“J-Town Bronzeville Suite” will be performed on Friday, Aug. 22, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Grand Performances, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.
Dave Iwataki and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) present a powerful performance blending the soulful rhythms of jazz, the intricate beauty of traditional Japanese music, and evocative dance to bring a little-known chapter of Los Angeles history to vivid life.
Did you know that during World War II, Little Tokyo was temporarily renamed Bronzeville? After Japanese American residents were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated, African American workers — many of whom had migrated from the Deep South in search of wartime jobs — moved into the vacant neighborhood.
What followed was a brief yet profound cultural convergence: jazz filled the streets where taiko once echoed, gospel mingled with shakuhachi melodies, and two displaced communities coexisted amid systemic injustice and survival.
“J-Town/Bronzeville Suite” is more than a performance; it is a living remembrance. Through original music, choreography, and narrative, this piece explores themes of identity, resilience, and shared struggle in a time of profound social upheaval. This is the untold story of two communities bound by history, geography, and the enduring power of culture.
Composed, produced, and written by Dave Iwataki. Directed by: Alison De La Cruz. Filming directed by: Akira Boch. Narrator: Greg Watanabe.
Featured musicians: Madame Matsutoyo Sato, Marisa Kosugi, Theo Saunders, Nori Tani, Henry Franklin, Yuki Yasuda, Don Littleton, Keith Fiddmont, Nancy Sekizawa.
Featuring dancers: Azuma Kotobuki Kai (featuring Nicole Kimiko Kaichi Matsuoka and Miranda Emiko Kealy), Pat Taylor’s JazzAntiqua.
Act 1: Little Tokyo Pre-war. Act 2: Bronzeville, 1942-1944. Act 3: J-Town/Bronzeville Post-war.
Info/tickets: www.grandperformances.org/events/bronzevillesuite
Dave Iwataki has recorded and performed with Hiroshima, Al McKay’s Earth, Wind and Fire Experience, Grateful Crane Ensemble, Pointer Sisters, Olivia Newton-John, Peabo Bryson and The 5th Dimension. A composer for many documentaries for JANM, his original projects about the Japanese American experience include “Barbed Wire and Hip Hop.”
“J-Town/Bronzeville Suite” is funded by a California Civil Liberties Public Education Program grant.
This program is made possible in part by community partners at Yelp LA, a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.
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