Legendary Bay Area activist Richard Aoki, was the most prominent non-Black member of the Black Panther Party! Since we’re in fund drive, were happy to offer Professor Fujino’s recently released book, Samurai Among Panthers AND AOKI: A Documentary Film by Ben Wang and Mike Cheng as special premiums for donating to KPFA tonight.
Community Calendar
Aching to hear some amazing drumming? This Saturday, May 19th at 8 pm hit up International Hotel Manilatown Center at 868 Kearny Street for innovative Taiko drummer Kenny Endo’s benefit concert, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the I-Hotel’s eviction. $10.
Asian and Pacific Islanders are making a big impact on the Jazz world these days. Check out what happens when composer and saxophonist Francis Wong shares the stage with Wayne Wallace, one of the best African-American Latin musicians in the scene. That’s on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 8 pm. African American Arts and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street. $20 at the door
Finally, because we here at APEX are huge fans of Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest Asian Pacific American multidisciplinary arts organization, we want to celebrate them turning 40! They are bringing together three generations of exceptional artists. Hand-Me-Down features solo theater, music, storytelling, movietelling, dance, and more exploring the past and imagining the future of APAs in the arts. Tuesday, May 22 7 pm Bindlestiff Studio 185 Sixth St. Admission: $10-20 sliding scale
On this episode of week 2 of KPFA’s fund drive (1-800-HEY-KPFA, 1-510-848-5732):
Anthony Brown (photo courtesy of Kathy Sloane, copyright)
We take a look and a journey exploring the Asian American Jazz movement with two major figures in the scene, Anthony Brown and Mark Izu.
Percussionist, composer, ethnomusicologist, educator and Smithsonian Associate Scholar Dr. Anthony Brown is a seminal figure in the contemporary California creative music scene, directing the Asian American Orchestra in addition to performing with some of the foremost musicians in jazz today.
In 1997, the Asian American Jazz Orchestra was founded under Brown’s artistic direction for a federally-funded national educational touring project about the Japanese American internment experience of World War II. After the project ended in 1998, Brown expanded the group and renamed it Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra, in keeping with the traditions of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, and Machito and his Afro Cubans. The Orchestra has been featured at the Monterey, San Francisco and Chicago Jazz Festivals, the San Francisco Asian American Jazz Festival, the Earshot Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, and numerous universities and concert halls nationally.
Mark Izu, known for his integration of jazz with global modalities and instrumentation, composes for orchestra, jazz ensemble, film, theater and dance; plays contra bass, the sheng (Chinese traditional multi-reed instrument) and the sho (Japanese tradition multi-reed instrument). The only symphonic sho composer in the world, Izu premiered Mermaid, an orchestral work for Kent Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony. In 2005, he wrote the sho solo for, The Manzanar Project, also with Nagano. He received a 2009 Emmy for Bolinao 52, a documentary about the Vietnamese boat people. Izu’s odyssey began in 1976 with Japanese Imperial court master musician, Suenobu Togi, and continued until Togi’s death over 30 years later. Izu’s CD, Threading Time features the final recording of Togi Suenobu with Zakir Hussain (tabla), and was released in Tokyo. It received Tokyo’s Critic’s Choice for Top 10 jazz releases of 2008. Izu’s film scores include Academy Award-winning Days of Waiting; Emmy; Award winning, Return to the Valley; and a new score for silent masterpiece, Dragon Painter. His theater scores were performed at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Sundance Festival. He was awarded a Dramalogue Award and two INDIE Awards for composition. Izu has received three Meet the Composer Commissions, a Japan/US Creative Artist Fellowship, and an ASCAP Award. Izu is a founding faculty member of Stanford University’s Institute of Diversity in the Arts. He lives with his family in San Francisco.
Anthony Brown and Mark Izu will be in studio to talk about their longtime work, love, way of life: Jazz.
We’ll listen to some of their work, and other important Asian American Jazz artists.
As a thank you gift to our listeners who decide to pledge during the show hour, we offer the documentary on Anthony Brown and Mark Izu, Don’t Lose Your Soul (dir. Jim Choi, Chihiro Wimbush).
5/11 (Friday), 8 to midnight at the Sub Mission Art Space, 2183 Mission St., San Francisco, join San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (SFCHRP) for Buhay at Trabaho, a music event celebrating the lives and work of the migrant struggles, as well as sending off folks to Chicago for the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS ) launching. Performances by: Bankrupt District, Power Struggle, and Erica Nalani and Nada Diaz. Stay drink, celebrate and dance w/ us. $7 @ the door. http://www.facebook.com/events/101905709944978
5/12 (Saturday), 2 – 5PM, join the Manilatown Heritage Foundation and the Filipino American National Historical Society at the International Hotel on 868 Kearny Street, San Francisco, for 7 Card Stud with 7 Manags Wild. Enjoy performances lifted from the book, witness character from the written page come to life.
5/13 (Sunday), 3 to 6PM hit up the Oakland Asian Cultural Center for Love Your Mama / Love Your Self: A Pop-Up Bake and Crafts Sale. There, you can pick up some baked goods by culinary artist Aileen Suzara of Kitchen Kuwento, Vegan Sauces by Oakland’s Besto Pesto, Soothing Herbal Products by Body/Rock, gifts from Iyoba Bath and Body, a healing salve demo, vintage/eco apparel by Ukay Ukay Moda, and more, for your mama and your self, on Mother’s Day! Partial proceeds benefit A History of the Body, a theater project by Aimee Suzara.
5/13 (Sunday), from 6 to 9PM, ReWrite hosts Dear Mama, an API open mic and spoken word event dedicated to, “the people in our lives who have nurtured and cared selflessly, contributed to the conception of the communities we live in, and passed on a healthy knowledge of love with which we build.”
The event happens at the Eastside Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd., Oakland.
5/17 (Thursday), join the AYPAL Oakland youth as they celebrate 14 years of youth organizing. A night showcasing API cultural dances, a theater of the oppressed, spoken word, Hip Hop dance, and a silent auction. The event happens at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, doors open at 5:30, show starts at 6:00. $3 for students, $5 – $20 for adults, but no one turned away for lack of funds. For more information visit, www.aypal.org.
During the Bay Area premier of Don’t Stop Believing: Everyman’s Journey at the Castro Theater, an audience member asked Arnel Pineda to sing a capella. He sang a segment of ”Why Can’t This Night Go On Forever” off Raised on Radio, captured by APEX Express contributor Nonogirl.
Tune in to APEX Express May 31 for the interview RJ Lozada and Nonogirl conducted with Arnel Pineda and Filmmaker Ramona Diaz.
Spring fund drive is here! That means we need YOU – our community – to get on the phones tonight (510-848-5732 OR 1-800-439-5732) to call in and show your support for APEX by donating whatever amount you can! We have two AWESOME giveaways tonight:
Exclusive CD’s of the recording from Grace Lee Bogg’s special event in SF Chinatown in March 2012! Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) and others hosted Grace for a special event in March, including poignant speeches from Grace herself, discussion with Scott Kurashige (co-author of Grace’s book ….) and Alex Tom (Executive Director of CPA), and great music & poetry performances. On APEX tonight, hear sounds from that CD and call-in to donate and get a copy of this CD as your thank you.
The Chinese Progressive Association with Grace Lee Boggs in March 2012. Photo credit: The Boggs Center
Also, we have two (ONLY two!) pairs of tickets to this weekend’s screening of Professor Valerie Soe’s latest short documentary film – The Chinese Gardens. A film about the forgotten Chinatown of Port Townsend, Washington and discrimination against Chinese immigrants – The Chinese Gardens is debuting across the country, so call-in tonight to get yoru tickets to a special SF screening! And tune-in to hear our interview with the filmmaker about her journey in making film, and what she discovered making this documentary.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is at the bargaining table with the City of San Francisco. They have been on a public campaign to demand that San Francisco administrators tax corporations and the wealthy, and stop forcing the burden on city workers and their allies. Contributor Marie Choi gets perspective from SEIU Local 1021 members, Evelyn Curiel, and Jamilah Din.
APEX Contributor R.J. Lozada spent some time at the rally, but also some extra time with Evelyn and Jamilah, view the video below to get a portrait of the two women.
Photo courtesy of 1947 Petition Archive
Contributor Tara Dorabji interviews Ranjanpreet Nagra, representing the 1947 Partition Archive, an online resource of oral histories, capturing the voices that experienced the partition creating India and Pakistan.
On May Day, Tuesday, May 1, unite in solidarity with Golden Gate Bridge workers and the international call for a general strike on Mayday as they occupy the bridge to show the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District that fair wages and benefits can not be ignored. This action has been called for by the Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition and endorsed by Occupy Oakland, Occupy SF, Jobs with Justice, and the Occupy SF Action Council. Fore more information please visit: http://www.facebook.com/events/160337220759014/ and http://occupythebridge.org/
We featured an interview with award-winning filmmaker Patrick Wang on APEX Express in March. This week marks the San Francisco opening of his film, In the Family, a heartfelt story woven around child custody, “two-Dad” families, parental loss, interracial relationships, and the human side of the law. This film will screen at the AMC Metreon in San Francisco. http://www.inthefamilythemovie.com/screenings.html
On Saturday, April 28, catch the San Francisco Vietnamese American Poetry & Art Festival. Visual art, performing art, and literary art share the limelight at the African American Art and Culture Complex. https://www.facebook.com/events/260390714054911/
This is the final weekend to catch “Buffalo’ed,” a play by Jeannie Barroga that tells the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, descendants of American slaves who were stationed in the Phillipines at the turn of the 20th Century. The final performance is on Sunday. https://www.facebook.com/events/204933889612388/
On Monday, April 30, feel the Aloha Spirit at Oakland Asian Cultural Center in An Evening of Hawaiian Music, Storytelling & Aloha With slack key guitarist Patrick Landeza. This event is FREE! https://www.facebook.com/events/309122602493567/
This week’s episode is a Battle of the Bay. You may have seen the Bay Guardian’s cover story last week which asked, “Is Oakland cooler than SF?!” and said, “San Francisco is losing much of its diversity, cultural edge, and working class to the East Bay — can anything be done?”
To continue this dialogue, we talk with Michelle Reed who opened a small plant store called Roots in San Francisco’s Mission District.
We also bring into the studio, Saqib Keval with People’s Grocery, an organization whose mission is to improve the health and economy of West Oakland through the local food system.
We talk with Kearny Street Workshop, a multi-disciplinary arts organization in San Francisco thatis holding a fundraiser called Dumpling Wars at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.
Haven’t seen a good play lately? Tonight, immediately after our show, head straight to Bindlestiff Studio in SF. This show promises to astound. “Thunder above, deeps below” is an imaginative take on Shakespeare’s Pericles featuring three homeless young adults. It’s all about redemption, identity, gender and sexuality and the search for a better life. Tickets are $25 at the door. 185 Sixth @Howard in San Francisco’s South of Market District. The play runs through May 5.
Friday, April 20 in Oakland, suit up in your favorite digs and head to the Paramount Theater of the Arts for Notes from the Philippines featuring jazz and classical musicians Victor Noriega, Arthur Khu and David Riquero. Promises to be a really beautiful night of music with the best bay area jazz talent. 8pm on Friday, 2025 Broadway in Downtown Oakland.
And if you haven’t had your fill of music, this Saturday, April 21, join us at East Side Arts Alliance to celebrate the arrival of the warm weather with a whole lot of music at “spring forward”. Spend the evening listening to experimental jazz ensemble Mutual Aid Project, hip hop/funk/rock collective Bandung 55, and Rachel Lastimosa of the soul/jazz/indie group Dirty Boots. That’s at 8pm this Saturday at East Side Arts Alliance.
Earlier in the show you got a sneak preview of the kind of excitement waiting for you at Kearny Street Workshop’s first ever Dumpling Wars. Seven teams of amateur chefs compete to create the best hand made dumplings which that’s right, you the audience, then get to eat. Food, competition and music? What better way to spend a Thursday night. The Dumpling Wars take place at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center on April 26th from 6 – 9 pm. Entry $25.
Finally, May 3 at the Castro Theater is the Closing Night of “Don’t Stop Believing: Everyman’s Journey” about Arnel Pineda’s rise to fame as the newest singer of Journey. 7pm at the Castro Theater. Get your tickets online through the San Francisco International Film Festival.
MARIE CHOI brings us samples from GIAP AND THE LAST IRONING BOARD FACTORYa new film about the mother-son relationship between Giap Nguyen and Tony Nguyen. Giap is a refugee who fled Vietnam in 1975 while two months pregnant. A single mother who has worked on the grueling assembly line for nearly 35 years, she is finally retiring. Set in Seymour, Indiana, this short documentary provides an intimate look at life inside the last standing ironing-board factory in the United States. Filmmaker Tony Nguyen captures his mother’s last day at the factory and attempts to reconcile an unknown past. This quirky and deeply personal film explores parental love and the refugee experience in small town America.
MARIE also gives us sounds from EXILED AMERICANS ~ Studio Revolt’s new video featuring a group of Exiled Khmer Americans. Their previous video, MY ASIAN AMERICANA by Anida Yoeu Ali, was a finalist for the White House AAPI’s “What’s Your Story” video contest. My Asian Americana features Asian Americans, both those who can return to the US and those living in exile, sharing their memories of home. Although My Asian Americana won the popular vote by a landslide, they refused to invite representatives to the White House. Studio Revolt is calling for supporters to write to Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, and ask her to investigate how the Office of Public Engagement silenced the voices of exiled Americans despite the fact that they won the popular vote. You can email her at vjarrett@who.eop.gov. For more information about people living in exile in Cambodia, visit spokenkosal.com.
SISTA XTINA & EL FALCON bring us a teaser of an upcoming interview about ANTI~TRAFFICKING MOVEMENT WORK with JEAN ENRIQUEZ, a founding member of BUKLOD WOMEN’S CENTER in the Philippines, who was selected as one of Yahoo Southeast Asia’s Heroes of 2011. Full length ANTI~TRAFFICKING interview will be presented Sunday, May 27th, 7-11pm on the API HERITAGE MONTH SPECIAL, “THE INDO~PACIFIC EDGE 2012″ on KPFA~FM 94.1 (((BAY*AREA))).
KAPATID TISAYE shares impressions of the new documentary, THE ISLAND PRESIDENT, about President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives and the effects of Climate Change on the island nation. TICKETS to Bay Area showings will accompany the review.
SELEKTA LAPULAPU briefly reviews the new music/dance/martial arts drama,BUFFALO’ED, about AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS during the PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR, and we’ll give away TICKETS to see BUFFALO’ED this weekend at the SAN JOSE STAGE COMPANY.
We will also be giving away tickets to new Pacific Islander and Asian films, screening in the SF Bay Area, including the new film about AUNG SAN SUU KYI (played by MICHELLE YEOH) called “THE LADY”!
To continue this dialogue, we talk with Michelle Reed who opened a small plant store called 
