Kaki King - Live at Berklee (2017) Lossless

Renowned guitarist Kaki King announces her first release in more than two years, and once again she gives her fans something completely unexpected. Kaki King Live at Berklee with the Porta Girevole Chamber Orchestra will be released on Friday, September 22, on birnCORE, the Berklee Internet Radio Network's (BIRN) independent record label.

The album, recorded live at the Red Room at Cafe 939 in April 2017, features King performing new arrangements of her solo guitar compositions, reimagined with the addition of strings and woodwinds. King, Tom Hagerman of Devotchka, and Berklee students Takuma Matsui and Shereen Cheong wrote the arrangements specifically for the recording. The Porta Girevole Chamber Orchestra is a 12-piece ensemble composed of Berklee students and faculty, conducted by student Gabriela Sofia Gomez Estevez.

Kaki King Live at Berklee is birnCORE’s first release to feature Berklee students and faculty collaborating with a visiting artist. King visited campus several times last spring to rehearse with the ensemble, culminating with the live performance and recording. The album was recorded by student Andres Felipe Gonzalez Cordona and mixed by alumnus Aaron Bastinelli ‘09.

The Porta Girevole Chamber Orchestra features students Cansu Ozyurek, Sam Draper, and Sumeet Sarkar on violin; Aida De Moya on guitar; Gerson Eguiguren Martinez and Jennifer Frantz on viola; John O’Hara on bassoon; Kaya Meller on trumpet; Li Yin Cheok on cello; and Christopher Allison on clarinet/bass clarinet. Helen Sherrah-Davies (violin), assistant professor of harmony, and Kari Juusela (cello and music director), dean of the Professional Writing and Technology Division, are also featured on the recording.

“The primary goal for the project was to make a great record. That goal was accomplished due in part to the incredible work of the conductor, Gabriela Sofia Gomez Estevez,” said Tony Brown, birnCORE label manager. “I hope the record becomes an invitation to other great artists to come and create with the students here.”