Carlmont grad gets recognition for artistry as a jazz clarinet musician

“It wasn’t a choice but it was awesome and I grew to love it really quickly,” Tokunaga said.  

When Tokunaga was in his senior year at Carlmont High School, he applied to a broad spectrum of colleges, including many in state for science majors like biotechnology. But similar to how Tokunaga learned clarinet throughout his life, choosing to go to school in New York was a decision made earnestly. 

While the clarinet played a prominent role in early jazz forms like Dixieland and through the Swing Era in the 1940s, it is less known in bebop and modern jazz with their emphasis on trumpets and saxophones. Tokunaga didn’t learn to play jazz clarinet in the most traditional sense. School jazz bands tend to favor saxophones and other brass instruments, and the amount of professional jazz clarinet players is limited. 

Rather than be taught in a class, Tokunaga was guided to play jazz like most musicians did back in the day — surrounded by older, experienced musicians and trying to keep up. 

“My access to education was built from my mom reaching out to people, and making this really unique path and it was really difficult, but very rewarding,” Tokunaga said. 

Prominent jazz musician Clint Baker took Tokunaga under his wing, and he began playing with professionals at a much younger age than some of his peers. Being “thrown into the deep end” really helped Tokunaga grow as a musician, he said. 

“I learned jazz through the real way it was learned,” Tokunaga said. 

Since he began performing professionally as a freshman in high school, Tokunaga has played more than 500 shows. As his daily practice, which can be between three and four hours a day, he works on techniques for improvisation and learns melodies for performances. 

“It’s not just about playing fast, but to be able to have facility over your instrument to express yourself in a convincing way,” Tokunaga said. 

He also spends a lot of time just listening.

“Even if we have a set melody, no one knows what’s going to happen,” Tokunaga said. “So much of jazz is about keeping our ears open, how to react to it and how to adapt. … It all requires listening.” 

Tokunaga’s long-term goal is to not only play great music, but to spread awareness about jazz and educate more people on its value in society. 

“This is such an important part of American history, and this earlier form of jazz that I study was really integral to American culture,” Tokunaga said. “It served a functional purpose in society, and it’s not talked about as much, maybe out of fear of it being corny.” 

As a Gen Z musician, Tokunaga said he is acutely aware of the blasé nature of many of his peers, including other jazz musicians. To avoid becoming nonchalant, he said he thinks about playing jazz as “less about ourselves and more about people and what resonates, seeing that.” 

Still, when he was named on of the recipients of the 2026 YoungArts award, a prestigious national honor for accomplished young musicians, Tokunaga said his work throughout the years, and unconventional learning methods, felt validated.

While many students were named award recipients for their artistry in jazz music, Tokunaga was the only one who played the clarinet. 

“From all the people who said clarinets can’t play jazz … I’m really proud of the accomplishment,” Tokunaga said. “It shows how much this journey has really paid off.”