Katisse graduated from the L.A. County High School
for the Arts and then from the Grove School of Music
where he studied with multi-Grammy winning jazz legend,
Rob McConnell. He received an NEA Jazz Fellowship
Grant to study with woodwind master, Bill Green, attended
the National Music Camp at Interlochen Michigan, and
won the L.A. Jazz Society's New Talent Award. Upon
hearing Katisse as a guest soloist with the LA Guitar
Quartet Allan Kozinn of The New York Times described
him as , "...a flutist whose ornate improvisations
transformed this vocal score into a virtuosic instrumental
work". Tom Meek wrote this for the LA Weekly
pick of the week- "Katisse Buckingham leads a
double musical life, most often as one of the area's
most sought-after woodwind players. But on the last
Thursday of every month, he leads his own band in
a unique mix of jazz, soul, hip-hop & rap, beatboxing
his way through flutes and leaving even seasoned studio
veterans often in astonishment."
Katisse plays Tenor, Alto & Soprano Saxophones,
Flute, Alto Flute & Ethnic Flutes as well as spoken
word. He has performed and/or recorded with Yellowjackets,
Prince, Dr. Dre, Airto & Flora Purim, Billy Childs,
Vanessa Paradis, Herbie Hancock, Poncho Sanchez, Dave
Douglas, Andy Summers, Pete Yorn, Colin Hay, Brian
Auger, John Patitucci, Ricky Lawson, Terri Lyne Carrington,
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Left Side Sax Alliance, John Daversa Big Band and Small Band, Strunz and Farah, Bill
Summers, Jimmy Haslip, Russ Ferrente, Bob Hurst, Tom
Brechtline, Munyungo Jackson, Gary Novak, Gary Thomas,
Alphonso Johnson, B-Sharp Jazz Quartet, Don Grusin,
Dean Parks, Greg Phillinganes, Harvey Mason, Abe Laboriel
(Sr. and Jr.), Sandro Albert, Otmaro Ruiz, Wah, Amma,
Gerry Gibbs, James Gadson, Monday Michiru, Jaz Klash, Raya Yarbrough,
Down to the Bone, Sara Gazarek, Jimmy Johnson, Will
Kennedy, Russ Kunkel, Robben Ford, Mike Elizando,
Deepsky, The Angel, Patrice Rushen, DJ Quik, Non Amiss,
Xzibit and Kurupt. He has played on numerous films
(including the "jazz flute" scene in the
Will Ferrell film, Anchorman).
While staying as a busy freelance musician (based
in Los Angeles) Katisse has his own self titled group
which includes Judith Hill, Maiya Sykes (vox); Chris
Wabich, Iajhi Hampden, Gene Coy, Nate Wood, Louis Cole (drums);
Dennis Hamm, Steve Weingart, Quinn Johnson, Ruslan
Sirota (keys); Dan Lutz, Jerry Watts, Jimmy Haslip
(bass). KATISSE is a blend of jazz, hip-hop,
pop & world music. His debut album was recorded
and co-produced by engineering legend, Tony
Sheppard (Kenny Loggins, Take 6, Whitney Houston).
The record, entitled Lyrical Worker, is now availible
for purchase and digital download. Katisse has finished his follow up record entitled "A World To The Wise" and it will be released in the spring of 2013. You can also hear Katisse playing with his Oddsemble-
a group focusing (for now) on playing jazz standards,
most of which were originally in 4/4 time signature,
in 11/8, 13/8, 15/8, and 17/8 time signatures. This
group includes great players such as- Chris Wabich, James Yoshizawa,
Ralph Humphrey, Steve Hass (drums), Nick Mancini (vibes),
Jerry Watts, Rufus Philpot ,Kaveh Rastegar (Bass),
and Jimmy Mahlis (guitar). Audio examples can be found
on the audio page on this site. The Oddsemble will be recording their debut album in spring of 2013.
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