Minidoka Swing Band

Minidoka Swing Band
2014 Sherwood Camellia Festival

Saturday, April 25, 2015

A "Sentimental Journey":                        Help us get to Japan.  Click HERE to  donate online.  Thank You!

In observance of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, the all-volunteer and not-for-profit Minidoka Swing Band will be performing a concert tour in Japan during November 2015. We will be sharing an important part of Japanese American history through educational narration, pictures and music to interested schools and communities.

Based in Portland, Oregon, the Minidoka Swing Band educates and preserves an important period of Japanese American history by reaching out to groups and organizations interested in what the Japanese Americans endured during WWII.

The Minidoka Swing  Band  consists  of 18 musicians and 4 vocalists  who  play  and sing  such big band tunes as “Boogie  Woogie Bugle  Boy,” “Sentimental Journey,”  “Moonlight  Serenade,” “American  Patrol,” “Tuxedo Junction,”  “All of Me,” "New York New York," and many  more.  The Band  has been recognized by TV, magazine and newspaper organizations and articles, including the Wall Street Journal (New York), an Emmy-nominated story by KING TV5 Evening Program  (Seattle, Washington), the Pacific Citizen Magazine (San  Francisco, California), and many  more local newspapers around  the Portland-Metro area. Two of the Minidoka Swing Band’s  musical recordings were  used  in the nationally-broadcasted documentary, “Searchlight Serenade,” produced by KEET TV Public Broadcasting (Eureka,  California).We would love  to perform  our historical concert  at your  local  event  or venue. The not-for- profit Minidoka Swing  Band  operates solely on grants  and donations and performs  frequently at major cultural  events, conferences, parks  and schools  throughout America’s  Pacific Northwest. 

If interested in Sponsoring or contributing to the Minidoka Swing Band for this trip or hosting a concert, please contact:
Laura Baxter, Minidoka Swing Band Manager--1968 SE Bush St. Hilllsboro OR 97123--Phone: 503-640-0120--Email: laura@minidokaswingband.com or for Japanese speaking representative, contact Yasuyo Strassmaier, Assistant Manager--Phone:  971-300-2162--Email: ykstrass@gmail.com

Thank you to Kokichi Tagawa, our Bass player for creating a Japanese language web site.  Check it out. http://minidokaj.blogspot.com/ 

Minidoka Swing Band is an affiliate of the Portland JACL, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  
Send donations to: MSB Japan Trip, P.O. Box 86310, Portland, OR  97286. 
Donations in support of MSB Japan Trip are tax deductible.
Help us get to Japan.  Click HERE to  donate online.  Thank You!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

This is a new blog to post information about out Japan Tour "Sharing Our Heritage & Culture".  Follow the Minidoka Swing Band on it's journey.