#5 Behind the Music with Sumi Tonooka

On episode #5 of My American Meltingpot, we’re going behind the music with legendary jazz composer, Sumi Tonooka. You might recognize Sumi’s name because not only is she the woman who created our Meltingpot theme music, she’s also a world class composer, jazz pianist and educator.  I talk to Sumi about her decades-long career in the music industry, how her African-American and Japanese-American heritage influences her creative work, and how she used music to bring attention to the injustice of the Japanese internment camps. It’s a riveting and inspiring conversation, plus Sumi plays an original composition for us, live in studio, at the end of the interview.