SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles-based Grateful Crane Ensemble will present two shows celebrating community through music on the weekend of June 24 and 25 at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St. in Japantown.
Music has played a big part in defining the community through the generations, both in good times and bad. This look at the past and present is part of the Center’s 50th anniversary.
Saturday, June 24, at 2 p.m.: “Sentimental Journey: A Nisei Life in Song.” A concert paying tribute to the Nisei generation featuring hit songs from the ’40s and ’50s that defined the Nisei experience.
Sunday, June 25, at 2 p.m.: “Arigato Benkyodo.” A nostalgic musical journey celebrating the last manju-ya in Nihonmachi, which closed its doors last year after being in busines since 1906.
The cast: Haruye Ioka, Merv Maruyama, Keiko Kawashima, Jason Fong, Helen Ota and Darrell Kunitomi, with Lisa Joe on keyboards and Danny Yamamoto on drums.
The Grateful Crane Ensemble has performed often in Northern California with such shows as “The Camp Dance” and “Nihonmachi: The Place to Be.”
Tickets are $20 each. For more information, call (415) 567-5505 or go to: www.jcccnc.org/progams-events/50th-events/