Akira Tana & Otonowa Project at Community Church Of Mill Valley

Fronted by Bay Area-based drummer Akira Tana – who’s performed and recorded with the likes of Sonny Rollins, Hubert Laws and Lena Horne – the Otonowa Project uses the language of jazz to re-frame songs from the group’s shared Japanese ancestry in a uniquely American way. Japanese for “sound circle,” Otonowa’s extensive jazz chops allow the ensemble to take Japanese tunes in fascinating new directions. The group first formed to perform a benefit concert for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Northern Japan in 2011. Starting with traditional Japanese folk melodies, some which date back as far as the 1700s, the group worked to re-imagine songs of their heritage from a jazz perspective...

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Fronted by Bay Area-based drummer Akira Tana – who’s performed and recorded with the likes of Sonny Rollins, Hubert Laws and Lena Horne – the Otonowa Project uses the language of jazz to re-frame songs from the group’s shared Japanese ancestry in a uniquely American way. Japanese for “sound circle,” Otonowa’s extensive jazz chops allow the ensemble to take Japanese tunes in fascinating new directions. The group first formed to perform a benefit concert for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Northern Japan in 2011. Starting with traditional Japanese folk melodies, some which date back as far as the 1700s, the group worked to re-imagine songs of their heritage from a jazz perspective. Joining Akira will be Masara Koga on reeds, Art Hirahara on piano, and Ken Noriyuki Okada on bass.

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