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Panama Hotel Jazz By Steve Griggs

The Panama Hotel in old Japan town, Seattle, c. 1929

The Panama Hotel is more than a century old and it still operates today in what was known as Japan Town, between China Town and the historic Jackson Street district in Seattle. 

Jamie Ford's novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet captures the World War II era when the hotel became a focal point for the Japanese community, when Japanese Americans were being forcibly removed from coastal areas and sent to inland internment camps.

The hotel and the novel are also at the cultural intersection of the International District and the lively Jackson Street "After Hours" period of jazz and entertainment clubs. Steve Griggs composed Panama Hotel Jazz - a suite of music reflecting the era of the novel, the hopes and fears, the wartime hysteria, and racism that caused Americans of Japanese descent to be seen as potential threats and taken from the place where many were born and grew up.

The suite was first presented last Fall in a series of concerts at The Panama Hotel, funded by a 4Culture Site Specific Grant. Panama Hotel Jazz was presented again this month as part of the Art of Jazz series at The Seattle Art Museum, coordinated by Earshot Jazz. 

Jim has been a fixture on Seattle radio since 1961. He was the host of Jazz After Hours on Public Radio International from 1984-2014. Currently Jim has been producing Jazz Northwest for KNKX since 1988. This weekly program focuses on the regional jazz scene and frequently includes performances Jim records on location for Jazz Northwest.