“J-Town Bronzeville Suite” at Grand Performances

“J-Town Bronzeville Suite” will be performed on Friday, Aug. 22, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Grand Performances, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

Dave Iwataki and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) present a powerful performance blending the soulful rhythms of jazz, the intricate beauty of traditional Japanese music, and evocative dance to bring a little-known chapter of Los Angeles history to vivid life.

Did you know that during World War II, Little Tokyo was temporarily renamed Bronzeville? After Japanese American residents were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated, African American workers — many of whom had migrated from the Deep South in search of wartime jobs — moved into the vacant neighborhood.

What followed was a brief yet profound cultural convergence: jazz fill