Hiroshima announced that its annual “Spirit of the Season” holiday concert is set for Saturday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Aratani Theatre, adjacent to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St. in Little Tokyo.
The festive concert features special guests and popular holiday songs done Hiroshima style.
“Hiroshima returns to the Aratani Theatre for the 11th time in Little Tokyo for what we believe to be a very special show,” band co-founder Dan Kuramoto stated. “We are pleased to co-present the ‘Spirit of the Season’ with the ongoing support of the JACCC and current CEO Leslie Ito. “Hiroshima is about the community, that is a major reason why we started the band. We encourage the community to come join us and celebrate the ‘spirit of the season’ and to support the work being done at the JACCC.
“We are always honored to have the ‘extended family’ with us in guest stars Terry Steele on vocals, and the amazing Tex Nakamura on harmonica. Last year they got into some heavy choreography together that tore the house down!”
The opening act will feature Steele and Yvette Nii, the same pair that sang on the band’s Grammy-nominated CD “Legacy” (2009). Hiroshima will perform vocal favorites from its past, something that has not been done in more than two decades. Songs to be included on the program include Nii on “Room Full of Mirrors,” Steele’s signature piece “The Door Is Open,” “Longtime Love,” and others.
“In September we did a few benefit concerts in Northern California with Terry and Yvette featuring our early vocal tunes like ‘Roomful of Mirrors,’ ‘Never, Ever,’ ‘Long Time Love,’ and more,” Kuramoto said. “The audience really dug it. Knowing some of the songs are no longer available — even on iTunes — we are thinking of doing an all-vocal album featuring many of those early songs.
“Long story short, we thought, lets play it for our SoCal community first — thus we are our own opening act! The second half of the show will again feature Terry and Tex and even more surprises. Please come and hang with us and all the friends who say they see each other every year at our ‘Spirit of the Season’ show at the Aratani.”
Hiroshima celebrates 35 years in the industry this year and continues to top the charts with tracks from its latest CD, “J-Town Beat” (2013). Led by Dan Kuramoto on saxophone, flute and shakuhachi and co-founder June Kuramoto on koto, the band includes Kimo Cornwell on keyboards, Danny Yamamoto on drums, and Dean Cortez on bass.
Tickets are $38 (orchestra) and $30 (balcony) general, $36 (orchestra) and $27 (balcony) for JACCC members. For more information, call (213) 628-2725 or visit www.jaccc.org.
For updates, visit www.hiroshimamusic.com or www.facebook.com/hiroshimamusic. CDs can be purchased at special holiday prices at the concert, and can be ordered online through the band’s website, iTunes, cdbaby or Amazon.