Jazz series sounding off

Mike Sciacca

Dan Kuramoto took a drive south along the coast from his Los

Angeles-area home Monday. Once he entered Huntington Beach, the

memories came flooding back.

“I learned to surf at the cliffs in Huntington way back when, and

we played here on quite a few occasions,” he said. “I have a lot of

fond memories of this city.”

Kuramoto, now in his 50s, will return once again to Surf City on

Saturday to perform at the Huntington Beach Cultural Center Library

Theatre.

He and his ex-wife June, his “best friend and partner-in-crime,”

founded the Asian-American jazz ensemble Hiroshima whose two

performances Saturday will cap the 2005 Huntington Beach Smooth Jazz

Series, presented by BB Jazz.

BB Jazz, formed by the wife-and-husband team of Huntington Beach

residents Betty and Corky Bennish is a nonprofit organization with

the dual purpose of bringing smooth jazz to the community of

Huntington Beach, and raising awareness and funds for children with

autism.

The Huntington Beach Smooth Jazz Series is completing its fourth

season with Saturday’s two performances.

“We wanted to do this type of series to raise awareness to this

beautiful, little theater here in Huntington Beach,” Betty Bennish

said. “It seats 300 people and each seat has an unobstructed view,

which makes the experience quaint and special.

“We are so thrilled to have landed Hiroshima and fortunate that

they were available at this time of year. They are a world-class

ensemble with a brand-new CD out, and folks who come see them play

Saturday are in for something special.”

Hiroshima first burst onto the scene in Huntington Beach when it

played the Golden Bear during the 1980s. The six-piece ensemble

hasn’t performed in Surf City since.

“We used to love to play the Golden Bear,” recalled Dan Kuramoto,

who plays the saxophone and the Shakuhachi, or traditional Japanese

bamboo flute. “It was one of those clubs where all the big names just

had to play. It was an intimate setting and a fun place to play.”

Hiroshima, which plays an “East meets West” style of music that

blends such rhythms as jazz, R&B; and salsa, is celebrating the April

26 release of its new CD, “Obon,” at Saturday’s performances.

As Kuramoto explained it, Obon are festivals held all over Japan

and reflect many things to do with ancestry, family and friends. The

Obon for Hiroshima, he said, was a celebration held in honor of the

group’s 25th year in the music industry last year.

“We didn’t think we’d last one year, let alone 25,” Kuramoto said

with a laugh about Hiroshima, whose music has topped the Billboard

contemporary jazz charts, earned Emmy and Grammy nominations, won a

Soul Train Award for Best Jazz Album and has sold more than three

million albums -- including two gold records.

“When you think of Obon, there’s a sense of being uplifted,” he

said. “You are in solemn remembrance, but you can also have a good

time. It’s a gift, and it’s uplifting.”

Since its inception, the Huntington Beach Smooth Jazz Series has

raised nearly $140,000 to benefit autism, Betty Bennish said.

Following in the footsteps of the Huntington Beach Smooth Jazz

Festival is another BB Jazz offering: the staging of the third annual

“A Romantic Evening in Central Park 2005,” on Sept. 10.

It’s a daylong event that will offer the best sounds in jazz in

Huntington Beach Central Park, and will be composed of a star-studded

lineup of some of the music industry’s top jazz artists and groups.

“It’s an all-day festival of jazz and it promises to be an

outstanding event,” said Betty Bennish, who will release the complete

list of this year’s performers July 1.

“The jazz festival here in Huntington Beach continues to grow. It

takes a while for a city to catch on to something like this, and

we’re very excited to see the jazz series begin to turn the corner

here. People are starting to come out to see these wonderful artists

perform right in their own backyard.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca @latimes.com.