Mark Izu

The original music of Asia is fused with African-American improvisation by San Francisco-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Tag Izu. Another era Japanese-American, Izu offers performed with such important jazz music artists as Cecil Taylor, George Lewis, Wayne Newton and Karl Berger in addition to with his personal organizations, J-Town Jazz Outfit, featuring Anthony Dark brown and Jon Jang, and, the Tag Izu Bass Quartet with Lisle Ellis. Izu’s 1991 recording, Circle Of Open fire, was a critics choice within the East Bay Guardian. Izu’s compositions add a live rating for Sesue Hayakawa’s 1919 film, Dragon Painter, as well as the ratings of films including Wayne Wang’s Dim Amount REMOVE, Greg Chapnick and Sharon Wood’s documentary, Outdoors AROUND THE CORNER: The Music FROM THE United Entrance, and Steven Okazaki’s Academy Award-winning film Times Of Waiting around. Izu received a Dramalogue prize for “Greatest first music” for his rating for his wife, Brenda Wong Aoki’s, The Queen’s Backyard. Izu was commissioned by Asian Improv aRts to compose and perform piece, “Hibakusha, Survivors!” with an ensemble offering traditional western and eastern musical instruments. Izu has researched sho, japan equivelent towards the Chinese language sheng (multi-reed body organ), and performed with Japanese Imperial Courtroom get better at musician Suenobu Togi since 1976. Through the 1986 western world coast top of Somei Sato’s musical creation, Trip Through Sacred Period, on the Cabrillo Music Celebration, Izu was the highlighted sho participant. A graduate of SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA State College or university, Izu began using alto saxophonist Lewis Jordan while still students. The two music artists became regular performers on the famous Blue Dolphin Membership. Joined up with by trumpet participant George Sams and drummer Anthony Dark brown, they shaped a music group, United Front side, which performed each year at Western european jazz festivals through the entire 1980s. The group documented five albums between 1979 and 1990.. Since 1989, Izu provides served as creative director from the Asian-American Jazz Celebration in SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. He offered.as co-director, alongside Zakir Hussain, from the SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA Jazz Festival’s particular production, THE BRAND NEW Silk Street, in 1996.