Akira Tana and Otonowa

Drummer Akira Tana has a gilt-edged jazz pedigree: Harvard, the New England Conservatory and stints with Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Hubert Laws, and James Moody. Otonowa, which means “sound circle” in Japanese, was formed originally to showcase traditional Japanese songs and pop through jazz arrangements. But 2011’s terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan were to become a crucible for Otonowa, which launched this brotherhood of Japanese-America...