Kasia Rokicka a vocalist, a songwriter and a producer. Her music escapes categorization and finds its place somewhere close to jazz or smooth jazz. She blends jazz influences with elements of world music, lyricism and poetry with memorable melodies. In her songs Kasia combines subtle jazz harmonies, rhythms of the world, warm arrangements and gentle acoustic sounds with energetic emotional expression and text interpretation creating a harmonious whole.
Kasia is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. Before moving to Boston she attended Szkoła Wokalna im. J. Wasowskiego, took part in jazz workshops and performed in jazz clubs, where she familiarized herself with jazz music. It was also when she started writing her own songs.
Having explored the jazz scene in her homeland, Rokicka moved to Boston. She polished her composition skills and the search of her own voice helped her to develop a delicate soulful voice timbre and a unique style of writing. She studied with Robin McKelle, Mark Walker (Paquito D'Rivera), Wayne Naus (Tower of Power), John Blake and Marlon Saunders (Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra) or Dave Santoro (Sting). At Berklee she grew not only as a vocalist but also as a songwriter, arranger and a producer.
In 2007 Kasia met musicians with whom a year later she recorded a CD titled "Violet River", which features nine of her original compositions. The sound of the recording belongs to Peter Kontrimas. The CD features: Kazuyo Kuriya on flute, Rafał Rokicki on piano, Zak Croxall on bass and Thomas Hartman on drums.
During the last several years Rokicka has sung in various venues: Berklee Performance Center and David Friend Recital Hall, in Arhus in Denmark, in Warsaw jazz clubs including Tygmont Jazz Club, Piwnica Pod Harendą, Tam Tam and Cultural Centres.
In 2009 she performed on a Jazz Forum Jazz Festival "Ci Na Ktorych Liczymy" in Tygmont in Warsaw as well as was a finalist of a Krokus Jazz Festival competition in Jelenia Gora.
At the same time Kasia's songs gradually gain international recognition. Her song "Dobre Dobranoc" has represented Poland on the 53rd Zeccino D'Oro festival in Italy (the Italian title: Un Sogno Nel Cielo) while "Flying In Dreams", "Letting Go" and "Five For You" were appreciated at www.ourstage.com. Moreover, "Five For You' won the writer an invitation to an international songwriting camp in Austria in 2010. Her songs has been broadcasted on the national radios in Poland.
"Subtlety, discrete impressionism, gentle harmonies and elegance of sound has made their performance something extraordinary and unforgettable."
Jazz Forum Magazine 03/2010
Read more...