The Alcatraz Islanders is an instrumental ensemble that performs Hawaiian and mainland jazz from the swing era. The band aims to recreate the lush sounds that once filled the Waikiki night clubs and classic tiki bars in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
The band was formed in 2015 by steel guitarist, Mikiya Matsuda and has performed extensively throughout the Bay Area and along the Pacific Coast in configurations ranging from a trio to a sextet.
For the uninitiated, Hawaiian Swing is a combination of swing jazz and Hawaiian folk music. In the 1920s and ’30s, American jazz was popular on the islands and during the World War II era, American servicemen and entertainers in Hawaii brought with them a love of the big band swing music popular at the time. Hawaiian musicians melded the sounds of the ukulele, steel guitar, and Hawaiian language with the brass, drums, and syncopated rhythms of swing.
