Mark Izu is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

player and composer. He is of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese ancestry and frequently combines jazz with Asian traditional musics (particularly the ancient Japanese court music known as ''

gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794-1185) around t ...

'') in his compositions. He has performed with Anthony Brown and

Jon Jang Jon Jang (; born March 11, 1954) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Of Chinese ancestry, he specializes in music which combines elements of jazz and Asian musics, and is known for musical works exploring international as we ...

. Izu is a seminal leader in the Asian American Jazz movement. His compositions include symphony, film, theater, dance and jazz. The principal curator of the original Asian American Jazz Festival held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco’s

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

for nearly two decades, he helped establish the genre. In addition to the double bass, he also plays the Japanese '' shō'' and Chinese '' sheng'' (both

mouth organ A mouth organ is any free reed aerophone with one or more air chambers fitted with a free reed. Though it spans many traditions, it is played universally the same way by the musician placing their lips over a chamber or holes in the instrument, an ...

s). He lives in San Francisco,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with his wife, playwright and performer Brenda Wong Aoki, and son (Kai Kāne Aoki Izu). Mark Izu received a Northern California Regional Emmy Award for outstanding Musical Composition/Arrangement for his score for ''

Bolinao 52 __NOTOC__ ''Bolinao 52'' is a documentary by Vietnamese American director Duc Nguyen about the Vietnamese boat people ship that was originally stranded in the Pacific Ocean in 1988. During their 37 days at sea, the group encountered violent sto ...

'', a film about the

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

, which also received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary.

Discography

*''Navarasa: Duets for Shakuhachi & Contrabass'' (2010) *''Legend of Morning Glory'' (2010) *''Threading Time'' (2007) *''Mermaid Meat'' (2007) *''Last Dance'' (2002) *''Dragon Painter'' (2007)

Recordings

*Cat Chat, Tokyo Broadcast System (1999) TBS CD ROM *Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite, Asian American Orchestra (1999) *The Queen’s Garden, Brenda Wong Aoki (1998) *Dreams & Illusions: Tales of the Pacific Rim, with Brenda Aoki *Circle of Fire, Mark Izu & Circle of Fire *San Francisco Jazz Festival 96 *Tiananmen, Jon Jang & The Pan Asian Arkestra Soul Note *Quest, Michael West *Live in Berlin, United Front *Whats the Difference Between Stripping and Playing the Violin? with Miya Masaoka *Family, Anthony Brown *Big Bands Behind Bared Wire, Asian American Jazz Orchestra (1998) *Jang, Jon Jang *Song for Manong, Fred Houn *Never Give Up, Jon Jang & The Pan Asian Arkestra *Self Defense, Jon Jang & The Pan Asian Arkestra Soul Note *Francis Wong, Francis Wong & the Great Wall Ensemble *Crystalization of the Mind, Jason Michaels *In Xinjiang Time, Phonix Spring Ensemble, Betty Wong OWR *Travel of a Zen Babtist, Mark Izu/Lewis Jordan *Are You Chinese or Charlie Chan, Jon Jang *Ohm: Unit of Resistance, United Front *Of Blues Myself & I, Ray Collins *Path with a Heart, United Front *Monk Anthony Brown ‘s Asian American Orchestra *Russel Hisashi Baba, Russel Baba

External links

*
Mark Izu page

Discography

Recordings

External links

See also