Katherine Whatley

Katherine Whatley is a musician and writer. She grew up in Tokyo, and now makes her life between the US and Japan. She plays the koto (transverse Japanese harp) and writes about music, art and culture for a variety of publications. She originally became interested in jazz and improvised music at Barnard College, Columbia University where she worked as a DJ on the radio station WKCR and wrote her thesis about the jazz and improvised music scenes in New York and Tokyo. In addition, she has done extensive research on 60’s and 70’s jazz, including John and Alice Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and the Loft Jazz scene, and Creative Music Studios. More generally, musical interests include: contemporary free jazz and improvised music, improvised music in the context of non-Western and folk music, and Japanese jazz. To get in contact, or to see current projects, visit her website: kwhatley.net