Port Chicago is an original 14 part musical suite composed by Marcus Shelby that is inspired by the Port Chicago black naval soldiers who were charged with mutiny for causing a work stoppage during World War 2. The musical suite evokes the World War 2 era when swing, ballads, and blues music were the soundtrack of American life. For "Port Chicago", Marcus Shelby composed music that captures war time, dance clubs, black women working in factories (ala Rosie the Riveter), work routines loading ammunition unto naval ships, black romance and letters home during war time, and the explosion that destroyed 2 Liberty Ships and took the lives of over 300 men, plus the aftermath. The suite is composed for a 15 piece big band orchestra and was commissioned by the Equal Justice Society in 2004.