Celebrate Asian American Heritage Month with Jett Kwong and special guests Nico Pang and Sugi Daaks! Come experience live-scored spoken word and storytelling, a full band performance, and a bar stocked with beverages from local AAPI-run businesses Vervet and Hey Hey.
Doors at 7:00pm, performances at 7:30
Street Parking - ride share encouraged
6450 Santa Monica Blvd. 90038
Jett Kwong
Jett Kwong's signature and unusual combination of the Chinese guzheng, strong vocal melodies, strings, and electronic production has earned her praise across the world. Jett’s cinematic soundscapes and introspective songwriting, largely inspired by her mixed heritage and questions around empowerment, are a “balm to the spirit” (NPR). Jett was the recipient of the 2019 Kollaboration Kollabstar award and her voice and compositions can be heard on stage and screen from the Getty Villa to Hulu’s Castle Rock. This is her 4th annual AAHM event. @jettkwong
Jean-Paul Barjon @slimmusicmann, Yvette Holzwarth @yvette.cornelia, and Jeremy Jones @jeremyxxjones join on strings
Nico Pang
Nico Pang (they/them) is a queer and trans Cantonese storyteller. Their work has been featured at Wellesley College, BUTCH Voices National Conference, American Repertory Theater, and other venues across the United States. Nico’s plays include Moonbow | 月虹 (Hantext Festival at East West Players) and My Body Is a Season (SpeakEasy Stage). Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley called Nico’s writing “a powerful word, a healing word, a liberating word.” As a facilitator and teaching artist, Nico has coached slam poetry teams, developed and coordinated programs for queer and trans youth, and led trainings in the reproductive justice movement. They are currently Assistant Director of Celebration Theatre’s A New Brain (in association with the LA LGBT Center), running in Hollywood through the end of June. @nico__pang
Sugi Dakks
For Sugi Dakks, existing outside the norm is the norm. The left of center genre-bending Hip-Hop artist aims to embody all his quirks, idiosyncrasies, and mannerisms with a boldness and strength.
A mixed race (Japanese/African American) multi-instrumentalist/ rapper/singer/slam poet/producer/activist from a small town, Sugi Dakks is no stranger to being an outsider. His debut EP “Not All That Glitters is Gold” is an extension and enhancement of this message to find power in uniqueness.
To add to his artistry, Sugi Dakks has already made waves behind the scenes, producing releases with Grammy nominated Warner acts such as Wale and Chika and for commercial TV hit series such as “Power”, “Formula 1 Drive To Survive”, “Selling the OC”, “MTV Cribs”, “Love Hip-Hop, Atlanta”, “Real Housewives of Atlanta”, “Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and “The Kelly Clarkson Show”. And that is just the tip of the iceberg for one of Hip-Hop’s best kept secret and what people are calling the “Outkast for a new millennium”. @sugidakks
La La Land Gallery, 90038