Media | Nathan Tokunaga

I am not alone in applauding Nathan Tokunaga, the young Californian with immense musical intelligence and the kind of soulfulness you don’t learn in any Jazz Studies program.

Michael Steinman

Jazz Lives

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If you know or know of Nathan Tokunaga, the beauty he creates will be no surprise.

It’s beautifully evocative music, and if you hear Ellingtonian touches, I wouldn’t argue with you. But the overarching sensibility: delicate and emotive at once — that’s all Nathan’s.

Michael Steinman

Jazz Lives

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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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Nathan quickly showed himself an adult in every conceivable way except the number on his birth certificate......The musicians who were meeting and hearing him for the first time were, shall we say, blown away.

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

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And on a personal level, which is more important than we ever want to say, Nathan is much more adult than many of the chronological adults I encounter: gracious, humble, funny, and seriously aware.

Michael Steinman

Jazz Lives

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Nathan's Fearless Five, fronted by high school junior Nathan Tokunaga, plays regular gigs in Palo Alto and San Francisco. The ensemble are the Palo Alto Library's first musicians in residence.

Karla Kane

The Almanac

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The sensational 15 year old Nathan Tokunaga gave new meaning to the words “child prodigy".

Shelly Gallichio

The Syncopated Times

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Nathan is super-intelligent and loves old-time traditional jazz,” according to Clint [Baker]. “He’s a very special young man with a bright future.”

Lew Shaw

The Syncopated Times

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I’m extremely passionate about New Orleans jazz, and I want to help the people who contribute to New Orleans culture as much as I can, especially since the situation they’re in is highly unjust.” - Nathan Tokunaga

Noelle Erslovas

The Scot Scoop

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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

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Pelican Drag, featuring the startlingly accomplished Nathan Tokunaga.

Michael Steinman

Jazz Lives

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The 23rd annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival was met with 106-degree temperatures. Organizers said despite the heat, the music was great. (Nathan's very first gig was on TV!)

KTVU Channel 2

San Francisco

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From the iconic opening clarinet glissando, played masterfully by 17-year-old Nathan Tokunaga, to the bright, crisp violin cadenzas and the “flutter-tongued,” crooning trumpets, “Rhapsody in Blue” was a celebration of joyful music from start to finish.

Erin Ye

The Stanford Daily

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Photos: High Tea, Jerry Almonte, Jeff Liu-Leyco, & Samathan Kunz Photography