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FEATURED ARTISTS Featured Artists are musicians or concert series drawn from the summer concert performances. Over the summer, the section introduces, re-introduces and welcomes back as many bands and artists as possible. This year's Featured Artists and the dates in which they first appeared in the section will be listed below. A new band/artist/series is added each week. You can read more about them and/or view a performance video. This week the site presents the 2026 Spotlight Festival - The Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Little Tokyo (Week 2)
84TH ANNUAL NISEI WEEK JAPANESE FESTIVAL
Upcoming performances: August 16, August 22 and August 23 Past performances: None Each year the site presents one summer Spotlight Festival, a festival taking place in the area covered on the site and generally lasting one, two or three days. This year's Spotlight Festival is the Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. The Nisei Week Japanese Festival is presented each year by the Nisei Week Foundation. The Foundation's mission is to promote Japanese and Japanese American heritage and traditions while bringing together the diverse communities of Southern California through arts and cultural education. The Festival includes both public and ticketed programs; only the public events are listed here. On August 16, there will be two events. From 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Weller Court, 123 Astronaut E/S Onizuka Street, there will be the JX Matsuri @ Nisei Week, a festival celebrating Japanese entertainment, food, popular brands and modern pop culture. That will be followed from 4 - 6 p.m. by the Grand Parade, filling the streets of Little Tokyo with Japanese dancers, musicians, floats and more. The Festival continues on August 22 and 23 with the Plaza Festival at JACCC Plaza, 244 San Pedro Street. The Plaza Festival will take place from 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Sunday with Japanese food and merchandise vendors, ongoing entertainment, including taiko drumming, and martial arts demonstrations. A karate exhibition and tournament also will take place on Saturday at a separate location and is open to the public. The overall Festival concludes on Sunday August 23 from 4 - 8 p.m. with the Ondo Street Dance and Closing Ceremony. The public is invited to join in the Japanese tradition of dancing in the street with live entertainment following the ceremony procession. Since the festival takes place over two weekends, this Spotlight Festival feature will remain posted at the top of the page on both August 10 and 17. To learn more about the Nisei Week Japanese Fesitval and find a full schedule of events, visit the website www.niseiweek.org. You also can view a video from a past event explaining the history and aspects of the Festival by clicking the link below.
2026 FEATURED ARTISTS This year's Featured Artists and the dates in which they first appeared in the section are listed below. Click on a link to read more about them or continue scrolling down the page.
June 29 - ACME Time Machine - (50s/60s Rock 'n Roll) July 6 - Artists of the 2026 Featured Series: Jazz in the Park in Pasadena's Playhouse Village - (Jazz) July 13 - Cold Duck - (Dance Favorites/Timeless Grooves/Old School R&B/Varety) July 20 - Faultline Country - (Country) July 27 - Woodie and the Longboards - (Vintage Surf/Beach and Multi-Tribute) August 3 - Blue Breeze Band - (R&B/Soul/Motown/Funk) August 10 and 17 - Nisei Week Japanese Festival - (2026 Spotlight Festival)
ACME TIME MACHINE Upcoming performances: All done for Summer '26 - See you next year! Past performances: June 11 - Apple Valley, June 14 - Monrovia, June 19 - Laguna Niguel, June 26 - Cypress, June 27 - Torrance, June 28 - Sierra Madre, July 1 - Buena Park, July 2 - Placentia, July 8 - Diamond Bar, July 9 - Fountain Valley, July 11 - Colton, July 30 - La Mirada and August 14 - Laguna Hills ACME Time Machine is a jukebox era retro revival band playing Rock 'n Roll hits from the 1950s, 60s and beyond. Based in Southern California since 2019, the band has a passion for the early years of Rock 'n Roll, paying tribute to such pioneering legends as Elvis Presley, Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, The Beatles and others. Members of the band are Ronnie Po, guitar and vocals, Jonas Creason, bass, and Bryan Panzeri, drums. Their nostalgia-inducing song selection has audiences dancing to timeless hits brought to the modern stage. In addition to their summer park concerts, ACME Time Machine will be the featured band for two special summer performances. On July 1st, the band will be part or the City of Buena Park's America 250 celebration with a special concert at Knott's Berry Farm's Independence Hall. Details aboiut event can be found in the concert listings. Also, the band will be featured in a Victorville event on September 12 celebrating the Route 66 Centennial. Though Victorville is not a city generally included on the site, it is home to the California Route 66 Museum! To learn more about ACME Time Machine, view the video below or visit their website at www.acmetimemachine.com.
ARTISTS OF THE 2026 FEATURED SERIES: Upcoming performances: All done for Summer '26 - See you next year! Past performances: June 7, June 14, June 21, June 28, July 5, July 12, July 19 and July 26 The Jazz in the Park series concerts, presented by the Playhouse Village Foundation and Arash Danialifar, take place on Sundays on the Van Halen Stage at Playhouse Village Park, 701 E. Union Street. The series features an eclectic group of jazz artists in eight weekly concerts running through the end of July. This year's concerts have featured and will feature: June 7 - Elliott Caine Quintet (Bebop/Boogaloo), June 14 - Grace Fae and the Grandbirds (Vintage Jazz), June 21 - Louie Cruz Beltran Trio (Latin Jazz), June 28 - Little Brazil (Bossa Nova), July 5 - The Bagels from the Los Angeles College of Music (Jazz Fusion), July 12 - Susie Hansen Latin Band (Latin Jazz), July 19 - Kira & the Major 3 (American/World Standards) and July 26 - Michael Haggins (Smooth Jazz).
Jazz in the Park at Playhouse Village Park. Photo credit: Jen Montoya, Playhouse Village Association. Concerts are funded in part by a grant from the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts and by the generous donors of the Playhouse Village Foundation. Concerts take place from 6 - 8 p.m., and seating is on a first-come basis on the lawn. Blankets, low-backed chairs and picnics are welcome; no high-backed chairs in the front row and no large umbrellas, canopies or tents are allowed. All dogs must be leashed. To learn more about the artists of the Jazz in the Park series, go to www.playhousevillage.org/jazz. Also, did you know that Colorado Boulevard is part of the Route 66 historic route and that Colorado Boulevard/Arroyo was the third official end of Route 66 from 1964 - 1974? To learn more about the Route 66 Centennial and Colorado Boulevard 150th Anniversary in the Playhouse Village, visit www.playhousevillage.org/honoring-two-icons-route-66-turns-100-and-colorado-boulevard-marks-150-years.
COLD DUCK Upcoming performances: August 23 - La Habra Past performances: June 7 - Covina, June 10 - La Puente, June 25 - Arcadia, June 28 - Monrovia, July 6 - Claremont, July 9 - Azusa, July 12 - La Verne, July 16 - South El Monte, August 4 - Walnut, August 5 - San Dimas and August 6 - Irwindale Founded originally in 1969 by Jose Cuadre, Cold Duck has long been one of the area's most versatile dance bands. The band performs a wide variety of music, including dance favories, timeless grooves, old school R&B and other classic hits from a number of genres. Members of the band are founder Jose Cuadra, lead vocals, trumpet and percussion, Loretta Corpis, lead vocals, Eddie Estrada, guitar, Gregory Smith, keyboards and vocals, Victor Barrientos, drums, George Garcia, bass, Jeff Way, trombone, Frank Cano, trumpet, flugelhorn and vocals, and Nick Gomez, saxophone. In addition to their performances at the summer park concerts, the band performs at a variety of public and private/corporate events and has appeared at Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and other locations from San Diego to Santa Barbara. To learn more about Cold Duck, view the video below or visit their website at www.coldduck.com.
FAULTLINE COUNTRY Upcoming performances: All done for Summer '26 - See you next year! Past performances: June 11 - Los Angeles, July 16 - San Bernardino, July 23 - Irwindale, July 27 - Whittier, July 30 - Placentia and August 1 - Yucca Valley Faultline Country is an LA-based country-rock cover band. Though rooted in modern country, their performances include country favorites from several decades of country music and songs from a few other genres as well. The band easily adapts to each performance venue and unique audience. The four members of Faultline Country are Jared Canchola, guitar, Dillon Yoder, drums, Brooke Van Grinsven, vocals, and Brian Orlowski, bass. In addition to their summer park concerts, the band performs regularly at country music venues like the Cowboy Palace and Saloon, as well as at other public and private functions. To learn more about Faultline Country, view the video below or visit their website at www.faultlinecountry.com.
WOODIE AND THE LONGBOARDS Upcoming performances: All done for Summer '26 - See you next year! Past performances: July 4 - Palos Verdes, July 9 - San Gabriel, July 11 - Yucca Valley, July 16 - Upland, July 22 - Palos Verdes, July 30 - Beverly Hills, August 2 - Glendora, August 3 - Whittier and August 9 - El Segundo Woodie and the Longboards is a multi-faceted band performing vintage surf/beach tunes and other music in several tribute formats. As Woodie and the Longboards they perform a Beach Boys Tribute, as Heartache Tonight an Eagles Tribute and as The Hard Day's Knights a Beatles Tribute. The also combine all of their music in a California Tribute and can vary their shows upon request drawing from over twelve hours of performance possibilties. The band was founded in 2002 by John "Woodie" Keating, a former frontman for a Disney house band, fifth grade teacher in California and life-long professional musician. The members of Woodie and the Longboards are John "Woodie" Keating, guitar, keyboards and vocals, Mark Keating, guitar, keyboards and vocals, Andy Young, keyboards, guitar and bass vocals, Joe Manchego, bass and vocals, and Ricky Cosentino, drums and vocals. The band has performed for major corporations and trade associations like Google, Charles Schwab, The National Chamber of Commerce and The Weather Channel, to name a few, at resorts and casinos, at city functions such as the summer park concerts and at a variety of private events and gatherings. To learn more about Woodie and the Longboards, view the video below or visit their website at www.surfband.us.
BLUE BREEZE BAND Upcoming performances: All done for Summer '26 - See you next year! Past performances: June 10 - Temple City, June 18 - Beverly Hills, June 19 - Buena Park, June 25 - Lakewood, July 8 - La Puente, July 9 - Los Angeles (Mid-Wilshire/Museum District), July 12 - Monrovia, July 22 - Rancho Cucamonga, July 30 - La Mirada, August 8 - Santa Clarita, August 9 - Long Beach and August 15 - Altadena For more than 15 years, the Blue Breeze Band has been performing their mix of R&B/Soul/Motown/Funk and contemporary hits for summer concert audiences and many others. Drawing inspiration from legends like Earth, Wind and Fire, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston. and Kool and the Gang, and from current artists like Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake, they perform shows with soulful rhythms and infectious beats featuring timeless hits that reach across generations. At the core of the Blue Breeze Band is an eight-piece group featuring the following artists: Founder Harold Wherry, guitar, vocals and background vocals, Jeff Robinson, lead and background vocals, Alexandra Taylor, lead and background vocals, Richard Moorings, keyboards, trombone and lead/background vocals, Jason Carpenter, drums and background vocals, Tim Anderson, tenor saxophone and lead/background vocals, Eric Ward - electric bass guitar, and Tyrone Griffin, trumpet, keyboard and lead/background vocals. In addition to the summer park concerts, the band has built a legacy of performances within the US and abroad, including at major college football events, for the U.S. Armed Services in Okinawa, Japan, and at casinos, concerts and festivals throughout Southern and Central California. The band also has appeared in an Amazon original film and in a 2024 national commercial for Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football. To learn more about the Blue Breeze Band, view the video below or visit their website at www.bluebreezeband.com.
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