Kiyoshi Kitagawa was a Japanese-American jazz double bassist.
Life and career Kitagawa first played bass guitar and was in a rock band as a high school student. He switched to double bass while a student at Kansei Gakuin Daigaku, and in the 1980s, performed with and Takashi Furuya. In October 1988, he immigrated to the United States, settling in New York City. Kitagawa joined the Harper Brothers (Philip and Winard) and worked with Kenny Barron, Andy Bey, Jon Faddis, Kenny Garrett, Jimmy Heath, Susannah McCorkle, Makoto Ozone, Ben Riley, and Terell Stafford in the late 1980s and 1990s. He worked with Barron again several times in the 2000s, as well as with Brian Blade and Danny Grissett, and in the 2010s, with Regina Carter and Charles McPherson.
He received Grammy Award nominations for Kenny Barron's Book of Intuition and Beyond This Place, in 2017 and 2025, respectively.
Kitagawa died on April 28, 2026, at the age of 67.
Discography As leader Ancestry (Atelier Sawano, 2004) Prayer (Atelier Sawano, 2005) Solo (Atelier Sawano, 2006) Live at Tsutenkaku (Atelier Sawano, 2006)[DVD-Video] I'm Still Here (Atelier Sawano, 2007) Solo 2 (Atelier Sawano, 2008) – with photo album Live in Japan (Atelier Sawano, 2008) – compilation; recorded live in 2005 Walkin' Ahead (Atelier Sawano, 2015) Turning Point (Atelier Sawano, 2017) Spring Night (Atelier Sawano, 2020)
As sideman With Makoto Ozone Makoto Ozone – The Trio (Polydor, 1997) Dear Oscar (Polydor, 1998) Three Wishes (Verve, 1998) No Strings Attached (Polydor, 1999) Ballads (Universal Music Japan, 2008) With Kenny Barron Images (Sunnyside, 2003) The Traveler (Sunnyside, 2008) Book of Intuition (Impulse!, 2016) Concentric Circles (Blue Note, 2018) Beyond This Place (Artwork, 2024) With others Andy Bey, American Song (Savoy Jazz, 2004) Jon Faddis, Teranga (Koch, 2006) Kenny Garrett, Triology (Warner Bros., 1995) The Harper Brothers, Remembrance Live at The Village Vanguard (Verve, 1990) Jimmy Heath, You or Me (SteepleChase, 1995) Susannah McCorkle, From Bessie to Brazil (Concord Jazz, 1993) Ben Riley, Memories of T (Concord Jazz, 2006) Dan Rose, Fountains (MidLantic, 2003) Terell Stafford, Fields of Gold (Nagel-Heyer, 2000) – recorded in 1999 Dayna Stephens, Today Is Tomorrow (Criss Cross Jazz, 2012)
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