she moved to Brussels, Belgium.
Since 2018, Shoko has written and compiled a series of well-crafted, colourful electronic songs curating diverse influences such as Sly & the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Japanese City-Pop, '70s jazz fusion, and the anime film music that she grew up learning to play. Her nimble and seamless assembly of these very different elements into her unique sound is astonishingly natural. Her first official solo Album “SIMPLE SENTENCES” is released by Tigersushi Records on 20th MAY 2022. Buy records HERE.
Her album received many great album reviews from numerous platforms such as Pitchfork, Les Inrocks, and more.
Her electro album with only using Tenori-on (Yamaha), “Project Tenori” released on 7th of July. It’s available on music distribution platforms and her Bandcamp.
The sophomore album "Onsen Music" will be out from Tigersushi Records and 62 Records on December 6th. Pre order will be available from 6th of November.
五十嵐祥子 山形県生まれ。10歳の頃にサックスを吹き始め、高校進学とともに上京。2012年にはバークリー音楽大学に進学。卒業後はニューヨークでの演奏活動を経て、2018年にベルギー、ブリュッセルへ移住。
デビューアルバム、シンプルセンテンセスがパリのレコードレーベルTigerSushi recordsよりリリースされ、2023年7月7日にテノリオンのみを用いて作られたエレクトロトラックを集めたアルバム、Project TENORIがリリースされた。
2024年の冬に最新作、温泉音楽がTigersushi records, 62 recordsよりリリースされる。