New MSB Web Site

Thanks to Dream Host and concrete5, the Minidoka Swing Band has a new, non-profit web site  You can view our new, official web site at www.minidokaswingband.com or by clicking on the title of this Posting.  Please enjoy the pictures and musical selections by clicking on one of the tabs. Let me know what you think!  Thanks . . .  Laura

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

A Christmas tune sung by Jo Peterson at our "Avamere at Hillsboro" program on December 4, 2011. Just beautiful.

NEW Gig - Avamere at Hillsboro

We have a new gig to replace our cancelled gig, so you still have a chance to catch our great Christmas Swing tunes plus some traditional swing tunes.  The place is "Avamere at Hillsboro" and it is located at 2000 SE 30th Ave, just off TV Hwy.  Turn at Larry H. Miller Hyundai.  You can also look for Secure Storage with the lighthouse landmark.  There is no charge . . . FREE.  Can't ask for any better than that!  :) We'll be playing from 1-3pm.  Come listen and enjoy!  Click here for a map:  http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Holiday Lunch and Craft Fair, featuring the Minidoka Swing Band

Unfortunately, ONE has had to CANCEL this event . . . :(

Sunday, December 4, 2011

at the Multnomah Athletic Club, 1849 SW Salmon St., Portland, OR  97205

Cost: $40 per person, or $15 for the craft fair and Minidoka Swing Band performance alone (does not include lunch)

Join Oregon Nikkei Endowment for a fun afternoon of food, crafts and music at the Multnomah Athletic Club on Sunday, December 4, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Enjoy lunch with friends and dance to the tunes of the Minidoka Swing Band as they perform their new Christmas-themed set. This fundraiser will also feature local artisans whose crafts will be available to purchase for your Christmas shopping list.

More details will be available in the coming weeks. Contact Oregon Nikkei Endowment at             503-224-1458       for more information.  www.oregonnikkei.org

Minidoka Swing Band

Photo by Bruce Brown - 2010 Urban League of Portland Annual Awards Dinner - Portland Convention Center (Click on picture to enlarge)

We've got a new look . . .

We've got a new look to the Minidoka Swing Band blog page.  Hope it makes it easier for you to read and follow our activities!  . . . Laura

Holiday Lunch and Craft Fair, featuring the Minidoka Swing Band

Sunday, December 4, 2011

at the Multnomah Athletic Club, 1849 SW Salmon St., Portland, OR  97205

Cost: $40 per person, or $15 for the craft fair and Minidoka Swing Band performance alone (does not include lunch)

Join Oregon Nikkei Endowment for a fun afternoon of food, crafts and music at the Multnomah Athletic Club on Sunday, December 4, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Enjoy lunch with friends and dance to the tunes of the Minidoka Swing Band as they perform their new Christmas-themed set. This fundraiser will also feature local artisans whose crafts will be available to purchase for your Christmas shopping list.

More details will be available in the coming weeks. Contact Oregon Nikkei Endowment at             503-224-1458       for more information.

National Museum Day

We had a great day at the Washington County Museum playing for the free National Museum Day.  Great weather with a great turn out.  Couldn't have asked for better weather for an outdoor concert!  Click on this site for an article about the band from the Hillsboro Argus and Oregonlive.com - http://www.oregonlive.com/argus/index.ssf/2011/09/museum_free_day_features_minid.html

Free Museum Day and Live Swing Band Music!

Saturday, Sept. 24th is coming.  Join us at the Washington County Museum on the PCC Rock Creek Campus for free music and free museum admission.  Bring your picnic lunch, a lawn chair and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather at an outdoor concert.  Soft drinks and water will be available for purchase as a Minidoka Swing Band fundraiser to help purchase new music!  View the web site for more details:  www.washingtoncountymuseum.com.  See you there!

Map to Washington County Museum

Click on Map for directions to the Washington County Museum MAP  See you on the 24th!

Minidoka Swing Band: Free Museum Day featuring the Minidoka Swing Band

Minidoka Swing Band: Free Museum Day featuring the Minidoka Swing Band

Location:

Washington County Museum

17677 NW Springville Rd

Portland, OR 97229

503-645-5353

12 noon to 2:30 PM

Free Museum Day featuring the Minidoka Swing Band

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Minidoka Swing Band performs Sat., September 24, at the Washington

County Museum in celebration of National Museum Day, hosted by the Smithsonian magazine.

The Washington County Museum is a participating museum with free admission all day, from 10

a.m. to 4 p.m.

Bring the family and a picnic lunch to the Museum that day and take in the toe-tapping music of

the Minidoka Swing Band, view the current exhibits, see a Japanese woodblock printing

demonstration and enjoy the grounds – all for free. The Museum is located on the PCC-Rock

Creek Campus, 17677 NW Springville Road.

The locally-based swing band, established in September 2007, plays from noon to 2:30 p.m. The

band’s swing tunes serve as a tribute to the Japanese Americans interned during World War II

and highlights the music that was popular in 1940s America – and in the internment camps.

Led by Music Director and Conductor Larry Nobori, the band’s members range in age from 13 to

84 years old. Nobori also plays lead alto sax and clarinet. The Minidoka Swing Band, named after

the Minidoka Internment Camp in Idaho, has been featured in a variety of media, including the

Wall Street Journal and in an Emmy-nominated story produced by KING TV-Channel 5 in

Seattle.

Two exhibits will be on display in the Museum gallery: Taken: FBI is a traveling exhibit of the Oregon Nikkei Endowment that shares stories, artifacts, diaries and experiences of some Portland-area Japanese Americans who were interned. The traveling version of the exhibit is sponsored in part by the Oregon Heritage Commission, Spirit Mountain Community Fund and Target. The Day We Left is a complimentary exhibit of large-scale paintings by Cedar Mill artist Sharon Inahara, using words as art, to depict the emotions of WWII and the internment experience of Japanese Americans.

About: The Washington County Museum is a cultural leader that serves to preserve our heritage and foster understanding of our shared future. The Museum offers unparalleled opportunities to experience and understand the complexity and richness of Washington County.

Two new performances coming . . .

Check back for more details, but here is a quick note:  The Minidoka Swing Band will be performing at the Oregon International Air Show, www.oregonairshow.com, on Saturday, August 20, 2011 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM and the band is also scheduled to play at the Washington County Museum on the PCC-Rock Creek Campus. Portland, OR on Saturday, September 24, 2011.  Time TBD.

Emmy Award Nomination-How cool is that?

A story about the Minidoka Swing Band and Internment has been nominated for an Emmy Award.  Saint Bryan from KING TV-5, Evening Magazine came down to Portland last year and filmed the band and wrote a story and then integrated it into a story about Japanese American Internment.  It was a great story and now it has been nominated for an Emmy.  Our founder and creator, the late Robbie Tsuboi would be so proud. And today is Robbie's birthday!  Click on the Title to see a link of the story from May 8, 2010.  What an honor.  Here is the message from Saint - "Our KING 5 story on The Minidoka Swing Band has earned an Emmy nomination. Award ceremony is in mid June. Long ago we've learned great stories tell themselves and that we should just stay out of the way. So any congratulations go to you."

Robbie Remembrance; 1 year later

Robbie Remembrance: 1 year later- This May will mark the first year of the loss of a mentor, visionary, leader, and great friend to all, Robbie Tsuboi. In tribute to all Robbie has done for us the Minidoka Swing Band, Hula Pa Makani Kolonahe, Friends of Goose Hollow (Goosers), and Unite People will be having a memorial celebration on Sunday, May 15 at Epworth Methodist Church, 1333 SE 27th Ave. The event will be about Robbie’s two favorite tenets, food and fun. The event will begin with a potluck lunch (main dish will be provided, side dishes are welcome) at 11:30 am and followed by a program in the sanctuary at 1:30 pm. We invite all those in the community to come and remember Robbie and let us thank you for sharing her with us.

The Minidoka Swing Band

Ka Pa Hula Makani Kolonahe

Goosers

Unite People

Nisei Day of Remembrance

Willamette University in Salem, OR is sponsoring a "Nisei Day of Remembrance" on Friday, April 1, 2011.  It will include a private luncheon, then a dedication on campus which is free and open to the public along with A Concert of Poetry with Jazz  at the Rodgers Music Center, inside Hudson Hall featuring: The Minidoka Swing Band and Oregon's Fifth Poet Laureate, Lawson Fusao Inada.  Dedication is at 1:30 and the MSB concert begins at 2:30. Come join us! (click on the title for more details).

An Intimate Dinner with George Takei

On February 19, 2011 the Minidoka Swing Band was honored to play at the ONE reception for "An Intimate Dinner with George Takei" at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront Hotel. I have included a very nice email I received from George regarding the evening:

"Dear Laura,

I was transported to my boyhood imprisoned in two U.S. internment camps at that memorable evening two weekends ago at the reception for the Oregon Nikkei Endowment. Our barrack was just across the way from the mess hall at both camps. So, one of my cherished memories from those years is that of the music that wafted over on Saturday nights from the mess hall after my mother put us to bed.

The music of the 40’s that I heard from the Minidoka Swing Band sounded so familiar and sweet. That was the music of my boyhood. That was the sound that I loved. And it was brought back to me so marvelously that evening in Portland. My appreciation and gratitude goes to those talented musicians for keeping a dulcet part of a dark experience so melodically alive.  

My thanks to you and the talented musicians for the great work that you are doing.

Warm regards,

George Takei"
http://www.georgetakei.com/

"Tuxedo Junction"

Minidoka Swing presents "Tuxedo Junction" sung by Nola Sugai Bogle at the Uwajimaya Festival in Beaverton, OR

Pictures of the Minidoka Swing Band by Leah Nash

These pictures were taken by Leah Nash for our story in the Wall Street Journal by Joel Millman.

"The Last Rich Year" by Sig Unander

Here is an interesting article written by a friend of mine.  Sig is a Pacific U. graduate and he's written an article for the Pacific Magazine about a former Pacific U. student, a young Japanese college student from Beaverton, OR who died serving our country with the 442nd during WWII.

Mochitsuki 2011

Check out our next band performance at Mochitsuki, coming up on January 30, 2011.  Save money and purchase tickets a head of time.  Ask for the 12:00 noon performance and come hear the Minidoka Swing Band, then afterwards check out the rest of the activities and do some Mochi pounding!  Celebrate the New Year.  Details on the Mochitsuki web site.