Photo: George Yoshida was a teacher in Berkeley for 35 years. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle
Peter HartlaubPublished 4:51 pm, Friday, May 16, 2014
When George Yoshida was sent to a World War II internment center at age 20, he carried a treasured jazz record collection with him, and he played saxophone in a detention camp band. He shared that experience for the rest of his life, as a tireless musician, educator, father and mentor in the Bay Area.
Mr. Yoshida died on Tuesday after a short illness. He was 92.
"He was a very inspirational force," said Mark Izu, a San Francisco jazz bassist and longtime friend. "He was an amazing educator, he inspired a lot of people, and he shared his history with others. He said the music basically saved his life in that internment camp."
The Poston Detention Camp #1 in the Arizona desert was a grim place, which the Seattle-born Mr. Yoshida and other musicians brightened with dance music. After his release in 1943, Mr. Yoshida continued his jazz education on Chicago's South Side, before relocating to Berkeley with his wife, Helen, in 1946.
Mr. Yoshida raised four children and helped form the J-Town Jazz Ensemble. He also was an educator in the Berkeley public school system for 35 years, including 15 at Washington Elementary School. He later worked with senior citizens and was a popular tai chi teacher until close to his death.
Mr. Yoshida's passion was stoked after he was approached by Izu and another musician, Ken Yamada, who wanted to know about his experiences in Poston. That inspired Mr. Yoshida to do his own research, writing the 1997 book "Reminiscing in Swingtime: Japanese Americans in American Popular Music, 1920-1965."
He participated in documentaries and other projects that explored musical contributions by immigrants and nisei - the U.S.-born sons and daughters of Japanese immigrants.
"Most of their peers knew little, if anything, about the nisei involvement in American music," Mr. Yoshida wrote in his book. "They may be familiar with Hiroshima, the successful Japanese American fusion group, and assume it was the first to play popular music back in the 1970s. They would be wrong. Their moms and dads made the scene years ago, when jazz was a dirty word."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Berkeley-teacher-musician-George-Yoshida-dies-at-5484858.php
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