Sana Nagano

Violinist Sana Nagano, who resides in Brooklyn, cultivates a singular violin style that anchors turbulent improvisations through measured exactitude. After rigorous schooling in jazz and classical idioms, she discards established norms via endeavors including the avant-bluegrass trio Astroturf Noise and the 2021 album Smashing Humans, named for her volatile prog-jazz quintet.

Born in Tokyo, Nagano took up the violin in childhood and later arrived in the United States as an exchange student. She completed performance and composition studies at Berklee College of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music of Queens College. Having lived in New York City since 2010, she remains prolific both as collaborator and bandleader, appearing with Karl Berger's Improvisers Orchestra and Adam Rudolph's Go: Organic Orchestra while also joining William Parker, Daniel Carter, Harvey Valdes, and many others. Her first album, Inside the Rainbow, appeared in 2014 with Berger on vibraphone and John Ehlis on guitar. During that decade she assembled several groups, among them the avant-rock quartet Atomic Pigeons and the experimental pop duo Peach and Tomato with Leonor Falcon.

In 2018 Nagano performed on the Grammy-nominated self-titled album by pop star Shawn Mendes, Karl Berger's Tzadik-issued In a Moment, and Coheed and Cambria's Unheavenly Creatures. Astroturf Noise, the altered bluegrass trio completed by mandolinist Sam Day Harmet and bassist Zach Swanson, released its self-titled debut on 577 Records in 2020. The same label issued the 2021 full-length Smashing Humans by Nagano's identically named quintet, which includes saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum, bassist Ken Filiano, guitarist Keisuke Matsuno, and drummer Joe Hertenstein. Michigan-based artist Rachel Viola, also known as dr!p, supplied the record's pixelated cover art.