Earth Travelers is a new album by Asai Kastan Duo, consisting of Takeshi Asai on piano and Brian Kastan playing fretless bass. Together, they create an atmosphere of space and texture with an ongoing gentle flow of energy. This album is like waves on the ocean; waves are constantly flowing creating tension and release, as a wave gently rises and breaks then forms another wave. Together, the piano and bass are like the wave as the musical tension and release is an ongoing state of flow.
Earth Travelers offers the listener a chance to take a deep emotional journey and tap into an imaginary world. Earth Travelers covers several musical directions, from ballads, jazz blues, open grooves, short abstract moments, to open ambient spaces.
Released April 23rd, 2026.
The concept behind Earth Travelers is to create dialogue between acoustic piano and fretless bass. At times the bass plays the melody, sometimes it plays the groove, and vice versa with the piano. Earth Travelers offers a unique sensitive listening experience as the piano and fretless bass keep offering each other new musical ideas to interpret and develop into new energy. Often the album is ambient and mellow, sometimes swinging, sometimes grooving, and anything in between.
Earth Travelers was composed and recorded live at Takeshi Asai studio at DCT productions in New York City.
Asai Kastan Duo tour dates will be announced soon.
Takeshi Asai
Traditional yet modern, lyrical yet dramatic, jazz pianist Takeshi Asai has been a one-of-a-kind voice in New York’s jazz scene for more than ten years. His performance combines the melodic lyricism of Bill Evans with the feverish blues of Thelonious Monk, all enriched by the sophisticated improvisational style and the classical piano roots.
What makes Takeshi Asai’s music unique and aesthetic are his multitude sources of inspiration. He sees beauty in 12th-century French troubadours, Gregorian chants, Baroque and Romantic traditions, 20th-century music (i.e. Janáček, Takemitsu), religious music (Faure, Poulenc), the Beatles, Irish and Japanese folk music, as well as modern electronic music.
Besides his constant club engagements in NYC with talented contemporaries and legends, Takeshi Asai has a hugely successful international career; touring in Poland, UK, France, Germany, Egypt, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
He currently lives in New York, where he runs his own production company.
Brian Kastan
Brian Kastan is a prolific composer and improvisor.
Brian has recorded 100 albums under his Space 2 Groove record label and recorded 11 albums with 5 different Grammy-winning jazz artists such as Mino Cinelu, Rachel Z, Scott Petito, Leo Genovese, and Miles Griffith. Brian has completed European tours with the Brian Kastan Freedom Trio and Transatlantic Concept with Urbuli Baba. Plus, Brian toured in China headlining Lincoln Center Shanghai with the Brian Kastan Quartet.
Brian also has composed soundtracks for TV and Film:
Movie: American Criminal, Blue Lives Matter
TV Show: Hospital Arrest with acclaimed movie & TV director Dylan Bank. Starring Robert Loggia, Jimmie Walker, Martin Kove, Gilbert Gottfried, Michael Winslow, Todd Bridges, Jewels McCollough
Side Projects: Played guitar on Rhys Chatham’s A Crimson Grail (Nonesuch Records), played guitar for MTV Rock the Vote, composed songs with Emmy-nominated composer recording engineer Marc Solomon.
To purchase: https://space2grooverecords2.bandcamp.com/album/earth-travelers
For more information:
https://www.space2grooverecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/brian.kastan.9
https://www.facebook.com/TakeshiAsaiJazz
Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com
