‘Transpacific Musiclands’ Outdoor Concert at JANM

El Haru Kuroi

In conjunction with its new exhibition, “Transpacific Borderlands: The Art of Japanese Diaspora in Lima, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and São Paulo,” the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo, will present “Transpacific Musiclands,” an outdoor concert celebrating cultural exchange between East Los Angeles and Japan, on Saturday, Oct. 14, from 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Admission is free. Museum galleries will remain open for concertgoers until 8 p.m.

Featured acts will include Quetzal and El Haru Kuroi, two Afro-Latino jazz-rock fusion bands from East Los Angeles; La Chamba, a Los Angeles–based band with Peruvian and psychedelic roots; and members of Conjunto J, a group from Japan that plays Mexican border music.

Also joining in throughout the evening will be Maceo Hernandez of East L.A. Taiko; Tex Nakamura, formerly of WAR; LA’s 2014 Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodriguez; and Ruben Funkahuatl Guevara, formerly of Ruben and the Jets. There will be DJ sets by Gomez Comes Alive and Shin Miyata.

Concertgoers will have access to a food truck (Okamoto Kitchen) and Angel City Brewery’s beer garden (age 21 and over only).

La Chamba

“Transpacific Musiclands” has been curated for the museum by Miyata, a Tokyo-based music promoter, record label owner, and cultural ambassador. For over 20 years, he has introduced authentic and diverse Chicano artistic expression to the Japanese public by distributing Chicano music and organizing shows by bands from East L.A.

The “Transpacific Borderlands” exhibition is part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a Getty-led initiative exploring Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. The presenting sponsor of PST: LA/LA is Bank of America.

The exhibition examines the experiences of artists of Japanese ancestry born, raised, or living in either Latin America or predominantly Latin American neighborhoods of Southern California. It shows how ethnic communities, racial mixing, and the concepts of homeland and cosmopolitanism inform the creativity and aesthetics of this hybrid culture.

“Transpacific Borderlands,” which is on view through Feb. 25, 2018, is accompanied by a catalog featuring full-color images and essays by the exhibition’s four curators along with writings by scholars of immigration and diversity from across the Americas. The catalog is available in the JANM Store as well as online at http://janmstore.com.

Major support for this exhibition and the accompanying publication is provided through grants from the Getty Foundation. Generous support for “Transpacific Borderlands” has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is from the Kosasa Foundation and the Pasadena Art Alliance.

The “Transpacific Musiclands” concert is co-produced by Barrio Gold Records, Miyata’s label, and supported by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. For more information, visit www.janm.org.

Quetzal