11/07/2025
T’was so exciting to get to work with Tatsu Aoki and the incredible artistic and operational and pr team for the FIRST Asian American Jazz Festival in 1995! Really can’t believe we hit 30 years in 2025.
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Please JOIN US November 7-10, 2025, this year at Elastic Arts, 3429 West Diversey Avenue, Chicago! Elastic Arts Asian Improv Arts Midwest
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Fw: Carol Fox and Associates:
Ann Fink
AIRMW CELEBRATES THE MULTI-CULTURAL, MULTI-ETHNIC REALITY OF CHICAGO AND THE NATION WITH THE 30th ANNUAL CHICAGO ASIAN AMERICAN JAZZ FESTIVAL AT ELASTIC ARTS NOV. 7-10
Jeff Chan, Ester Hana, Yoko Noge, Francis Wong and Chien-an Yuan among the
critically acclaimed guest artists joining Tatsu Aoki and The MIYUMI Project for
4-day must-see concert series
CHICAGO – Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW), directed by multi-instrumentalist and media artist Tatsu Aoki, presents the 30th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival at Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey Ave., #208, at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 7-10.
“AIRMW is committed to advancing the understanding and profile of Asian American cultures through the traditional and contemporary cultural arts,” says Aoki. “We are proud of our history of producing high
quality arts programs reflecting the multicultural, multi-ethnic reality of Chicago and the nation. For three decades, this annual festival, and especially this year’s program, are perfect examples of that mission in
action.”
The 30th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival schedule is as follows. All events take place at Elastic Arts unless otherwise noted.
Schedule/artists are subject to change:
Friday, Nov. 7
8:30-9:30 p.m., Set 1 - Francis Wong and Chicago Time Code
9:30-10:30 p.m., Set 2 - Jeff Chan and Ratchet (Jeff Chan, Chad Clark, Michael Perkins,
Ausbert Acevedo)
Saturday, Nov 8
Time 1 p.m.: Panel Discussion at AIRMW, 4875 N. Elston Ave.– Panelist roster (Tatsu Aoki, Kioto
Aoki, Lauren Deutsch, Leonardo Fontane, Akira Saito, Mai Sugimoto, Francis Wong)
8:30-9:30 p.m., Set 1 - Ester Hana
9:30-10:30 p.m., Set 2 - Yoko Noge and Jazz Me Blues
Sunday, Nov 9
7:30 p.m., Takashi Shallow
8:30-9:30 p.m., Set 1 – Chien-An Yuan and All Things Shining (Chien-An Yuan, Marcus Elliot,
Jon Monteverde, Chace Morris)
9:30-10:30 p.m., Set 2 – Mai Sugimoto, Haruhi Kobayashi and Kioto Aoki Trio
Monday, Nov 10
8:30-9:30 and 9:30-10:30 p.m. – Tatsu Aoki’s The MIYUMI Project (Mwata Bowden, Edward
Wilkerson Jr., Jamie Kempkers, Coco Elysses, Tsukasa Taiko)
The Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival is a program of Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW) and is supported by general operating support received from the Illinois Arts Council Agency; the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; the Alphawood Foundation, Ga***rd and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), The Field Foundation, the
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Walder Foundation, the Joyce Foundation and a special project grant from John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Tickets
AIRMW presents the 30th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival Friday, Nov. 7 through Monday,
Nov. 10. All concerts take place at Elastic Arts, 208, 3429 W. Diversey Ave.
Tickets are $20 and will be available at the door only (cash and credit card accepted). $10 tickets are available to students with ID.
A panel discussion is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8 at AIRMW, 4875 N. Elston Ave. For more
information, visit airmw.org
The 30th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival precedes AIRMW’s “Reduction 11” concert co-presented by Asian Improv aRts Midwest / Tsukasa Taiko and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 19;
and “Taiko Legacy 22” concert presented by Asian Improv aRts Midwest /
Tsukasa Taiko at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20.
Both concerts will take place at the Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets go on sale at a later date. For more information, visit mcachicago.org.
Asian Improv aRts Midwest’s (AIRMW) mission is to build a vital, self-empowered Asian American
Community in the Chicago area by advancing the understanding and profile of Asian American cultures through the traditional and contemporary cultural arts. Through in-house programs and collaborative projects, AIRMW is dedicated to creating productive relationships with artists, communities, and
institutions. It continuously strives to maintain the responsibility of professionalism as part of cultural preservation by producing high quality arts programs that accurately reflect the multicultural, multi-ethnic reality of Chicago and the nation.
In 1984 Chicago artist and community leader Tatsu Aoki founded Innocent Eyes and Lenses (IEL) in response to the need for an organization dedicated to presenting Asian American artists and programs that were relevant to the community. In 2004 IEL was renamed Asian Improv aRts Midwest to reflect the
community the organization was serving and recognize the 20-year partnership with the West Coast-based Asian Improv aRts. In 2022, thanks in part to community supporters, members and the Chicago Cultural Treasures Grant by IFF, AIRMW was able to purchase a permanent home at 4875 N. Elston.
The space officially opened in February 2023 and houses the company’s administration offices and rehearsal space and is the site for classes and select special events. For more information visit airmw.org.
Tatsu Aoki is a prolific composer and performer of traditional and experimental music forms, a
filmmaker, and an educator. In May 2018, Aoki was honored as the first recipient of the “George Award,” for his years of support, recording, and performance with renowned American Jazz and soul guitarist George Freeman. As Executive Director of AIRMW, an Asian American cultural arts presenter organization, Aoki has initiated and managed several programs to advance the understanding of traditional arts and community through the arts, including the annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, the Tsukasa Taiko Legacy, and the Toyoakimoto Shamisen residency projects. Aoki was selected by the Asian American Advisory Council of Illinois in 2017 for the Community Service Award from the Illinois Secretary of State, Jesse White. He also received the prestigious Commendation for the
Promotion of Japanese Culture from the Foreign Ministry in Japan, which is given to individuals with outstanding achievements in international fields and acknowledges the recipient’s contributions to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries.
Aoki's ensemble, The MIYUMI Project, is one of the longest-standing amalgams of Chicago's avant-garde jazz and Japanese traditional music. Drawing from aesthetics rooted in the Japanese tradition and
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Japanese taiko drumming permeate the laboratory of sound where he explores the nexus of cultures: Asian and American; Japanese and African; past and present. The improvised compositions provide a conceptual framework for each band member to interpret, which in turn coalesces and transforms into a
vast contemporary expanse of musical immersion for the audience. Over the past four decades, each successive grouping of MIYUMI Project musicians has contributed to the unique blending of modern application with a traditional sensibility. The final result is a continuous evolution of a "live and raw" musical happening. Project musicians over the past two decades have contributed to the unique blending of modern application with traditional sensibility. In 2017 the band was chosen as the official
musical presenters for both the groundbreaking and unveiling of Yoko Ono’s “Skylanding Project”, which resulted in the Yoko Ono produced, “SKYLANDING” album. The “Best of MIYUMI Project” Double Vinyl and CD was released in 2020 by FPE records, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the band.
Asian Improv aRts Midwest is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is supported in part by general operating support from the Illinois Arts Counsel, a State Agency and the MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity and the Arts at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; as well as support from the Alphawood
Foundation, Ga***rd and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Walder Foundation, Joyce Foundation and the NationalEndowment for the Arts.
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