No.355 Monthly Yaima May 2024 issue

"JAZZ Tour"

The issue to be released on May 1, 2024 is "JAZZ Tour"

After the war, Okinawa, which was under US military rule, experienced the heyday of jazz in the 1950s and 1960s.

Before Okinawa was returned to Japan, many Okinawan musicians were active at US military bases and various clubs, along with Filipino and Japanese musicians. Big-name musicians such as Count Basie and Louis Armstrong from the US mainland, as well as many band members from the Philippines and Tokyo, visited the island, and concerts and live shows were actively held both on and off the bases. At its peak, there were 15 full bands, including mainland bands, at the clubs on the bases, and about 500 jazz musicians were active on the entire island of Okinawa.

However, when Okinawa was returned to Japan on May 15, 1972, the jazz musicians who had been working on the bases were fired. Following the Okinawa International Ocean Expo in 1975, the area began to develop as a tourist and resort destination, and their venues for activities shifted to hotel lounges, cafe bars, and live music venues.