U.S. | 2012 | 27 mins
Director, Producers: Jim Choi, Chihiro Wimbush
Executive Producer: Donald Young

An intimate portrait of two godfathers of the Asian American Jazz movement, drummer Anthony Brown and bassist Mark Izu. Forged in the Bay Area civil rights movements of the 60s and 70s and built on the history of Japanese internment, they fused centuries old Asian music traditions with the freedom of a quintessentially American musical form: jazz. Izu and Brown come together with a group of longtime musical friends for one electrifying night of music at Yoshi’s jazz club, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Asian American jazz festival and honor three decades of music they helped define for future generations.

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Composer, percussionist, educator, and ethnomusicologist Anthony Brown has played a seminal role in contemporary California creative music from his pioneering work with the Asian American jazz movement in the early 1980s to his current leadership of the GRAMMY nominated Asian American Orchestra.  Professor Brown holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in music (Ethnomusicology) from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a Master of Music from Rutgers University, and is the recipient of numerous grants and commissions. A Smithsonian Associate Scholar, Guggenheim and Ford Fellow, Professor Brown has served as Curator of American Musical Culture at the Smithsonian Institution and as a Visiting Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2005 Professor Brown established the San Francisco-based nonprofit arts organization Fifth Stream Music with the mission to advance the art form of jazz through innovative intercultural music and transformative educational experiences that reflect and promote an appreciation for, and understanding of American cultural diversity.

Professor Brown’s Improviser Exchange residency is cosponsored by:

Asian American Studies
Center for Advanced Study
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Robert E. Brown Center for World Music
School of Music
Sousa Archives and Center for American Music