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Nathan Tokunaga
Nathan Tokunaga
/toh-koo-naa-guh/


In just a little over a dozen years, 17-year-old Nathan Tokunaga has had opportunities and experiences that many adult musicians don’t have in a lifetime. As one fan described Nathan after a recent performance: “Unbelievable, sweetly mellow, much too young to be so good!”
Lew Shaw
The Syncopated Times
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Nathan is 17, but that fact is not as important as his deep musical maturity. He plays with elegance, passion, and restraint — everything from SHREVEPORT STOMP to SCRAPPLE FROM THE APPLE. Most moving were his two ballad performances: not everyone, no matter their age, can sing melodies with such conviction and assurance.
Michael Steinman
Jazz Lives
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He has technical mastery of the clarinet and other reeds, no small thing, but what he has in abundance is a fine musical intelligence. In every phrase, he shows his deep understanding of the tradition, the history of the music, but he isn’t an A.I. creation: he goes for himself, phrasing in his own way. And we are glad.
Michael Steinman
Jazz Lives

Nathan’s Fearless Five is a high school jazz band founded a little over a year ago with social justice and community at the core of its mission. Nathan Tokunaga formed the band to raise funds for the New Orleans Musician Clinic, a non-profit that promotes healthcare equity to benefit musicians without medical insurance.
Sydney Tao
The ScotCenter