Mark Izu |  Recordings

The score for MU, written by Emmy-award winning composer Mark Izu, lifts off from his handwritten graphic notation, a melding of his love of jazz and ancient Japanese music, and the live improvisation of musicians who have worked together for years.

These include Izu playing the sho, an ancient Japanese court instrument which has 17 pipes and 15 reeds, and requires strong lungs to produce its haunting, atonal notes. The score also calls for three types of Japanese drum, a 13- and a 17-string koto, the shakuhachi bamboo flute and four Western instruments: the double bass, trap drums, saxophone and flute. Percussive sounds emit from a thumb piano, a beaded gourd, a Chinese opera gong filled with ball bearings and handcrafted drum mallets which, when rubbed on drums and koto strings, create a sad cry that strikes Izu as the sound of a whale crying.

Mark Izu and Circle of Fire – Asian Jazz

The CD, Threading Time, by Mark Izu and Circle of Fire, is a rare performance of two national treasures, Gagaku Master Togi Suenobu (Japan), Tabla Master Zakir Hussain (India) swirled into smooth jazz by composer Mark Izu (USA). The album journeys through dimensions of jazz and myth as it explores the ancient intonations of Japanese gagaku and the music of peoples traveling the legendary Silk Road.

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A spoken word classic with jazz. WINNER INDIE Award, *****5 Stars

The Queen’s Garden is an epic story with jazz about the love between a good girl who’s all “chop suey” (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Scots) and a Hawaiian prince born too late in the wrong country.

The first spoken word epic with jazz. A love story set amongst LA's urban tribes, between a good girl who's all "chop suey" (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Scots) and a proud boy going bad descended from Hawaiian royalty. Based on a true story.

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This soul-stirring coming-of-age disc by Brenda Wong Aoki shouldn't be missed by fans of spoken word. The first-person love story of Brenda Jean--a girl of uniquely mixed heritage (Asian, Mexican, and Scottish)--is backed by a melting jazz soundtrack courtesy of bassist-composer Mark Izu. The west side of Los Angeles is the setting here, but it's Aoki's autobiographical narrative that steals each scene. Her love for Kali, a boy descended from Hawaiian royalty, takes its own course, and Aoki's jazz inspired pacing makes this 71-minute disc ebb and flow with a power all its own. --Jason Verlinde

Performed by Anthony Brown’s Grammy Nominated Asian American Jazz Orchestra and San Jose Taiko. Featuring storytellers Brenda Wong Aoki & George Yoshida.

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Last Dance tells the internment story through spoken word, poetry, historic photos, 40’s Big Band sound and original music. It’s a tribute to Japanese Americans who used music and dance to remind themselves and the world who they were.

This CD is based on the Navarasa expressed through the musical collaboration of Christopher Yohmei Blasdel on shakuhachi, and Mark Izu on bass, and mouth organ (the Chinese sheng and Japanese shô). The music is mostly improvised.

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Mermaid Meat is a collection of Japanese ghost stories in a beautifully bound hardcover book and accompanying compact disc.

Mark Izu’s concert, Songs for JTown, performed and recorded at Presidio Theatre in San Francisco April 2022.