国产精品美女一区二区三区-国产精品美女自在线观看免费-国产精品秘麻豆果-国产精品秘麻豆免费版-国产精品秘麻豆免费版下载-国产精品秘入口

Set as Homepage - Add to Favorites

【?? ??? ?? & ?? ?? ??? ??】Enter to watch online.June Kuramoto: Queen of Japanese American Music Takes a Bow

Source： Editor：relaxation Time：2025-07-05 09:18:21
Kotoist June Kuramoto receives a standing ovation at a sold-out celebration of her life and career on Oct. 19 at the Democracy Center in Little Tokyo.

By ELLEN ENDO
RAFU SHIMPO

As a teenager, she was known as the cute girl who played a weird instrument, but it wasn’t long before June Kuramoto and a koto would shape her identity as a vanguard of music innovation.

Fans and family gathered Saturday at the Japanese American National Museum’s Democracy Center to celebrate Kuramoto’s journey to America from Saitama, Japan at the age of six and her decades-long influence on smooth jazz as a member of the Grammy-nominated band Hiroshima.

Kuramoto recently received the 2024 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Since 1982, this lifetime honor has been awarded to individuals and groups whose dedication and artistry contribute to the preservation and growth of the diverse cultural traditions that comprise this nation.

Chris Komai, who served as emcee for the event, explained that the rise of the band coincided with the Sansei search for their identity.

“The Sansei were trying to get their Nisei parents to open up about how life was for them,” Komai noted.

Filmmaker Janice Tanaka and a group of koto music enthusiasts known as Team Kotomoto organized the program, which consisted of a series of panel discussions and a performance by brother-and-sister duo Emily Kinaga Wong on koto and Brandon Kinaga Wong on guitar, who played one of Kuramoto’s signature compositions, “Thousand Cranes.”

As Kuramoto began to fuse classical and contemporary styles and veer away from traditional koto music, Kuramoto endured criticism from koto purists.

“My sensei was mad at me,” she recalled.

“It was hard for June to follow her music, but she continued,” said her brother Tracy Okida.

“You have to step out of the box,” Kuramoto advises. “Don’t be afraid of change.”

Former Hiroshima bandmate Dave Iwataki observed, “June always brings music from a meaningful place in her heart.”

Fellow band member Kimo Cornwell said that “Time on the Nile,” a tribute to jazz legend Miles Davis, “was an honor and blessing to write with June.”

Dan Kuramoto, who co-founded Hiroshima, recalled the day the band played at Howard University, a historically Black college near Washington, D.C., in 1991.

Drummer Land Richards (second from left) shares a memory of hearing June Kuramoto perform koto with Hiroshima at Howard University in 1991, in a discussion on the evolution of Hiroshima. Richards told Kuramoto: “One last word, you ain’t done yet!” Also on the panel were Duane Kubo, Dan Kuramoto and Francis Cullado.

“I could tell there was something very different going on,” he said. The audience was connecting with this new sound. “She had the feel.”

Since then, Kuramoto’s koto style has simultaneously elicited positive reactions and defied description.

Pianist Derek Nakamoto commented that when he hears her play, “I’m reminded of how beautiful our community is. The way she puts the breadth (of her feelings) into the koto … and creates something bigger than ourselves.”

The program brought together Kuramoto’s siblings, including Okida and sisters Julia Carlblom and Eimie Des Marais. Like June, Julia and Eimie were given koto lessons, but both gave up after a year or two. Mastering the koto requires years of study.

The event closed with Kuramoto’s poignant rendition of “Cry of the Sea,” a plea for love, peace, and compassion featuring vocals by Miko Shudo. The song was composed by Kuramoto, Cornwell, and Diane Louie.

“Now that we’re here, making a statement about being Japanese American, Asian American, people of color, all people on the planet,” Dan Kuramoto emphasized, “there’s no turning back.”

The instrument that June’s classmates thought was weird has changed the world of smooth jazz forever.

0.2168s , 9969.3125 kb

Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【?? ??? ?? & ?? ?? ??? ??】Enter to watch online.June Kuramoto: Queen of Japanese American Music Takes a Bow,  

Sitemap

Top 主站蜘蛛池模板： 成人视品 | 91午夜在线免费观看小视频 | 91精品国产乱码 | 97人妻在线视频免费 | 95国产欧洲精华液 | 国产av国产精品白丝jk制服 | 韩国三级大胸女高清视频 | 囯产亚州中文字幕美日韩在线 | 午夜福利视频欧美日韩一区 | 99久久精品免费看国产四区 | a片在线播放 | 91精品手机国产在线观 | 成人亚洲欧美日韩 | av中文字幕不卡一区二区三区 | 97精品一区二区视频在线观 | 91精品自拍视频在线观看 | 97人妻在线视频网 | 99久久国产精品无码 | 午夜国产一区二区三区精品不卡 | 国产v一区二区三区 | 国产aⅴ无码久久久高潮老头 | 精品国产91久久久久久久妲己 | 91久久精品国产91性 | 一区二区三区美女视频 | 国产1级 | 一区二区免费在线观看 | 91se在线看片国产 | www黄色免费亚洲高清无码网站 | 99久久无码一区人妻A片蜜臀 | 国产白丝美腿娇喘高潮的视频 | 91精品视频在线播放 | 97国产精华最好的产品久久久:久久久产品全面解析 | 99久久原创国产精品原创a | 午夜毛片手机在线观看 | 国产成年人免费观看91视频 | 一区二区二三区软件 | 99国产一区二区三 | 午夜不卡av免费 | 99久久精品免费网站 | 91久久国产成人免费网 | 91人妻无码精品一区二区毛片 |