Otonowa with Akira Tana

Drummer Akira Tana has a gilt-edged jazz pedigree: Harvard, the New England Conservatory and stints with Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Hubert Laws, and James Moody. He and bassist Rufus Reid have had a rich partnership – five CDs and touring to match – and his latest CD project, JazzaNova, features guests like Branford Marsalis and Arturo Sandoval. But the past, as they say, is prologue, because the very special group appearing this year brings Akira’s consummate musical mastery into congruence with his deep Japanese cultural roots. Otonowa, which means “sound circle”, was formed originally to showcase traditional Japanese songs and pop through jazz arrangements. But 2011’s terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan were to become a crucible for Otonowa, which launched this brotherhood of Japanese-American jazz luminaries into a program of touring and recording to raise both funds and spirits for the survivors. You’ll hear unique melodies you’ve never heard in highly original settings you’re unlikely soon to forget.