Time has stopped in Okinawa's jazz clubs

He owns a club called Gu-Wa Jazz Live in Naha. The name means fable, and the club is a treasured spot for jazz aficionados. A major highlight for the club was hosting a concert by pianist Kenny Barron several years ago. The encounter is still much talked about by local musicians, and an enlarged photograph of Barron surrounded by local musicians is framed and prominently displayed on the wall .

Another first-generation jazz singer is the legendary Sumiko Yaseyama, owner of Interlude, a small piano bar in Naha. She began singing as a teenager during the postwar occupation and become a featured performer in the base clubs. One of the highlights of her later career was recording an album with pianist Mal Waldron in the 1980s - the cover is framed and hanging on the wall at Interlude. In the tiny club, she and a young assistant work as hosts and performers.

No story of the early jazz scene would be complete without recognizing the contributions of musicians from the Philippines. Many originally came to Okinawa to work on the military bases.

Pino Arcaya arrived during the Vietnam War when the US military recruited him as a music teacher. "They sent me $300 and a one-way ticket to Okinawa," he recalls. "The Department of Defense wanted me to teach classical music to family members of the military. After a while I became bored with classical music, so a friend said I should try jazz, and I found it much more interesting."

He began to frequent the base clubs, some of which had hired musicians from the Philippines. One of the players taught him jazz piano. Performing with the club bands led Mr. Arcaya to a job as a pianist at a hotel. About 20 years ago, he opened his own club. "In those days," he says, "I would play at the hotel until 10:30 at night, then rush to my club and start all over again."

His Pino's Place is an intimate and charming jazz club. Behind the bandstand is a charcoal mural of musicians and the motto: "Jazz is the universal language of mankind."

The Okinawa jazz clubs are labors of love, rather than profitable business enterprises. The audiences are comprised of local regulars, tourists from mainland Japan, and older Americans.

The future of jazz in Okinawa rests in the hands of younger musicians, many from mainland cities. Kam's Jazz House in Naha is a laboratory for the next generation. Hidefumi Kamura, who was influenced by the military base jazz clubs on the mainland, came to Okinawa from the city of Yokosuka. Today he is one of the most respected and skilled bebop pianists in Okinawa.

On any given night his band might feature a tenor saxophonist, vibraphonist, trombonist, guitarist, or all of them. The club is a second home for many younger musicians such as Johma Kohsuke. Mr. Kohsuke came to Okinawa from Osaka about five years ago. His interest in jazz derived from listening to Charlie Parker recordings. He studied alone until he achieved a sufficient degree of skill.

Each year, Naha sponsors a jazz concert. In the midst of regional tensions, the theme for 2004 was jazz and peace. The concert featured local favorites such as Hidefumi Kamura and Yara Fumio, but it also introduced musicians from other Pacific islands. Paul Huang's Jazz Band arrived from Taiwan and delighted the audience with aset of bebop.

The Okinawa Jazz Association swing band showcased trumpeter Elio Miyashiro, a Hawaii-born artist who now resides in Tokyo.

The event highlighted the continued appeal of jazz in Okinawa and its larger connection to peaceful coexistence. In a small way, it demonstrated the resilience of jazz as one of the cultural ambassadors of America.

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