Tales of the Pacific Rim

Dreams and Illusions: Tales of the Pacific Rim is Brenda Wong Aoki's classic Asian-Pacific folk tales for the whole family.  Modern and ancient tales from Japan, China, Hawaii, Korea, Hmong and California.  Scored with original music and traditional instruments.

Indie Award* - Best Spoken Word Recording

Mermaid Meat The Secret to Immortality

Haunting tales of the supernatural written and performed by Master Storyteller Brenda Wong Aoki & Japanese Jazz Composer Mark Izu. Obsessive greed, crimes of passion, abuse of power; today's headlines, are the stuff of ghost stories. Meat the secret to immortality and other Japanese Ghost Stories features four powerful tales that explore the dilemmas of life people around the world have grappled with since the beginning of time.

• Mermaid Meat – a girl, a mermaid and a macabre attempt at Eternal Life

• The Bell of Dojoji  - a Kabuki story of a maiden transformed by passion

• Dancing in California – the last dance of a ballerina interned in a prison camp

• Black Hair – a Kwaidan tale of a dead wife's revenge 

"…Stories, ancient and new…dominated by women battling the odds with a strength bordering on obsession."

- The Washington Post

Threading Time

Threading Time, by Mark Izu - the culmination of a lifetime musical odyssey melding past & present, East & West. and Circle of Fire, A rare recording featuring Japanese Imperial Court Master Gagaku Musician Togi Suenobu, Tabla Master Zakir Hussain, with Otsuzumi master, Okura Shonosuke and vocalist Yoko Fujimoto of KODO.The album journeys through dimensions of jazz and myth as it explores the ancient intonations of Japanese gagaku and the music of peoples traveling the legendary Silk Road.

Last Dance

Grammy nominated Asian American Orchestra and the San Jose Taiko perform music composed by Mark Izu,  featuring storyteller Brenda Wong Aoki  and the late great poet and jazz man, George Yoshida - about the imprisonment of American Japanese during World War II through oral history, poetry, 40’s Big Band sound and archival photographs from the Japanese American Historical Society.

“This not only had wonderful music but offers the chance to learn more about the internment of Japanese Americans... How does one think of a composition that not only has an Asian beat but could make someone reflect upon history at the same time?”

- Nichi Bei Times

The Queen’s Garden

Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu present an epic story of a “chop suey” girl (all mixed-up - Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and Scots) and a Hawaiian prince (born too late) who fall in love on the wrong side of the flood control, among Polynesian Street gangs, Surf City, U.S.A., and the polyglot of cultures that make up a small urban island: Westside Barrio Longo - West Long Beach. Guerrilla storytelling wrapped in funk, provocative soul, punctuated with breezy island percussion.

“This soul-stirring coming-of-age disc by Brenda Wong Aoki shouldn’t be missed by fans of spoken word. The first-person love story of Brenda Jean–a girl of uniquely mixed heritage (Asian, Mexican, and Scottish)–is backed by a melting jazz soundtrack courtesy of bassist-composer Mark Izu. The westside of Long Beach is the setting here, but it’s Aoki’s autobiographical narrative that steals each scene. Her love for Kali, a boy descended from Hawaiian royalty, takes its own course, and Aoki’s jazz inspired pacing makes this 71-minute disc ebb and flow with a power all its own”.

–Jason Verlinde, Hollywood Dramalogue 

Indie Award* - Best Spoken Word Recording

Navarasa

 The Nine Emotions – a duet for shakuhachi and contra bass featuring the ground-breaking sounds of award-winning Asian Jazz composer Mark Izu playing contra bass, sheng and sho, and Natori master, Christopher Yohmei Blasdel playing shakuhachi 

“ …Shakuhachi and bass go together well, this duo proves it. Christopher’s sound is well supported by Mark’s multidimensional tones that one never tires of listening (to)…Mark is a jazz bass player who, since he also plays sho, has an innate understanding of the concept of ‘ma’.” 

- Hougaku Journal, Tokyo 2010

The Legend of Morning Glory

A rich girl, a poor boy, a reversal of fortunes and a love that endures a lifetime.

A Kabuki tale written and performed by Brenda Wong Aoki. Blending the thunder drums of Maze Daiko, an Afro/Brazilian/Taiko company, Christopher Yohmei on shakuhachi and Asian jazz pioneer Mark Izu on Bass and Sho.

“It's always exciting when San Francisco actor-storyteller-dancer Brenda Wong Aoki presents a new work, blending kyogen and noh …Adding to the buzz about the premiere of Aoki's "Legend of Morning Glory"…she first heard the story, from – of all people- folk icon Pete Seeger, with whom she was appearing on tour.”

- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle