Japan’s jazz-age avant-garde - Book Review

Mavo: Japanese Artists and the Avant-Garde 1905-1931, by Gennifer Weisenfeld, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2002; 370 pages, $55 cloth.
Gennifer Weisenfeld is that rare creature, a scholar of Japanese art (now teaching at Duke) who specializes in the modern era. Her first book (based on her doctoral dissertation) is centered on the short, intense life [...]

RAHUL SHARMA

RAHUL SHARMA - Rahul was born in the U.S. shortly after his parents emigrated from Kenya. He has performed blues, funk, and reggae for many years. He has more recently studied sitar and tabla, studying with Zakir Hussain and the Ali Akbar Khan School of Music. Rahul has also completed his doctorate in Clinical Psychology, [...]

JASC Tsukasa Taiko

JASC TSUKASA TAIKO - JASC Tsukasa Taiko is the leading taiko ensemble in the Chicago area, established as Tsukasa Daiko in 1996 by head Sensei (Instructor) Hide Yoshihashi. In 2004, Tsukasa Daiko, Asian Improv aRts Midwest, and the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) initiated a collaborative program, establishing the renamed group as a resident arts [...]

Tatsu Aoki

TATSU AOKI - Bassist Tatsu Aoki is a prolific and accomplished musician, composer and educator. He works in a wide array of musical styles, ranging from traditional Asian music to jazz to experimental music and is a much in-demand artist performing on both contrabass and the shamisen (Japanese 3-stringed lute). He has recorded over 100 [...]

JEFF CHAN

JEFF CHAN - Chicago saxophonist/composer Jeff Chan is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the Asian American experience through music. He has worked with many of the leaders of the Asian American creative music movement, including saxophonist Francis Wong, pianist Jon Jang and bassist Tatsu Aoki. A recipient of awards from Meet The Composer, the [...]

Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble

Meg Okura has just released a phenomenal new album with the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble that showcases her stunning compositional skills that integrate stylistic elements from multiple genres of music within individual arrangements.
Okura’s virtuoso violin playing gracefully fuses lexicons from different styles of music into her own unique lyrical signature sound that incorporates influences [...]

Asian Improv aRts 20th Anniversary ODC Theater

Francis Wong’s Persistence of Vision Project
Saturday, September 29, 8 pm ODC Theater $15 adv $18 at the door
Francis Wong, composer, leader, saxophone
Tatsu Aoki, acoustic bass, shamisen (Japanese 3 string lute)
Elliot Humberto Kavee, drums
Jon Jang, piano
With special guests
Lawson Fusao Inada, poet, vocals
Genny Lim, poet, vocals
John Carlos Perea, electric bass
Hafez Modirzadeh, saxophone
This program of Francis Wong compositions [...]

Unbound Chinatown with Jon Jang Seven featuring Min Xiao Fen May 17, 2008

Unbound Chinatown with Jon Jang Seven featuring Min Xiao FenMay 17, 2008
When: May 17, 2008
Time: 1-2:30pm
Cost: FREE
Where: Yerba Buena Gardens: Esplanade - San Francisco
Composer/pianist Jon Jang’s musical language re-contextualizes Chinese folk songs within a contemporary music framework, a metaphor for the changing face of Chinese America. Unbound Chinatown pays homage to Alice Fong Yu, the [...]

Hua Hin Jazz Festival 2008, Thailand

Relax at the Hua Hin Jazz Festival where you will enjoy renowned Thai and international jazz musicians, familiar all-time favorites and contemporary tunes.
A true celebration of jazz in a beautiful beach atmosphere where you can also enjoy sumptuous cuisine and refreshments available at different stands along the beach.
Here’s the Hua Hin Jazz Festival 2008 Schedule:

HUA [...]

Dji Sam Soe Super Premium Java Jazz Festival 2008

These senior musicians, appropriately referred as Oom (uncle, to address someone of senior status) will in turn perform with their own groups. Some of these performers are Oom Bubi Chen, Oom Benny Likumahuwa, Oom Oele Pattiselanno and younger brother Oom Jacky Patiselanno, Oom Jeffrey Tahalele, siblings Oom Ireng and Oom Kiboud Maulana, and also [...]