Aoki Legacy Fund Fundraiser

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Tix $50

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Concerts

Come to the Aoki Legacy Fund Fundraiser featuring the well known jazz guitarist Henry Young's Quartet and percussionist Themba Tana. The event will honour and support the legacy of their dear friend, the late GVJCCA Vice-President, fellow musician and antiracism activist Harry Aoki. It is one of several events this year which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the incarceration of Canadians of Japanese descent.
Margaret Gallagher, host of the the CBC Radio One’s “Hot Air”, CBC’s longest running radio program will be the MC. Admission includes complimentary appetizers, sushi, chow mein, dessert, and tea. There will be a silent auction and a 50/50 draw. Net proceeds will go to the Aoki Legacy Fund*

For more information, contact Wayne Soon, wgksoon@telus.net; or Judy Hanazawa judyhana@telus.net

About Henry Young
From “Musical Occasions”
Henry Young is one of Vancouver's most enduring jazz musicians who has played alongside legends like Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Roberta Flack and Little Richard. Henry has performed and entertained in clubs and venues in New York, Paris and London. 
Not only is Henry a superb guitarist, he is also an accomplished composer, arranger and musical director. Henry's talent encompasses the spectrum of R&B, Rock & Roll, Big Band and Jazz. His entire career, guitarist Henry Young has been involved with crafting music of the highest calibre. A previous Juno nominee, Henry's work has drawn praise from the likes of Ray Charles, Wes Montgomery and Miles Davis. As a former principal member of Nina Simone's superlative band, he has received international critical attention, having performed at the prestigious Montreux, African and Newport Jazz Festivals.

About Harry Aoki
Composer, recording artist, conductor, impresario, orchestral arranger, band leader, advocate for social justice and pioneer in the field of world music—Harry Aoki managed to squeeze several lifetimes worth of experience into his 91 years on this planet. When he passed away on January 24, 2013, he had only recently been forced to give up playing music due to declining health.
Harry was born in Cumberland in 1921 to parents who had been sent by the Japanese government to set up Japanese language schools in B.C. From early childhood, he showed promise as a violinist and harmonica player, but when his family was uprooted and dispersed with 22,000 other Japanese Canadians in 1942, the course of his life changed forever. Throughout the terrible hardship of labouring with his family on an Alberta sugar beet farm, Harry continued to demonstrate his talent as a musician. Instead of lashing out at the world after the internment experience, he channelled his energy into cross-cultural communication through music and dialogue, thus becoming a proponent of social justice. Over his career spanning some sixty years, Harry played the harmonica and bass, entertaining radio, TV and live audiences all over the world. With an academic’s knowledge of musical history combined with a musician’s ear for what styles can blend together, at the age of eighty he took an active role in bringing musicians together by starting the First Friday Forum. A monthly gathering of like-minded musicians from various musical and ethnic backgrounds, the First Friday Forum continues to be held on the first Friday evening of every month at Tonari Gumi, 42 West 8th Avenue.

About the *Aoki Legacy Fund
Through a generous gift from Harry, his friends established the Aoki Legacy Fund in 2008 in partnership with St. John’s College, an international graduate college at the University of British Columbia that emphasizes international understanding and exchange. The purpose of the Fund is to further his vision of intercultural harmony and social justice by equipping younger global citizens for a multicultural world. With Harry’s creative work in mind, the Fund will support programs that encourages dialogue among artists, musicians, scholars, students and community members.

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