Did you know that during World War II, Little Tokyo was temporarily renamed Bronzeville?
Grand Performances and Japanese American National Museum (JANM) present Dave Iwataki’s J-Town/Bronzeville Suite on Friday, August 22, 2025, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Grand Performances, 350 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90071
J-Town/Bronzville Suite is 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. Free w/ RSVP on Eventbrite
Program
7:00pm – Welcome & Intro
Act 1) Little Tokyo Pre-War
Act 2) Bronzeville 1942-1944
Act 3) J-Town/Bronzeville Post-War
9:00pm – End of show
After Japanese American residents were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in internment camps, 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
Featuring 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 & Miranda Emiko Kealy)
- Pat Taylor’s JazzAntiqua
Dave Iwataki
Dave Iwataki has recorded and performed with Hiroshima, Al McKay’s Earth, Wind and Fire Experience, The Grateful Crane Ensemble, Pointer Sisters, Olivia Newton-John, Peabo Bryson and The 5th Dimension. A composer for many documentaries for The Japanese American National Museum, a few of his original projects about the Japanese American experience include "J-Town/Bronzeville Suite” and "Barbed Wire and Hip Hop”.
About JANM
The mission of the Japanese American National Museum is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience.
As the national repository of Japanese American history, JANM creates groundbreaking historical and arts exhibitions, educational public programs, award-winning documentaries, and innovative curriculum that illuminate the stories and the rich cultural heritage of people of Japanese ancestry in the United States.
JANM also speaks out when diversity, individual dignity and social justice are undermined, vigilantly sharing the hard-fought lessons accrued from this history. Its underlying purpose is to transform lives, create a more just America and, ultimately, a better world.
