January 13, 2007
 

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY II ,  PROGRAM SET

A CONCERT OF POETRY and JAZZ MUSIC, JANUARY 27, 2007, 8:00pm

     FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH, 1011 SW 12TH Ave. Portland, OR

Oregon Poet Laureate, Lawson Inada will read his award-winning poetry with live jazz accompaniment.  Joining him on the bandstand will be Larry Nobori, reeds, Gordon Lee, piano, Andre St. James, bass, Nola Bogle, vocals, and Rick Homer, whose father wrote the famous song in 1944.  It became the then, twenty-year-old Doris Day’s first big hit with the Les Brown Orchestra.  Kate Atkins, of Digital Video Documentaries, will again contribute visual images to enhance the message.

The “journey” begins with Inada’s first memories of hearing jazz music in the Japanese internment camp in Jerome, Arkansas when he was about 5 years old.   The song he vividly remembers is Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo, played on an old record player.  He has been greatly influenced by jazz ever since.

The “journey” then moves on to the Denver Union Train Station, which became a symbol of their newfound freedom from the camps.   There will be other stops on our “journey” along the West Coast, with a sampling of West Coast Jazz music, up into the Northwest, with a nod to the late Native American saxophone player, Jim Pepper, and then across the ocean to Istanbul.

Gordon Lee worked extensively with Jim Pepper, and lived, worked and composed music in Istanbul.  Special reading by Turkish student, Aybuke Filiz, and Oregon poet, Paulann Petersen, who authored, Blood-Silk, a volume of poems about Turkey.

Inada’s intention is to add material of an “international” nature to broaden his message, to show we are all connected, no matter where we live.

Reception and book signing during intermission.

General Admission, $20.00, Student and Senior, $15.00.  Group rate for 20 or more.

Contact Nancy Tice at Northwest Artist Management, 503-774-2511, or email

nwartmgt@bigplanet.com, for further information, and to reserve tickets.