MidWeek » Musical Notes

Jordan Fite, Glenn Molina and Taylor Fite

Life's been good lately for the talented alternative pop rock trio Saving Cadence, thanks to a fresh-sounding debut album and an opening act date with Jimmy Cliff Twins Jordan and Taylor Fite are proof that while bad things can happen in threes, good things often arrive in that same number cluster as well. First, the bad batch: Several years ago following a summer of hard work and saving their money, the Fite brothers hit the road in California and made a beeline for Florida as the promising acoustic pop rock duo Saving Cadence. Up until then, life as students at Santa Monica College had prevented Jordan, a guitarist/vocalist, and Taylor, a drum-mer/vocalist, from fully immersing themselves in L.A.'s dizzying music scene. But once free of their studies, the twins were eager to complete their trek east, where they were promised a recording opportunity in Tallahassee and an invitation to join another band for a swing along the Atlantic Coast. "Taylor and I had never been part of a tour and we wanted to try it out," Jordan says. "We spent days on the road and when we finally arrived in Tallahassee, first, the band we were supposed to link up with bailed on us; second, the recording engineer we were supposed to record an EP with told us he was all booked up for the next six months, and third, the friend we were supposed to stay with told us she was too overwhelmed with school and we wouldn't be able to stay with her any longer." Ouch. Not even college courses such as "Rude Awakenings for Beginning Bands 101" and "Misery Loves Road Musicians 102" could have adequately prepared the Fites, 2007 graduates of Kailua-based Le Jardin Academy, for a series of setbacks that left them "scrambling and gritting our teeth." Fortunately, the reeling siblings would find stable footing a thousand miles to the north in a Pennsylvania-based sound engineer - "a friend of a friend of a friend," as Jordan puts it - who was more than willing to help refine the brothers' sound and commit their songs to record. Now, the good part: Those early recordings, while considered ancient history by the twins, would set the stage for their eventual return to Hawaii and portend three favorable occurrences, beginning with the siblings' entry into last year's Island 98.5 Cecilio & Kapono Battle of the Bands competition, which they won. Soon afterward, the Fites added Kapolei High graduate Glenn Molina to the lineup, who brought the kind of bass-slapping umph to the band that was previously lacking. "Glenn was recommended by a mutual friend, who thought we needed another instrument to take the band to the next level," Jordan tells me. "One night, Glenn came out to one of our shows and absolutely loved our style. We connected right away because we share many of the same interests in music." Now a trio, the band was ready to revel in its third accomplishment - a debut album released just weeks ago, It Always Comes Back Around, which features 10 original tracks, including the Plain White T's-sounding K-I-S-S-I-N-G and the Red Hot Chili Pepper-ish Getting By Without You and Dangerous. Additionally, Saving Cadence is featured on Alternative HI, a compilation album of alternative rock tunes released last month, courtesy of local producers Brandon Apeles and Shawn Livingston Moseley, and Mountain Apple Co. So, you could say that life's been more satisfying for the band ever since the brothers' misfortune in Florida were followed by a trio of career-shaping events. "Yeah. We're not complaining," says Jordan, who along with the rest of Saving Cadence can be heard opening for Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff April 18 at Aloha Tower Waterfront. Doors open at 7 and the show begins promptly at 8. Here's what else the talented trio told Musical Notes while preparing for their next gig: MN: OK, which one of you decided to call the band after an ex-girlfriend? JF: (laughing) That is what a lot of people think. Some people have even called us Saving Candice, which kind of bums us out. But no, the band isn't named after a girl. MN: So what's the story behind your name? JF: I really wish I had an epic answer. But, really, we just took to the Internet one day and found a band name generator site. Originally, it spat out Burning Cadence. We eventually settled on Saving Cadence. MN: How did you land one of the opening act slots for Jimmy Cliff? TF: We're actually really good friends with a local promoter, Brandon Apeles. He was the one who suggested and fought for us to open up for Jimmy Cliff. Sure enough, the concert promoter said, OK, we'll give those guys a shot. Now, our name is on every Jimmy Cliff promotional poster islandwide and we're pretty excited about that. MN: Aside from the Jimmy Cliff gig, where else can fans hear you live? JF: We're kind of all over the place. Hawaiian Brian's, Station Bar & Lounge, Rivals Sports Bar and Jazz Minds Art & Cafe - you name it. We've also played at Apartment3. MN: In your liner notes, you credit Honolulu Community College's Music & Entertainment Learning Experience (MELE) program for its role in developing Saving Cadence. What exactly did MELE teach you? GM: From my perspective, the MELE program was probably the most important thing to happen to this band, just in terms of teaching us how to get publicity, make press kits and solidify our brand name. The program taught us how the industry works and it's been extremely beneficial to us. I would recommend anyone interested in music to learn more about this program. MN: What are some of the band's goals? GM: Personally, I'd love to one day win a Grammy. JF: Come 2014, we promised ourselves that if we worked hard enough we'd be playing at the Hollywood Bowl. That's our goal; that's something we really want to do. But we'd also like to get back on the road and finally do some touring.

The Rule of Three

Bill Mossman

Pop-punk rockers Anygivenchance have never been shy of cranking the volume on stage or taking risks with their career. Don't expect them to change character now that they've released the EP, The Dividing Line Give the members of Anygivenchance credit: In an age when other groups hire marketers to handle their promotions, managers to develop their merchandising and producers/sound engineers to oversee their recordings, this alternative rock and pop-punk band from Waipahu has band members who do all of the above - and more. The challenge of wearing many hats at once can be daunting for any musician, let alone a three-man outfit still waiting for a breakthrough in a market that traditionally turns a deaf ear to their genre of music. Then again, Anygivenchance members wouldn't be who they claim they are, unabashed risk-takers, if they went fetal at the first sign of resistance. The same do-whatever-is-necessary-and-damn-whatever-may-come-our-way attitude that first brought founding members Zach Manzano and Chris Bolosan together in 2005 - to be joined four years later by bassist Shane Santa Ana - still pulses through their heavily pierced and tatt'd bodies today. And that temperament is but one of the reasons why these Blink-182 disciples chose to call their just-released, limited-run EP, "The Dividing Line." The album, incidentally, is available at Google Play. "There's a line that separates us from most bands," says Manzano, who handles not only lead vocals and guitar responsibilities for AGC, but producing/sound engineering duties as well. "Our band isn't fortunate to have a manager, promoter, marketing agent, etc. (We) took on duties of building a website, making sure we have semi-professional YouTube content, recording/producing our music, making sure we have no major social networking platform overlooked, and so on." Remarkably, the band members' willingness to cover all bases with their music career - from recording and mastering their music, and designing T-shirts and other merchandising products within Manzano's home, to creating video teasers for their Web page at anygivenchance.com - hasn't come at the expense of making testosterone-driven, eardrum-splitting music that their fan base craves. Maybe just as importantly, AGC hasn't been averse to slowing things down a bit and dabbling in somewhat quieter, radio-friendly tunes either. In Seattle, their first release off the EP, Manzano and crew embrace the ballad narrative by constructing the song's love-gone-away theme around a hypnotic bass line and drum cadence. "Seattle started off as an idea from our drummer, Chris Bolosan, about someone special making the move to Seattle, and there was nothing that could be done to change that situation," explains Manzano, who was instrumental in recruiting Sam Campos - he of Pineapple Man comic book fame - to help direct the band's four-minute music video. "Right from there, I already had composed a ballad-type song, but with no lyrical direction. And then, voila! The pieces fit together." "It's not the most uplifting song nor the most technical," adds Bolosan, "but it does carry a melody that seems to sooth our listeners. I wrote it for literally the girl next door before she moved to Seattle. It was my 'goodbye letter,' so to speak." In some ways, Seattle appears to be a harbinger of the band's own exit from the Islands. Already, there's been talk by AGC members of taking their act on the road - and possibly for good. "We've basically got two options at this point: Either we head out on the road and start touring some states, or we pick up and move," Manzano says. "Either way, if we want to reach out and plant seeds, we're going to have to get out of here." Musical Notes dropped in on these loud and proud risk-takers and got them to elaborate on both their EP and their affinity for another band, Blink-182. MN: After putting out two full-length albums, you guys decided to go the EP route and resurrect some of your older songs. Why? ZM: The EP consists of very old to revamped songs with our new member's bass guitar interpretations. Since we record everything on our own and not enough people know about us, we thought why not regroup, repackage and reintroduce ourselves in a better way? Honestly, when Shane recorded his bass lines, it brought the songs to a new level. MN: What's the deal with you guys and Blink-182? CB: For me, Blink is on my mind on a daily basis. I do drift to other artists who influence my writing style - from Led Zeppelin all the way to Drake. But it almost always comes down to Blink. ZM: We're heavily influenced by Blink-182, which really shows on and off stage. Blink-182 is the reason why AGC exists; they were the spark that drove us to be musicians and start a band. Still, it's not a direction I want to go in. I'd rather be known for my own music. MN: What AGC song rules your world, and why? ZM: Sunsets. It's a song about realizing that no one has to be angry for anything if you realize that whenever something bad happens, it will always get better if you let it. CB: My favorite would have to be In Your Hands because it was the first song we wrote together, and the familiar feel of it gives me so much freedom ... if I want the song to fluctuate between slow and fast parts. SSA: Daydream off the Eternal Glory album. Everything about it - the vocals, the drums, the guitars and the emotion - is just right. And the cherry on the top is the breakdown/outro at the end. MN: Where can people find you playing these days? ZM: Hard Rock Cafe and Hawaiian Brian's, where we have a show on May 11. MN: How about private parties? ZM: We haven't gotten asked to play parties in a while. Apparently, everyone knows that we're too loud.

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Cantopop makes a surprise visit to the Islands Thursday when four of Hong Kong's best-known popular music singers - Li Hung Kay, Black Girl, Suzan Guterres (pictured) and Peter Chan Ho Tak - find the spotlight at the Hawaii Theatre Center. The 7 p.m. concert, "A Hong Kong Night," will showcase music from the '70s, '80s and '90s, with songs performed in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Tickets range from $30 to $120. Call the center's box office at 528-0506 ... Finally, cheer on steel guitar students from Alan Akaka's music school Ke Kula Mele Hawaii as they attempt to set a Guinness World Record for "Largest Hawaiian Steel Guitar Ensemble" during a Mother's Day Concert May 13 at Windward Mall in Kaneohe. The record-setting performance begins at 11 and takes place at the mall's center court.

Loud and Proud

Bill Mossman

Jazz great David Benoit is still flying high these days, three decades after he met a woman in Hawaii and fell in love Gifted jazz pianist David Benoit has long had a love affair with the Hawaiian Islands, and there's good reason why. Nearly 30 years ago, before the five-time Grammy Awards nominee became a household name within the greater jazz community, he fell - both hard and for good - for a woman in this part of paradise. The year was 1983 and Benoit, a native of California, was high in the Hawaiian skies - on an interisland flight from Maui to the Big Island, touring as a sideman, when he struck up a conversation with a Japanese national named Kei Sasako. "I was actually sitting next to her little cousin and Kei was thanking me for taking care of her cousin during the 20-minute-long flight," Benoit recalls. "I eventually asked if she'd like to attend my show that night, but she wasn't able to so she asked if I would join her for dinner afterward. I was like, 'Sure. OK.'" The food was good and the notes between them were even better. Soon afterward, the couple not only married, but Kei, because of her connections as a board member for the Asia America Symphony and Asia America Youth orchestras, helped her husband land the job as music director and conductor for those programs. Then two years later, Benoit released his breakthrough album, This Side Up, an effort that not only garnered significant radio airplay across the country (due in large part to the Charlie Brown tune, Linus and Lucy), but also helped launch the smooth jazz era (more on that later). With a thriving professional career and a personal life that's still flying high, things have been going quite well for Benoit. So when he tells me, "I really do think of Hawaii as the beginning for me," I immediately understand why. On Saturday at 8, Benoit continues his love affair with the Islands when he joins fellow musicians Michael Paulo, Richard Smith, Brian Bromberg and Michael White on stage at Hawaii Convention Center-Liliu Theater for an evening of great jazz. And while Benoit promises a few surprises - "I plan on debuting one or two songs from my next CD," he says - don't be surprised if this accomplished composer and producer of many pop and jazz artists decides to pay tribute to his wife through song and through the retelling of their initial encounter. "Unfortunately, Kei wasn't able to make the trip to Hawaii this time. So maybe I'll throw Kei's Song in as a solo piano piece," says Benoit of his original composition that was first released in 1985, but has since been redone for his forthcoming album, Conversation, due out May 29. "It certainly would be fun. I haven't played that song in the Islands in quite a while, and there's always a nice story behind it." Here's what else Benoit told Musical Notes: MN: You helped launch the whole smooth jazz genre in the 1980s, but you don't really like being defined by that category. Why? DB: Because it doesn't really tell the whole story. Basically, I see myself as a pianist, arranger, conductor and composer - without any genre labels. I've done it all, almost every possible type of music there is. So when people say I'm a smooth jazz musician, it only associates me with a certain sound. It's true that my sound was instrumental in creating that format. But when I compare myself to the smooth jazz players of today, my jazz feels almost classical and my shows are more like an acoustic jazz concert. MN: One of the songs that helped launch your career was your cover of Vince Guaraldi's Linus and Lucy, which appeared on your 1985 album, This Side Up. How much of an influence did Guaraldi have on you? DB: Oh, he was big for me. All the way back to childhood when I first saw the Charlie Brown specials, I loved his music and I would try to be Vince. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him, but fortunately, the producers of the Charlie Brown show heard my music and liked it enough to think I could help bring back that jazz-piano sound. So in 2000, I became the official composer of the Charlie Brown TV series. MN: What can fans expect from your CD, Conversation? DB: Well, I have a lot of fun with the song Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which interestingly enough has kind of a Charlie Brown feel to it. And then there's the title track, which is quite intriguing because there's a whole classical piano trio versus a jazz piano trio feel to it. It's also the first time I've not played all the piano parts on a song. One of my good friends, pianist Robert Theis, plays the classical portions on it. I'm hoping fans enjoy this piece because it's something different from what I normally do.

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Several years ago when Richard Barber went looking for a band name that was unique, masculine sounding and multisyllabic, it finally dawned on him that he really didn't have to travel too far for the right moniker. There in his then emirate home in Dubai, under his very nose, grew the sources for such a name: two palm plants he named Borris and Ivy. "I was talking to my wife one day and I sort of said it in a moment of exasperation, 'Let's just call the band 'Borris and Ivy,'" recalls the Australian-born Barber. "And then I thought, 'Well, that actually rolled off my tongue quite nicely. I like it!'" He later substituted "and" for "-on" and - voila! - a new band, Borrison Ivy, was born - half a world away. These days, the hard-rocking outfit - made up of Barber on guitars and veteran local musicians Kipp McLeod on bass guitar and vocals, and Ed Silva on drums - calls Hawaii home. It released Just Another Office Job, the band's debut album, last November and continues to play gigs all over town, including an 11 p.m. Saturday date at Rock Bottom on Coyne Street. Borrison Ivy also has upcoming performances at Kailua Town Pub (June 8) and Chez Sports Bar in Aiea (June 9). "We only look to gig about once a month," says Barber, who's currently working on the group's follow-up album, tentatively scheduled for release in December. "We're not trying to be the next major rock band around Oahu." As for the current whereabouts of plants Borris and Ivy, well, they've since gone on to Compost Heaven. But don't expect the axe-shredding Barber to shed a tear over their demise. "You could say the plants live on through the band's name," he says with a chuckle ... Finally, there's still time to enter Sing 2012, the keiki vocal competition held each summer at Kahala Mall. All interested vocalists between the ages of 9 and 18 are invited to submit a bio and minute-long YouTube clip of their singing abilities to kmsingcompetition@gmail.com by May 29. Contestants selected for the semifinals will take center stage July 25-26, and 12 finalists will be chosen to compete Aug. 11. As part of their prizes, winners receive a custom KoAloha ukulele. Last year's top three winners were Ari Dalbert, Ciana Pelekai and Arianna Yago. For more details, visit kahalamallcenter.com.

Love Of A Lifetime

Bill Mossman

Led by his daughter's memory, Eric Lee found direction in the skies to produce his newest CD In writing about life's most difficult challenges, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." Hawaiian musician Eric Lee would agree with the great American philosopher and essayist. After watching helplessly last fall as his 2-month-old infant daughter - born with brain disorders epilepsy and encephalopathy - struggled to survive on a breathing machine, Lee could bear the sight no longer. So he did what most parents dread doing - say a final goodbye to their offspring - and allowed the energy from his tiny hoku to slip away and find station, and solace, in the celestial canopy above. "The doctors weren't giving my daughter a long life expectancy prognosis, and it took my wife and I awhile to come to terms with the situation," Lee recalls. "In the end, we decided it best to let her go in peace." He continues: "When she passed, my wife and I would always go out to the beach, watch the sunset and look for the first star of the evening. We would imagine that it was her looking down on us, a time when she could see us and we could see her before the rest of the stars started showing up and it got real dark. "It was the one moment when we could all be reconnected and together again." In looking skyward, Lee serendipitously found the inspiration needed for his next solo CD project: a return-to-roots album born out of initial despair but suddenly filled with heaven-sent goodness of seven traditional mele and four originals, including the CD's heartwarming and therapeutic final track, Little Star. "It was as if I was being led by a guided hand," he says of the force that pushed him to layer his newest album with Hawaiian music rather than other genres he's adept at, including blues and rock. The result is Kawehilani, named after his daughter and released just weeks ago. "The album is a celebration of my music in tribute to my daughter's life," says Lee, a former member of local groups The Kanilea Connection, The Kaala Boys and Na Kama, winning two Na Hoku Hanohano awards with the latter. "I knew that if she were still alive, she would one day ask me, 'Dad, what is it that you've done with your music?' And I probably would have ended up playing her something in Hawaiian. "So that was kind of the clear road for me and what I needed to do for this project." Musical Notes tracked Lee down before he boarded a flight to Fukuoka, Japan, and got the veteran musician to discuss his solo career, which, much like a star, is on the rise these days. MN: You're taking a somewhat unusual approach to your CD release party for Kawehilani by moving the event back to November. Why the long delay? EL: Because I'm doing a lot of traveling between now and then. I've got several tours planned to Japan, one to Sacramento for a hula competition, and maybe even a trip to Las Vegas. So once the traveling is out of my system, I'll settle down and do the CD release party. But also, I've got a tour event planned for later this year and it just made sense to hold it at the same time. The Kanikapila Tour is something I hope becomes an annual event and involves an ukulele teacher and his students from Fukuoka, and several hula students as well. I plan on bringing them over and giving them an opportunity to play on stage with me. It gives them some exposure and they can craft their performing skills and just have fun - kanikapila style. MN: What led you to cover traditional Hawaiian classics such as Ka Lama Ae One, Green Rose Hula and Hooheno Keia No Beauty (Beauty Hula) on this album? EL: I've been doing classic Hawaiian songs throughout my career, and I've always wanted to record those songs. Kawehilani became the perfect opportunity to present these songs in a recording and pay tribute to great composers and the hula market. Ka Lama Ae One, for example, is a longtime favorite of mine that I've tried to record before, but I could never quite find the right arrangement. Part of the reason is that I didn't want my version to sound like the Makaha Sons' or Sunday Manoa's recordings. But in the end, I got a real country-style version out of the song and really liked it. It was tricky to record, but a lot of fun! MN: Speaking of fun, are you enjoying life as a solo artist? EL: Oh, yeah! For one thing, I'm traveling more, and that's something I really enjoy. But also, I'm able to express all sides of my music as a solo artist, something I wasn't able to do a lot of when I was in a band. Playing live, I can go from Hawaiian music one moment, to entertaining audiences with Van Morrison and Bon Jovi the next. That keeps everything fresh for me, and that opens the market up to me for more gigs. MN: You were 9 when you picked up your first instrument, a $15 ukulele purchased from Woolworth's in Waianae. Was that when you first knew you wanted to be a professional musician - a star, if you will? EL: Actually, I was a little younger when I first realized I wanted to play music. I remember being at a party in Waianae when I was maybe 6 or 7 and there was a family band playing He Aloha Mele while a family friend danced the hula. I looked around and observed the audience and everyone was really into what was going on, and in my mind everything just clicked. There was some kind of connection going on between the music, the hula and the people, and I knew right then and there that I wanted to be a part of that magic. small-kine< note: On Sunday, alternative rock group Vertical Horizon brings its string of radio-friendly hits to the Waikiki Shell for an evening of great music with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and conductor Matt Catingub. Joining this orchestral collaboration for the first half of the concert is local songstress Yoza. Led by frontman Matt Scannell, Vertical Horizon first achieved international success with 1999's hit single Everything You Want, which was followed by You're A God, We Are and Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning). The show starts at 7. For tickets, call 593-9468.

A Star Is Born

Bill Mossman

Duncan Osorio's TV commercial may be just what he needs to get a promising music career broiling again The last time many of us heard a sound from Duncan Osorio, it was back in 2009 when he was a fresh-faced musician laying down tracks with good buddy Taisen Abreu and their up-and-coming R&B group, Pure N8ive. Life was good, Osorio was living in the Great Lakes region and his tour-ready band was getting ready for an East Coast swing, in part to promote its single As Close As This. And then just as quickly as he arrived on the music landscape, as close as he was to launching a promising music career, Osorio pulled a Houdini on us all and was gone - poof! - just like that. "I had to take a break from music," he tells me, in part to find his bearings again. But in recent months, Osorio has reappeared at several Honolulu venues, including Bamboo Two Café and the Hukilau, wielding his trusty acoustic guitar and belting out those smooth, lower-register notes the ladies absolutely swoon over. More importantly, his existence is being acknowledged beyond the confines of these clubs, thanks in large part to his "Hungry Guy" appearance in Burger King's latest TV commercial. Yes, that's him sporting the Jason Mraz-like Fedora and singing a lyrically altered version of the Sean Naauao classic Fish and Poi. "I just lucked out," he says of landing the starring role in the 30-second commercial. "Burger King had been auditioning people and was having trouble finding someone they liked for the part, and an old acquaintance of mine happened to be working for the company and mentioned my name. Fortunately, they went and checked out some of my (music videos) online, and I guess they thought I'd fit." Did he ever. Now, it seems like he can't go anywhere before someone taps him on the shoulder and asks in Tony Solis-like fashion, "Eh, you da kine, ah?" "The commercial has been great for exposure," Osorio says. "I had no idea Burger King was even going to put my name on the commercial. People are recognizing me more, so it's been really valuable in terms of getting my name out there." The last comment may seem a bit odd given Osorio's well-known surname in the entertainment community. His father Jon spent the better part of the '70s and '80s as half of the duo Jon & Randy (with the late Randy Borden) - and scored his biggest hit Hawaiian Eyes in 1981 with a Hoku for Song of the Year. And his younger sister Jamaica is a well-known slam poet who's taken her talents as far as the White House and was featured in HBO's 2008 documentary series, Brave New Voices. So in many ways, the Burger King commercial represents Osorio's first big, ahem, whoppertunity at stepping out of his father and sister's shadows. "My last name has always been mildly recognizable," he says, "and now Burger King has kind of helped people recognize my first name." And his talent as a versatile singer/songwriter. And while his stylings are very John Mayeresque/Brian McKnightish, even Osorio admits his influences are far too many to number - all of which has led to a distinct sound that his ever-growing fanbase appreciates. "Yes, I grew up playing stuff like Fish and Poi," Osorio admits. "But as far as what I do now, it's a little different. When people ask what my sound is, I just tell them I'm more along the lines of alternative, soul, pop and R&B." Here's what else the talented Palolo Valley native told Musical Notes: MN: Did music come easy for you because, well, you're the son of a professional musician? DO: Not really. I mean, I wouldn't say that I was musical when I was younger. I remember my dad putting me in an ukulele class when I was around 8, just to see if I would like it - but I didn't. In fact, it wasn't until I got to Kamehameha in the seventh grade - and there, everybody plays music! - that I really started getting into it. I joined the intermediate choir Na Opio, and I began playing with some of the group's singers on the side. But because we had too many ukulele players, including myself, and because I was Jon Osorio's son, everyone just figured I should play guitar. So I had to teach myself how to play the instrument. MN: You spent some time away from the islands after graduating from Kamehameha in 2006 - principally for college, but also to pursue your music career with Pure N8tive. What happened to the band? DO: I had been out in Detroit working on that project for about a year, and me and the other band members spent a summer traveling around the East Coast and performing. But the label we were working with was kind of up and down, and they hit some rough points. After our New York shows were cancelled because of budget cuts, we decided we each needed to do our own thing. MN: So you dropped the label? DO: Yes. The label had control over the recordings - the power to produce our music the way they wanted to - and I wanted to get back to having control over my sound. MN: Beyond your live performances, what else can we expect from you in the coming months? DO: Up until recently, my focus was to get an album done. But now I'm looking at releasing a video of one of my originals first and then start working on a direction for the album. I've written a ton of material over the past few years, so it's just a matter of sorting through everything and determining what I do best. Small-kine Notes: After walking off with a number of Na Hoku Hanohano Awards at May's annual showcase, including Male Vocalist of the Year and Hawaiian Album of the Year honors, Big Island singer/songwriter Kuana Torres Kahele is back with a new CD - this time with the group he helped found, Na Palapalai. Ha'a, the group's sixth album, features members Kahele and Ioane Burns, and 12 tracks that are sure to warm the hearts of leo ha'iha'i lovers everywhere ... Finally, sad news regarding the passing of stand-up guy and bassist John Koko of The Makaha Sons last week. As many Hawaiian music fans knew, John, 51, had a lifelong heart problem that was covered here in MidWeek last fall ("You Gotta Have Rhythm," by Rasa Fournier, Nov. 23, 2011), and the Nanakuli native was still holding out hope for a transplant down the road. But alas, it wasn't to be for the man fondly known for his "Kokolicious" smile. He leaves behind wife Tonia and four sons, along with scores of memorable songs, including "Ke Alaula," "Mehameha/White Sandy Beach," "Take A Walk In The Country" and the Kui Lee remake, "I'll Remember You." Indeed, we'll always remember you, "Unko" John.

A Big Whoppertunity

Bill Mossman

He's among the rising generation of talented musicians in the Islands. In some corners of this paradise and in places beyond its shorelines, admirers are even beginning to refer to him as a virtuoso of sorts - and this designation comes at the tender age of 24. And to think that were it not for a baseball injury, the Kalei Gamiao of today might be more proficient with a bat or glove in hand rather than an ukulele. Here's how the longtime resident of Haleiwa recalls his life-altering transition from athlete to ukulele wonder: "It all started when I was 13. I had been playing baseball from the time I was about 4, and it was something I loved doing," he says. "But one day, I injured my left arm while playing a game, and I couldn't straighten it out. The joint in my elbow got so painful every time I tried to throw the ball that the coach told me he was going to hold me out for the rest of the season." Devastated at the prospect of losing time on the baseball diamond, Gamiao turned to his parents for pearls of wisdom. And that's when fate intervened. "My parents saw an ad in the newspaper for ukulele lessons one day and suggested I try it," he tells me. "So I said, 'OK.' Little did I know I would never go back to sports. From the time I played my first chord, I was hooked on the instrument." Determined not to strike out with this newfound love, Gamiao poured every ounce of effort into mastering the ukulele. And as fate would have it, being home-schooled gave him even greater access to the instrument throughout the day. "In the beginning, I would spend anywhere from two to eight hours each day practicing," says the soft-spoken Gamiao, who does everything with his left hand - except when it comes to playing the ukulele. "I was so into it that I would sometimes fall asleep with it in my arms." Nowadays, he keeps fans wide-awake and mesmerized with his flawless command of the four-stringed instrument. His debut album Contemporary Ukulele hit stores four years ago, and this week Gamiao releases his sophomore effort Redefined, an 11-track CD featuring eight of his own compositions. With a growing fan base here and abroad, including faraway places such as Thailand and Taiwan, Gamiao appears ready to take his unique style of ukulele playing to the farthest corners of the earth. "I'm excited," he says. "Over the next few months, I'll be traveling to so many different places - places where people know me and enjoy my style of playing. Basically, I'm at a point where I'll go wherever the music takes me." Here's what else Gamiao told Musical Notes: MN: How was the recording process for Redefined different from your first album? KG: For one thing, I came in more prepared (laughing). I remember having problems with the metronome the first time, and I had to do take after take until I got the timing right. It took months to complete the album. Also, this time I was able to practice with a metronome at my church before going into the studio. I also got to work with some really talented musicians, and we were able to iron out the timing issues and develop chemistry. So the whole process was easier, and that allowed us to limit the recordings to four or five days of studio time. MN: Growing up, who were some of your ukulele influences? KG: Troy Fernandez, Jake Shimabukuro, Alfred Canopin, Byron Yasui, Benny Chong - people like that. MN: When you're not performing, do you still listen to ukulele music? KG: I know it may sound strange, but I don't. I've found that I get so much more out of listening to other types of music, be it pop, jazz, flamenco or rock, and where there are different instruments involved. My feeling is that if I really want to create something new, I have to look to sources other than the ukulele. MN: What is it about the ukulele that makes it so enjoyable? KG: It's just a great way to have fun! When I'm having a bad day, I play the ukulele and it makes me feel good. It has a happy sound, sort of like a child's voice. I think that's why it's so universally accepted and loved. small-kine notes: Rocker Melissa Etheridge drops in for two shows in Hawaii this month, including a July 23 date at Blaisdell Concert Hall. Tickets are still available for the 8 p.m. show. Call (800) 745-8000 ... If you hear music coming from Kakaako Waterfront Park this Saturday, the source would be radio personality Sistah Sherry and the Krater 96 van, which will be providing the rhythms to Central Pacific Bank's "Snowballs for School Supplies." Aside from collecting school supplies for many of Hawaii's keiki, the 9 a.m. to noon event will thrill youngsters with a snow machine that blasts shaved ice into the skies - a super cool way to cope with the dog days of summer, don't you think?

Gamiao’s Got Game

Bill Mossman

With the release of his latest CD, Daniel Ho proves he can be quite super while performing the music he was born to record Midway through my conversation with musician Daniel Ho, the thought hits me like a boomerang hurled from a cave: If this local-boy-who-made-it-big were a superhero, he'd be The Dark Knight. So I blurt out what I'm thinking and - holy stretch of the imagination, Batman! - he laughs off the comparison in Joker-like fashion. "I'm not particularly good-looking," Ho says in obvious reference to Batman's hunky alter ego, but also to the importance of physical beauty in his own line of work. "And didn't Bruce Wayne have a lot of money? I don't really have a lot of money. In fact, I have just enough to get by and do my art." Maybe so, I admit. Then again, it isn't so much the outsides of Ho and the comic book icon that demand the comparison, but the common traits housed within them - their determination, perseverance, laser-like focus and willingness to do whatever is necessary in the pursuit of perfection. I remind Ho that like The Caped Crusader, he too has no real superpower to fall back on; in Ho's case and by his own admission, there's no real inherent gift for music. Everything he's become - an award-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer, producer of some 80 records and successful record label owner - is the result of him taking "a leap of faith" straight out of high school, moving to California and struggling for years to make ends meet, followed by more years of locking himself in his L.A.-based "bat cave" of a recording studio with his instruments and gadgets, having faith to follow the advice of his Alfred-like music mentors Ray Wessinger and Dick Grove, and patiently and painstakingly learning every aspect of the recording business just so that, as he says, he could be "in control of my art and see every note through in the process." Yes, you're so much like the Bat, I tell him. You're a self-made man - a master of your craft. He laughs again. "Well, I think I'm more like a one-trick pony," Ho confesses. "All I know is music." Of course, there's nothing wrong with that. Now well into his 40s, there are many reasons why Ho could be resting on his laurels these days - maybe even putting his pony out to pasture. With six consecutive Grammy Awards under his belt, including collaborative efforts with friend and actress Tia Carrere that resulted in albums 'ikena and Huana Ke Aloha, not to mention other career highlights such as solo performances around the globe, touring as a guitarist and keyboardist with Peabo Bryson, and his Hawaiian version of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U, which can be heard during the end credits of the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Ho's accomplishments are the envy of just about any aspiring professional musician. But the homegrown product from Kaimuki, who's called California home for the past two decades, refuses to kick back and relax, local style. The music business, which can often be filled with Gotham-like despair and drudgery, still welcomes his refreshing aura of positivity. And like a beacon in the night, the do-everything Ho still feels it's his obligation to inspire countless up-and-coming musicians - through lectures and workshops at such notable places as Stanford University - on the importance of "being versatile," "never giving up" and "learning as much as you can about the business." Most importantly, Ho refuses to rest because in his mind, he's yet to peak as a musician. His latest CD, This Dream Begins, is a testament to his continuing ascension as an artist, and features a collection of previously released material as well as new compositions. "I'm finally doing my own music. By that, I mean not music that a record company is telling me to write because it's a style that's popular," he tells me. "I'm actually doing the things I believe in and staying true to myself - and it took some 15 years in the business to get to this point." Musical Notes caught up with the ever-hustling Ho and got him to sit still long enough to answer the following questions: MN: Your new album features many previously released songs such as Coolest Drop of Rain. Why reissue music that your fans already have? DH: My album, Coolest Drop of Rain, was released a decade ago but discontinued because I felt I could do better. Back then, my production skills were lacking, and I wasn't really able to mix and master that album real well. So with this album, I wanted it to be a representation of where I am as an artist, producer, etc. MN: You've learned to do so many different parts of the business- from writing and arranging music, and playing and singing many parts of the songs to sound engineering, producing and designing your numerous album covers through your company, Daniel Ho Creations. Was this done out of necessity or the sheer joy of learning? DH: Both. When I started in the mid '90s, for example, I needed to know how to produce graphics. So I got a Photoshop book and a CD-ROM, and then spent the next two weeks of my life learning as much as I could about design. At the time, I couldn't afford to spend a thousand dollars on graphics for my albums, so it was on me to do it myself. Still, my designs were horrible and ugly back then. But now, some 80 albums later, I can do my own graphic work in two days' time. But I also learned early on that I needed to be versatile in this business, or I wouldn't survive. I had a wonderful music teacher at Saint Louis School named Ray Wessinger, who took me under his wings and taught me to be versatile and work hard. And when I got into the business, it was exactly what he said it would be. Later on, after graduating from Saint Louis, I got into Grove School of Music in Los Angeles. I wanted to be a studio keyboard player. What (school founder) Dick Grove did was allow me to get into composing, arranging and film scoring, the school's flagship program. It was actually the best thing that ever happened to me. Ray had already asked me to be versatile, and now Mr. Grove was allowing me to learn how to compose and put all the pieces (of a composition) together. MN: Aren't you being overly modest when you say music did not come naturally to you? DH: I'm a realist, and I try to look at myself and career as objectively as possible. Yes, I knew from an early age that I wasn't really gifted in music. I didn't have the advantages or the kinds of natural talent some people have. I don't have perfect pitch; in fact, I don't even have good relative pitch. But I learned how to persevere, to not give up, and to keep growing and learning and developing the skills I did have. I believe they're reasons why doors eventually opened up for me.

The Self-Made Man

Bill Mossman

Whether behind the wheel of a car or in front of a crowd, ukulele virtuoso Brittni Paiva always seems to be going places — and fast.

As impressively fast as Brittni Paiva can be at running her fingers along the neck of an ukulele — her digits firing away like pistons in an engine while navigating each fret with the sort of precision and control that makes the instrument purr as few can — there is only one place other than on a stage where her need for speed is even greater: behind the wheel of one of her souped-up automobiles, with one foot on the pedal and that trusty stick shift in hand. She’s been on this car-racing trip for a few years now (“It’s all legal racing, of course,” she insists), bitten by the speed bug shortly after meeting the beau of her dreams, Branden, a skilled auto mechanics technician. The couple wed in 2008, and since then it’s been a marriage made for those heavenly Big Island racetracks. “He’s the builder; I’m the driver. And I think he’s mostly confident in my driving skills,” Paiva says, laughing. “Car racing is a completely different rush for me,” continues the Hilo native, who owns a ’95 Toyota Tercel and a 2005 Mazda 3 Hatchback — the former used for drag racing, the latter for autocross. “I didn’t think I would like the speed. But now I don’t want to stop.” She shouldn’t. After all, car handling is a skill, one that certainly came in handy for Paiva during a recent brush with disaster on a wet Big Island roadway. “It was a pretty slick surface,” she recalls. “My car started to fishtail, but I was able to recover. I don’t think I would have been able to avoid crashing the car were it not for my autocross training.” Yet as adept as she has become at driving fast, fans shouldn’t worry about Paiva changing career lanes any time soon. Car racing may be a passion, but it’s also more of a career diversion for Paiva, who still knows what really revs her engine: music. Her latest CD, Tell U What, is an impressive collection of jazz, R&B, pop, reggae and classically influenced tunes — all of which were engineered, arranged and produced by Grammy-award winning saxophonist Tom Scott, the conductor and bandleader of the West Coast jazz fusion ensemble The L.A. Express. Also joining Paiva (who captured the Na Hoku Hanohano Award in 2005 for “Most Promising Artist”) on this, her fifth album as an instrumental soloist, are veteran musicians such as Michael McDonald and Ray Parker Jr. McDonald’s soulful baritone vocals can be heard on the album’s second track I Keep Forgettin’, an adapted version of a song the former Doobie Brothers member released as a solo artist three decades ago.

"Believe it or not, Justin Bieber is in my CD player. There aren’t a whole lot of artists out there who give me goosebumps, but he does."

“I met Michael on Maui after a show, and he told me that if I ever needed help with song tracks, to let him know,” Paiva says. “I decided to take him up on the offer.” Musical Notes tracked down the 23-year-old ukulele virtuoso with the quick smile shortly before she embarked on a trip to Japan for more performances, and got her to opine about such topics as Justin Bieber, wearing loud clothes on stage and, of course, the ukulele. MN: You’re quite versatile as an instrumentalist. Aside from the ukulele, you’re skilled at playing the guitar, drums and bass, to name a few. Do you have a favorite instrument beside the ukulele? BP: It’s the bass. I’m actually a self-taught player, spending countless hours on YouTube listening to just about any bassist and playing grooves. One of my biggest influences has been Tal Wilkenfeld. She’s amazing. MN: Does that mean that you hear more than just the ukulele when composing music? BP: Definitely. I hear everything together. Sometimes it gets frustrating, though, because I can’t always reproduce what’s going on inside my head. MN: So what music, other than your own, is going on inside your head these days? BP: Believe it or not, Justin Bieber is in my CD player. There aren’t a whole lot of artists out there who give me goosebumps, but he does. MN: I think a lot of 11-, 12- and 13-year-old girls would appreciate that comment about the Biebs. Unfortunately, they won’t learn about it here because, well, no one in those age groups reads my column. BP: You know, a lot of people use Justin Bieber as a punchline, but I don’t — not after I saw his DVD. He’s an amazing talent, and I have a whole new appreciation for what he does. MN: Let me say that I have a whole new appreciation for you after discovering that you wouldn’t be so shy and reserved about your wardrobe on stage. BP: Oh, yeah! I don’t mind performing in a hot pink shirt, neon green pants and sparkly shoes. Even if I look goofy, I don’t care. I really like being different. MN: So, no wardrobe is too big for you, eh? Does the same hold true for the ukulele? BP: I don’t ever want to shrink the ukulele. My feeling is there are no limits when it comes to playing it. So yes, there’s no song that’s too big for the ukulele. MN: What about Cliffs of Dover by guitar wizard Eric Johnson? Can you play that? Or is it too fast? BP: I can play that. In fact, I was warming up with that song at the Namm Show in Anaheim earlier this year when a bunch of other performing guitarists looked over at me and said, “You can play that — ON AN UKULELE?!”

Brittni Paiva – Built for Speed

Bill Mossman

Gillespie brings her silky-smooth, bluesy vocals to the Islands this weekend.

British blues vocalist Dana Gillespie drops in to uplift souls at Saturday's free concert "Love the Love" She was just 11 when a precocious Dana Gillespie announced to her mum, the wife of Austrian radiologist Baron De Winterstein Gillespie, that she had reached a pivotal decision: Her given name had to go. After all, Gillespie was sure that a life of fame awaited her, and equally certain that her birth name of Richenda, while precious because it had been passed down through many generations, would never quite fit her future persona as a star. So, she gambled on a new moniker. "I asked everyone from that time to call me Dana," recalls Gillespie, whose formative years were split between her home in England and the family's villa in Maccagno, Italy. "Amazingly, everyone did, even my teachers at school. I was a very strong-willed child, and as I made my first record at the age of 15, it seemed like a good move." That it was, the first of many for Gillespie, who followed up her name change by plunging headlong into the folk music scene in the mid-1960s, touring with Mac MacLeod and romancing Scottish singer Donovan, before venturing off into the glam-rock, blues landscape of the post-Woodstock years. Along the way, she forged long-lasting friendships with notable musicians such as David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan, and carved out quite a career in theater and film - being cast as the first Mary Magdalene in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, the Acid Queen in The Who's Tommy, and Mary in the 1978 film The Hound of the Baskervilles. Now at age 63, with more than 60 albums to her credit and her London Blues Band to tour the globe with, Gillespie no longer has to change a thing about herself to secure her fame. Instead, as a devout follower of Indian spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba, she spends much of her time hoping to evoke changes in others through music by promoting the message of "love, unity and human values." That message can be heard at Hawaii Convention Center Saturday evening, when Gillespie performs at the free event "Love the Love." (The show starts at 7. Visit the website, lovethelove.org, to secure free tickets.) "All concerts I do are important to me, but to try to get the message of 'Love All, Serve All' is important as it hopefully uplifts the soul and makes you feel good at the same time," she tells me. "Music is the greatest communicator, and any way that (music can be used) to let people feel good has to be a positive force." Musical Notes caught up with Gillespie, who is making her virgin visit to the Islands this week, and got the British Blues Hall of Fame artist to opine about a career that's spanned nearly five decades. MN: What songs will you be performing at this weekend's concert? DG: I don't usually fix my song list till the day of the performance, but some of my songs will be Love the Love, Heart of Hearts, Move Your Body Close to Me and Guardian Blue Angel. I may also sing some songs in Sanskrit, known as Bhajans, which is one of the oldest languages on the planet. MN: How did you happen to befriend David Bowie and Mick Jagger? DG: My friendship with David Bowie started when I was only 14. By the early '70s, he introduced me to the man who then became our manager, Tony Defries. Bowie also taught me my first chords on the guitar and helped me get on my first TV show in 1965. In the '70s, he wrote a song for me called Andy Warhol and played guitar on it, and he so liked the outcome that he recorded his own version for his Hunky Dory album. As to Mick Jagger, I grew up in London in the early '60s, so I've remained friends with all of the guys I used to hang out with. Recently, Jagger sang at the Musique Blues Festival, which is on the small island of Musique in the West Indies. This is a Charity Festival that I have run for the last 19 years, ever since my partner in this venture, Basil Charles, and myself came up with the idea of putting on a blues festival on one of the most exclusive and amazing islands in the world. It runs for 15 days every end of January, and all the blues artists give their time for free to help raise money for the Basil Charles Education Foundation, which gets children in need through school on the next island called St. Vincent. I record the festival and produce the CD every year, and the sale of these CDs helps the charity. And because Mick Jagger kindly gave his time to sing, I can now say that I have produced two songs with him singing. MN: You've spent most of your life on stages across the world. How much longer do you see yourself doing this? DG: I started writing songs at the age of 11, and being on stage or in a studio is as normal to me as most people would feel in a supermarket, which is a place where I normally feel lost. I hope to carry on until I am carried off stage in my wooden overcoat!

In The Name Of Love

Bill Mossman

In The Name Of Love

If you were around for the early to mid-’90s, you’d likely remember that period for pop culture events such as 2 Live Crew’s explicit album As Nasty As They Wanna Be, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and HIV, the Seinfeld phenomenon, and OJ Simpson and his greatest off-the-field move: avoiding a double-murder conviction. And if you were into the local music scene, you’d recall the highly influential duo Ka’au Crater Boys and, in particular, the virtuosic abilities of uke king Troy Fernandez.

Fernandez was the brawny guy from Palolo Housing, a former high school football player turned surfer who, before Jake Shimabukuro emerged on the four-string landscape, would inspire a generation of young musicians to treat the ukulele like a lead guitarist would. Heck, Fernandez even made it epic for everybody to go surf Kaiser Bowl, Bomburas and Velzeyland with a board in one hand and an uke in the other!

Now, more than two decades later, Fernandez may be a soloist, but he’s still doing what he does best – allowing his nimble fingers to flow effortlessly over the fretboards of his trusty Sunny D and Kanilea ukes while still inspiring thousands with his unique interpretations and stylings. In truth, he’s doing his work more from the shadows these days (until recently, he was a streetside performer along Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki). But with his just-released album, Strumming My Ukulele, Fernandez proves he can still bring a lot of fun to the feel-good contemporary island music table – both as a singer and instrumentalist.

The 14-track album includes local favorites Koke’e and Pua Hone, originals Local Girl of Mine and It’s For Our Children, as well as the Jim Stafford classic Spiders and Snakes, which has a familiar Ka’au Crater Boys-flavor to it. Assisting Fernandez with his latest CD are veteran musicians Jeff Rasmussen and Robi Kahakalau, and his equally talented teenage daughters, Tory and Tia. The result is more than 45 minutes of pure listening pleasure.

“As far back as when I was playing with Ka’au, people would tell me, ‘You should do your own album!’” Fernandez tells me. “Well, I’ve done two solo instrumental albums and another four with vocals on them since then.”

He pauses briefly, reflecting on his days performing with vocalist/guitarist Ernie Cruz Jr. “With Ka’au, everyone saw Ernie as the more dominant singer.

But as a soloist, I realized I had to step up my game. I’d like to think I’ve done that with my albums, especially the latest one.”

Here’s what else the talented musician told Musical Notes about his former life as one-half of the Ka’au Crater Boys:

MN: Your style of playing – of keeping the music upbeat and fun – has been inspiration to thousands of musicians. Growing up, who inspired you?

TF: I’ve always tried to keep my style of playing simple. I used to listen to tapes of Eddie Kamae, Uncle Moe Keale and Peter Moon when he was with Sunday Manoa, and try to play along with them. By the time I was in high school, I noticed I had gotten better, so I just kept playing.

MN: Who came up with the name Ka’au Crater Boys? TF: Ernie did. Before then, we were known as ET, just like the movie. But when it came time to record, Ernie suggested we change our name to Ka’au Crater Boys. You know, what’s funny is that I didn’t even know what Ka’au Crater was back then. Then again, I’m pretty sure that if you asked most of the people living in Palolo at the time, they wouldn’t have known what Ka’au Crater was either! So I guess you could say we put Ka’au Crater on the map.

MN: Can you see a Ka’au reunion at some point down the road?

TF: Oh yeah. My days with Ka’au was the most fun time of my life as a musician. So it’s really up to Ernie, because my door is always open. If he wants to play, I’m ready to go.

With their latest album Bumbye, the ever-hustling members of Kupaoa demonstrate why good music should never be put off for another day

If Kellen and Lihau Hannahs Paik seem to be in a hurry these days, it’s only because they’ve got a thousand things to do – including fitting this interview into their hectic schedule while moving house and, in Lihau’s case, preparing for the weekend’s Merrie Monarch Festival – and so little time to accomplish them.

Such is life for the Paiks, collectively known as Kupaoa, the multi-Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning duet, with fans both here and abroad clamoring for ever more original and cover songs, ever more live performances from traditional Hawaiian music’s premier husband-and-wife team.

And to their credit, the couple haven’t shrunk from the constant demands of their growing fame. With the release of their third CD, Bumbye, these full-time musicians are demonstrating the importance of handling their full plate of affairs with immediacy rather than, as the album’s pidgin name and title track suggest, “eventually and possibly never.” Indeed, within the couple’s new walls (they now split time between their Kaimuki and Kilauea, Kauai, homes), procrastination has effectively been shown the door.

“The idea with the album’s name and song is that if you don’t take care of things now, there might not be a later on,” explains Lihau, who, aside from sharing singing duties with Kellen and playing the upright bass, handles the business side of Kupaoa. “So, even though we’re living life to maximum capacity right now, we’re taking care of things. And even though the song wasn’t written for us, we’re living the message.”

The song Bumbye, along with two others (Noelanioko’olau and Ka Waiwai), were penned by noted composer Puakea Nogelmeier, the couple’s kumu, alaka’i and, according to Lihau, “one of our biggest supporters since the very beginning.”

“He’s just an amazing songwriter,” adds Kellen, who, aside from playing the guitar and ukulele serves as the group’s music director and arranger. “We have such a good relationship with Puakea that we’ll often go to his home, kanikapila with him, and he’ll simply share his songs with us.”

Nogelmeier’s exemplary contributions aside, Bumbye also proves the Paiks are no songwriting slouches either. In the album’s first track, He Aloha Ka’upulehu, and on other compositions such as Pua Maria and Pakalana A Ka Pu’uwai, written for Lihau’s maternal grandmother, the Kupaoa members show off their ever-expanding skills as poignant singer-songwriters, and demonstrate why traditional Hawaiian music lovers adore their sound – as much for their beautifully blended harmonies as for their clean acoustic arrangements.

Thank goodness Kellen decided to recruit Lihau, then a college acquaintance, to perform at a friend’s wedding eight years ago. That invitation led to the group’s formation, which produced albums Pili O Ke Ao and English Rose, and, more importantly, Kellen and Lihau’s eventual marriage in 2010.

“We practiced for a whole year before Kellen’s friend’s wedding,” recalls Lihau. “It was good; I sang a little, mostly danced the hula, but I didn’t play an instrument. I asked my brother (Kale Hannahs of Waipuna, last year’s big Na Hoku Hanohano winners) to teach me, but he told me ‘no.’ He probably did that to save our relationship. So Kellen had to show me how to play the bass.”

“And with me,” continues Kellen, “I played instruments, but I had to learn to sing. But from the moment Lihau and I first sang together, our voices just blended together well.”

“We certainly didn’t expect to make a living as musicians,” Lihau adds. “But we’ve been fortunate to turn this passion of ours into something good and make a career out of it.”

Here’s what else Kupaoa – which celebrates its CD release party this Friday at its weekly gig spot, The Corner Kitchen in Kaimuki, before embarking on a near-monthlong tour of Japan – told Musical Notes:

MN: You recently moved out of your Aina Haina home, where you recorded your last two albums. What are you going to remember most about those days and nights of laying tracks down in the confines of that home?

KP: Mostly that there was no AC and it would often reach 100 degrees inside. But we’d still sit there in our underwear and just sweat it out recording our music. It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked.

MN: What was the idea behind your online-only album Haliu Volume One, which features traditional Hawaiian favorites as Green Rose Hula, ‘Alekoki, Tewetewe and Paniau - the latter of which was recorded with a turntable’s distinctive crackling noise, giving the track an authentic old-time feel?

LP: We really love country and folk music. But for us, Hawaiian music is a true passion so …

KP: … because we didn’t want our fans to think we sold out with some of the songs we have on our other albums, we recorded 15 older Hawaiian songs – none of which were originals or instrumentals, but all of them were done with the hula in mind. Basically, those songs were done for us and make up Haliu. Our feeling was that in order to put out new music, you have to have a foundation in the older songs.

Slack key master Makana talks about a few firsts in his career, starting with a weekend performance and a daring new album

If his guitar shredding isn’t quite up to par or if his voice falters just a little Saturday evening, please forgive Makana. He’s been a wee bit nervous heading into this weekend’s spring concert with the Hawaii Pacific University Orchestra at Hawaii Theatre.

Surprised? I am, given his stature as one of the most experienced and finest slack key guitarists here, there and everywhere. I mean seriously – Makana worried? The prodigy who’s been turning heads and capturing hearts since his early teens?

Then again, maiden voyages do tend to make the mouth go dry and the hands go clammy, even for virtuoso types.

“This will actually be the first time that I’m working with a symphony,” Makana confesses, adding he’s unsure about being able to effectively operate in “negative space,” the area where he does his best work, while playing along with a 60-member orchestra. So while this one-night partnership of ki ho’alu meets classical is interesting, it’s also one fraught with note-trampling peril.

“I’m used to working alone,” he continues. “This concert will really force me to trust others.”

A lone ranger for much of his career, the once-dubbed Ki Ho’alu Kid has been charting a new course in recent months, one that reflects a willingness to let go of the reins and allow others to share in the journey. Muse over, for example, his decision to hire famed vocal instructor Gary Catona. Catona is known for work with luminaries such as the late Whitney Houston, Steven Tyler, Usher, Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz, to name a few. “I’ve never had voice lessons until Gary,” Makana tells me. “He’s been able to help me with my vocal musculature.”

Or consider Makana’s upcoming album Manic, previously scheduled for release this spring but moved back to a summer unveiling. The CD is rife with firsts for the artist, including his decision to record with a piano (more on this later) or have someone else produce his album. In this instance, he invited aboard Multi-Platinum producer and engineer Ron Nevison (The Who, Led Zeppelin, Heart, Chicago, Survivor), Grammy-nominated producer and musician Mitchell Froom (Los Lobos, Suzanne Vega), as well as Grammy-award winning composer and arranger Jeff Bova (Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Blondie, Cyndi Lauper). That’s pretty heady company.

Makana gave Musical Notes a preview of his as-yet unfinished 11-track album, and the early verdict of the CD is diverse, daring and refreshing. It showcases Makana at the peak of his powers and offers listeners a rather broad spectrum of his immense abilities beyond ki ho’alu. Highlights include the lyrically funny title track Manic, a cross between The Beatles, Elton John and Queen; the Train-influenced Nectarine, sure to get lots of radio play; and the Dylan-sounding protest anthem We Are Many, a YouTube sensation initially unveiled at APEC 2011.

“The best way to describe this album is it has a little bit of everything,” Makana says. “I’m really excited about it because it’s nothing like I’ve ever done before.”

Here’s what else the artist, born Matthew Swalinkavich and tutored in slack key stylings by noted masters Bobby Moderow Jr., Raymond Kane and Sonny Chillingworth, told Musical Notes:

MN: So when did Makana, slack key guitar master, turn into Makana, budding pianist?

MAKANA: A couple of years ago. I was doing a show in Waikiki honoring the Victorian era and I decided I was going to have to teach myself to play the piano for the show. I’m a pretty fast learner, and if I know the basics of an instrument, I can figure things out. Honestly, it’s much easier to pick up the piano than the guitar.

MN: Despite the direction of the upcoming album, with its share of piano-oriented tracks, you haven’t abandoned your ki ho’alu ways. The music of your fathers, so to speak, is still a big part of your live performances and who you are. Why is that important?

MAKANA: When I was 18, I turned down deal after deal from corporations offering their support. They all wanted me to abandon Hawaiian music – told me there was no future there. But I wasn’t about to turn my back on who I was and all that uncles Bobby, Raymond and Sonny taught me. I wanted to honor them, and my feeling was that if a music career was meant to be for me, it would just happen – despite the threats from these corporations that I wouldn’t be able to make it without them.

MN: And what a career it’s been, eh? You’re doing what you love, are quite successful at it and have become an idol to many, including some of your very own idols.

MAKANA:Yup. For example, Elton John once called me up – twice, in fact, which is pretty cool when you think about it – and did so just to put me in touch with some producers who he felt could help me. And then there was Jamie Lee Curtis. She stopped in at Hungry Ear Records in Kailua and picked up two of my CDs – Ki Ho’alu: Journey of Hawaiian Slack Key and Koi Au. I’m a big fan of hers, you know.

Small-kine Notes:

Makana’s Saturday performance with the HPU Orchestra starts after intermission of the 7:30 p.m. concert. For tickets, call 528-0506 … Former SOS/The Krush entertainer turned music mentor William Daquioag hosts a workshop for all vocalists Wednesday, April 17, from 7 to 9 p.m., at The Oahu Veterans Center. Cost is $35. Call 255-9081.

Kapala is (from left) Lopaka Ho‘opi‘i, Kimo Artis, Zanuck Lindsey, Adj Larioza, Richard Heirakuji and Kai Artis | Photo courtesy of Kapala

It’s one CD release party after another for Kapala, the veteran-laden band intent on leaving its imprint in music

No one does CD release parties quite like the band Kapala. Since the unveiling of its third album, Legacy, the group has held four – yes, four! – release parties, including back in February at the Thunder Valley Casino in Sacramento, Calif., with Daniel Ho and Tia Carrere; and last month at Gordon Biersch in Honolulu with John and Ernie Cruz Jr., Raiatea Helm and Nathan Ruff.

Mind you, Kapala ain’t done. A fifth party, planned for June on Kauai, will include singer/songwriter Michael Ruff.

Most bands hold just one CD release party, but Kapala’s members believe you can never have enough of these gatherings, especially when the stage is shared with other artists.

“The concept is one of joining together with other musicians – not to open up for us, but to play along with us,” explains Kapala vocalist/guitarist Kimo Artis.

In many ways, these multiple CD release parties with musical guests perfectly reflect Kapala’s all-for-one philosophy. Formed in 2006 and composed of six members – Artis and his brother, Kai, along with industry vets Zanuck Lindsey, Lopaka Ho’opi’i, Richard Heirakuji and Adj Larioza, all of whom have spent much of their careers as backup musicians to everyone who’s anyone in local music – Kapala represents its members first real opportunity at performing their own brand of traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music with a blend of country, rock, jazz and soul influences. Since the fall of

2009, the band has released 22 original songs on its two LPs and lone EP, including 12 on last fall’s retrospective Legacy, which is up for a 2013 Hoku award in the “Best Island Music Album” category.

“All of us have taken our own journeys as musicians in other bands, but now we’re completing these journeys, so to speak, together,” says Artis.

Here’s what else Artis told Musical Notes:

MN: Contrary to what some might think, the band isn’t named after bandmate Zanuck Kapala Lindsey, right?

KA: Correct. Basically, we found the word Kapala, which means “imprint” in Hawaiian, and has more to do with the making of kapa, to be a beautiful word and a cool metaphor for us. What we’re trying to do as a band is make our own imprint on a huge kapa and see if people enjoy the stamp we’re putting on the music scene.

MN: So beyond this week’s gigs at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (Saturday, April 27, and Tuesday, April 30, both at 5 p.m.), what’s next for the band?

KA: We’re planning a summer tour stateside in California, Nevada and Colorado. We realize that we’re going to have to take our music out there beyond Hawaii to gain greater exposure, and we’re excited about our shows! We’ve got storytelling and hula, so the fans who come out get more than just an hour’s worth of music – they get a truly memorable experience.

The self-proclaimed “hardest working band on Oahu” has finally got an album to share with its staunchest alternative rock fans – one that’s worthy of the band members’ yeomanlike work ethic of nonstop gigging around town.

To celebrate the long-awaited release of 11th Hour’s debut album Kilroy Was Here, the four-person outfit of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Doyle Purdy, lead guitarist Mike Elwood, drummer Caitlin Bunner and bassist Ron Cameron is throwing a CD release party Saturday at Hard Rock Cafe in Waikiki. The show starts at 10 p.m.

“We’ve been together for about two years, working around the clock, gigging every week and everywhere, and playing songs from Kilroy for the last year or so – testing the waters, so to speak, by seeing what songs work with live audiences,” says Purdy, who knows a thing or two about “testing the waters” as a retired chief warrant officer with the U.S. Navy. “We think we’ve got an album that people will love. We’re excited about it.”

Recorded at Highway Recording Studio in Hawaii Kai, the 10-track LP is full of gritty, guitar-driven music that reflects Purdy’s heaviest musical influences: Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Nirvana. Blood-pumping rock anthems Company of Wolves and Give It To Me, which has been getting radio play, are sure to please the most ardent of rock fans, while other tracks such as Compromise and Love Don’t Hate reveal a somewhat softer, reflective side of the band that could attract a throng of new listeners.

“I wrote most of the songs on the album,” admits Purdy, who honed his vocal chops from many nights of “singing karaoke at home,” but didn’t pick up the guitar until a friend turned him onto the instrument about 15 years ago, which is about the same time he began composing music. “The messages in the songs stem from personal experiences, but they also deal with life themes that others went through.”

Here’s what else Purdy told Musical Notes:

MN: What’s the story behind the band’s moniker?

DP: Early on after we had just formed the band, we had a lot of shows that were scheduled, but no name. Then, right before our first performance, our former bassist, John Manzanares, made some comment that we were “literally in the 11th hour,” and we still had nothing to call ourselves. We all kind of looked at each other and said, “That’s it.”

MN: You guys seem to be gigging all the time. Are there that many rock-starved fans in Hawaii?

DP: Oh yeah. The places we play, like Chez Monique,

Hard Rock Cafe and O’Toole’s Irish Pub, have a lot of military and tourist types who love to listen to classic and original rock.

MN: But to increase your fan base, wouldn’t you have to start thinking of capturing a Mainland audience?

DP: Sure. As a band, we talk a lot about going stateside. But really, that’s more of a long-term goal. Our immediate goal is to hop over to the outer islands and play some concerts. We’d love to rock out Maui.

MN: I guess nothing beats playing live, eh?

DP: Definitely. Getting a positive reaction from the crowd makes gigging fun and worthwhile.

‘The Voice’ sensation Cheesa strips away her inhibitions and delivers the goods with her debut album, Naked

When vocal power-house Cheesa dropped her eagerly anticipated full-length album on the public a couple of weeks ago, many admirers were shocked to discover the artist had dropped more than just catchy electronic pop tunes, too.

Specifically, the artist shed her top and her inhibitions, leaving just a hand to conceal her breast, for the cover of Naked. And with that bold move, Cheesa bid aloha to her “cheery, good girl from Hawaii” image and hello to controversy.

“Oh, I knew the album cover was going to be controversial, but it was my idea to appear slightly naked,” says Cheesa, who first showcased her singing prowess to the world on reality talent show The Voice. “It really wasn’t meant to be sexy, you know? I was thinking more along the lines of those Dove commercials, more about art. People would see me for who I really am, and they would do so while I was in my most vulnerable state.”

Indeed, Naked is a coming-to-acceptance album for the 22-year-old singer, who grew up in Kalihi and Ewa Beach, and attended St. Francis School before relocating to Los Angeles just before her high school junior year in 2006.

But beyond Cheesa’s honest attempt to reveal her true self to fans, the album is a therapeutic endeavor to exorcise the demons of Cheesa’s past insecurities and failed relationships. Tracks such as I’m Not Perfect (initially released as a promotional single late last year), Crash Boom, Someone To Love Me and Fall Again perfectly capture the singer’s battles with those topics and does so in a pop-friendly way. Adding a bit of flavor to Cheesa’s R&B-influenced vocal stylings are guest artists Charice, Wafeek and fellow local girl Camille Velasco.

“I remember being bullied a lot as a youngster,” admits the singer, born Cheesa Laureta. “I remember all the negative comments I would hear while competing on The Voice - comments about my look … my body. And it took a while to adjust and to believe that what people were saying simply wasn’t true.

“Many of the songs on Naked deal with situations that we’ve all been through: love gone bad, heartache, vulnerability and trying to rebuild after love,” she continues. “In many ways, the album’s like an open diary of my life. Not all relationships are going to be awesome, not all are meant to last forever. Some of them are just meant for you to grow.”

Despite the career boost she received by appearing on The Voice, Cheesa isn’t taking anything for granted. As she’s learned from previous relationships, nothing is guaranteed.

“People remember me from the show, sure. But they also need a refresher,” she says. “The Voice gave me a following, but now I’m trying to keep the momentum going with Naked.”

Here’s what else Cheesa told Musical Notes:

MN: How difficult was it for you to leave the Islands nearly seven years ago?

CL: Very. I still have cousins and friends in Hawaii.

MN: But you were intent on leaving to make a career in music, right?

CL: Definitely. My brother Troy and I were. We told our parents that either we stay and do nothing in Hawaii, or we leave and do something in L.A.

MN: Any plans to do a show in Hawaii?

CL: Well, I just did one recently with the Pride for Ewa show. But yes, even though it isn’t for sure, I’m hoping to come back in June to perform.

Mark Prados & His Enablers (from left): John Kahle, guitar; Mark Prados, vocals/harmonica; Babatunji Heath, drums; and Jason Forester, bass Charley Myers photo

Mark Prados picked up his first harmonica at age 16. He’s been blowing blues fans’ minds ever since

For the thousands of times Mark Prados has gigged and owned stages around town, thanks to the way he cups his Hohner harmonicas close to a microphone and easily punches out ballsy, distorted saxophone-like sounds reminiscent of the blues harp greats, there remains one instrument this local legend has never fully embraced.

It’s his own voice.

“I try as a vocalist, I really do. But singing is out of the comfort zone for me,” says Prados, a self-admitted “perfectionist” who models his vocal stylings after Buddy Guy and “Little” Milton Campbell.

Surprisingly, 35 years on the live circuit, opening for bands such as The Moody Blues, Jimmy Buffett and Greg Allman, have yet to calm Prados’ nerves regarding his vocal howl. It’s been this way ever since he was an up-and-coming American roots player in his 20s and a bandmate told him to sing or find another place to blow his diatonic harmonica.

“Luckily, the bands I’ve been with since have been very patient with me as a singer,” he tells me.

In truth, these bands had little choice given Prados happens to play a pretty mean blues harp. He paid $3.65 for his first harmonica at age 16, a year or two after first hearing the amplified blues harmonica sound on a Paul Butterfield Blues Band album. The liner notes introduced him to a who’s who list of greats – Marion “Little Walter” Jacobs and Muddy Waters among them – and set him on a career path that would allow Prados to thrill audiences with his sense of Americana music.

“I saw the harmonica as a serious solo instrument, not some toy,” says Prados, 56. “With the blues, I saw the purity of the emotional delivery – whether done vocally or instrumentally – and immediately fell in love with it.”

These days, the former leader of popular outfits Mojo Hand and Honolulu Slim leads another group of blues specialists called Mark Prados & His Enablers. If you haven’t seen Prados and his band live, you

should. Check them out on the following times, dates and locations: 9 p.m., June 3, Hard Rock Café; 8 p.m., June 5, Down Beat Lounge; 9 p.m., June 14, Surfer, The Bar at Turtle Bay Resort.

Here’s what else Prados told Musical Notes:

MN: I heard you once opened for Queen Latifah.

MP: Yes. That was back in the early ’90s. I’ve never seen so many backward baseball hats in one place than the night we opened for her!

MN: Do you gig often these days?

MP: Not as much as I did in the ’80s and ’90s. Nowadays, we average maybe four gigs a month.

It took 17 years, but Curtis and Annie Kamiya of Mango Season are finally ripe for success, thanks to the couple’s debut album

The seeds of romance began for Curtis and Annie Kamiya back in 1996, when the two were theater majors at the University of Puget Sound. Cast opposite each other in the drama The Seagull, the pair developed an almost instant attraction to one another – much like fruit flies are drawn to ripened produce.

For Curtis, singing with Annie turned out to be the catalyst that would bring their different worlds together: he, the shy local boy and Punahou alumnus raised on the ’70s sounds of Kalapana, Cecilio & Kapono and Olomana; and she, the gregarious mezzo-soprano vocalist from Oregon who cut her teeth on the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Joan Baez and Cat Stevens.

“I noticed right away that Annie was a great singer who had this big personality and who was really great at talking to people,” remembers Curtis. “I was always more of a reserved person, so in many ways our relationship worked because we complemented each other.”

Marriage soon followed, with the relationship bearing first signs of music fruit during extended stops in Seattle and San Francisco, where Curtis released two albums as a solo artist. Still, it wasn’t until five years ago that the couple decided they had enough of Mainland life and chose to plant their roots in Hawaii. A year later, Annie gave up her gig as an educational consultant and joined Curtis as a full-time creative partner and musician.

“When Annie joined up, the songs began to reflect both of our influences,” Curtis explains. “As a result, something unique came out of this collaboration.”

The musical merger gave birth to Mango Season, an island/soul jazz group that just recently dropped its first mango – a debut album called Flying Home, which features 14 tasty tracks, including the traditional Hawaiian favorite Noho Pai Pai and the Roberta Flack classic Where Is The Love. Assisting Curtis (vocals/guitarist) and Annie (vocals/hand percussion) on the CD are Wil Tafolo (vocals/bass), Chris Yeh (saxophone) and Rory Loughran (drums).

“There’s a nice, eclectic mix of music on the album,” says Curtis, whose band can be found playing weekly gigs at Lulu’s in Waikiki, 53 By The Sea and Nico’s Pier 38. “Aside from the 10 original compositions, the album features songs in five different languages. One of them, in fact, is the Sergio Mendes’ song, Mas Que Nada.”

Here’s what else Curtis told Musical Notes:

MN: What’s the story behind the album’s name, Flying Home?

CK: It was in response to Annie’s challenges in moving to Hawaii. The first couple of years were especially tough for her. For me, I already had family and friends here. For Annie, she had to go out and find her own friends. But she’s been able to do so, and it’s been great ever since.

MN: How instrumental was Kickstarter, a funding platform that many independent artists are using these days to launch their creative projects, in making Mango Season’s debut album a reality?

CK: Very instrumental. If you want to make a great CD, you need a bunch of change. We wanted a great CD, so we got involved with Kickstarter. Not only did it help fund our project, but it was instrumental in fostering a community of followers of our music.

MN: Where would you like to be as a band one year from now?

CK: The goal has always been to create a larger band profile. For example, we’d love to win a Hoku one of these days, and we’d love to get a tour going – first to the outer islands, and second to Japan and the West Coast.

Sean and Kyle Luster | Photo courtesy Red Light Challenge Band

Small-kine Notes:

Rockers Sean and Kyle Luster, otherwise known as Red Light Challenge Band, hit the road this week for a 30-date summer tour that takes them from Denver to Boston. The ever-ambitious brothers, who last toured stateside three years ago, performing at amusement parks and malls while promoting their debut album, Marina Girl, kick things off Saturday at the Sundown Concert in Missouri before wrapping up the last leg of their tour with a July 21 show in New England. Not a bad way to spend the summer for guitarist/vocalist Sean, 20, a former valedictorian at Pearl City High, and drummer/vocalist Kyle, 16, also a Charger and current National Honor Society student … Those eagerly anticipating Kuana Torres Kahele’s next musical offering, Kahele, a smorgasbord of 14 deliciously original tunes due out July 30, can satisfy their appetites in the meantime with his new single, E Ku’u Lei, My Love, featuring Maila Gibson and available on iTunes … Finally, check out Kapena this Saturday, from 4 to 6 p.m., as part of Duke’s Waikiki free summer entertainment series “Concerts on the Beach.”

The members of JookBox City not only know how to turn out catchy reggae and R&B tunes, they understand how to turn the other cheek as well

When the four members of reggae/R&B group JookBox City unveil the video of their song Wishing Well this weekend in Chinatown, it will be worth noting that the inspiration to this upbeat composition currently garnering heavy radio airplay did not begin under the happiest of circumstances.

In fact, the situation – involving irate neighbors and the threat of eviction from a rental unit – was downright nasty. But kudos to these independent artists for hitting the restraint button on their personal jukeboxes and then refocusing their energies on writing a poignant composition – one born “not out of spite or anger,” as band frontman Rawnie Lovely puts it, but out of love.

“Essentially, the idea for the song came to us when we had neighbors who were very spiteful to us, and wanted us removed from our home,” Lovely explains. “But we decided we were going to look at the situation at a different level and just move on. It sounds cliché, but we were determined to turn the other cheek.”

All of which proves these JookBoxers not only know how to beat you down with infectious riddims, hooks and melodies, but also slay you with kind words as well. Indeed, death by reggae never felt so good.

“The line in the song to ‘kill them with love’ basically says it all,” adds bassist Aaron Friedman. “Maybe the neighbors will soon realize the error of their ways.”

If so, these neighbors may just be a part of the throng of fans expected at Saturday evening’s celebration, which kicks off at 9 at Bar 35 (35 N. Hotel St.). Undoubtedly, JookBox City will have the place jumping from the get-go, with an intimate set of original material followed by the video debut at midnight. The band will then put a bow on the night by playing a second set of “break-up medleys” from Beyonce, Rhianna and Toni Braxton, mix-tape club favorites from artists such as Justin Timberlake and Prince, and possibly Lovely’s remix of Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man, a staple on local radio stations for the past month.

“I definitely think our music selections are unique,” Friedman tells me. “Rather than play the same songs most reggae bands cover, we try to pick familiar songs from a particular time period and present them in JookBox’s unique reggae way.”

Beyond the release of Wishing Well, the band (formed late last year and featuring the spastic dancing and keyboard stylings of group founder Lovely, the smooth rhymes of vocalist Kahnma K, and the foundational beats of Friedman on bass and Amos Zollo on drums) plans to drop another single, currently titled The Kind of Here I Am, on the public next month.

“It’s a statement of commitment, of dedication I have for another,” says Lovely about the meaning behind the song.

Here’s what else Lovely and Friedman told Musical Notes:

MN: Do you have enough material for a full-length album? When might fans expect such a release from the band?

RL: Essentially, we do. I wrote a lot of the material before JookBox City came together. Now, it’s just a matter of revamping some of the songs for the current lineup.

AF: It really depends on how fast things move with the recording process. But I would hope we’d have something out before the end of the year.

MN: Will the album feature sounds that include ska, dancehall, rock, funk, reggae and R&B?

AF: Most definitely. When we came up with the name of the band, for example, it was with the idea that if you walked into a bar and found a jukebox there, you’d also find a variety of songs on it, too. That’s how we are. Having said that, we continue our exploration for that one signature sound.

RL: For me, it’s difficult to stay in just one genre, so there always will be variety to our sound. After all, we’re all made up of an eclectic array of influences.

MN: Other than drummer Amos Zollo, the rest of the band was born and raised outside of Hawaii: Kahnma in Liberia, Aaron in California and you, Rawnie, in North Carolina. Can you talk about what it is that you find so appealing about these Islands?

RL: When I first moved here six years ago, I was a white boy looking for a bit of culture. I was playing luaus in Waianae and Makaha with a group called Bamboo Band, and that experience forced me to be a part of the local culture. I wasn’t used to that, because for most of my life I was always moving all over the place. But once I settled here, I found a sense of community and I knew I belonged.

Small-kine Notes:

This week, classical Hawaiian guitarist Ian O’Sullivan

releases his first body of work called Born and Raised, an album featuring original music as well as compositions from local artists such as Byron Yasui and Jeff Peterson. A graduate of Kamehameha Schools and the first local student to receive a master’s degree in classical guitar from Yale School of Music, O’Sullivan calls the 14-track CD “a new genre of music.” To learn more, visit www.IanOSullivanGuitar.com … Speaking of Kamehameha graduates, Elias Kauhane Jr. has released a compilation of traditional Hawaiian mele with his CD Kauhane. The recording, which includes the talents of local entertainers Kawika Kahiapo, Sonny Lim and Rupert Tripp Jr., is really worth a listen.

Seems like just yesterday when Justin Young was a senior at Kalaheo High School and, along with other students, required to choose a product they could market on campus as part of a Junior Achievement Economics project. Almost immediately, Young’s classmates voted his yet-unrecorded music as the item they would attempt to sell, then helped swing a deal so that he could get the necessary studio time at Neos Productions.

That was nearly 18 years ago, and little did Young know he was setting the stage for a long and productive career in music.

“I was always carrying and playing my ukulele around school – everyone knew that about me,” Young says. “Even though a life in music is what I had been planning since I was in the eighth grade, I still look at the project as a fortuitous opportunity. Fortunately, I ran with it.”

And fortunately for us, he hasn’t stopped running, or strumming his guitar, since. Even when facing world-turned-upside-down moments – Young split from his girlfriend, pop singer Colbie Caillat, last year and his mother, Jan, passed away recently – he’s kept his 6-foot-4-inch frame moving forward.

Nothing better illustrates Young’s ability to carry on than his latest release, Makai, the first of a two-album concept that offers the singer-songwriter’s perspective of growing up in a place surrounded by water. Featuring 10 songs, the refreshing album boasts the familiar island and R&B vibe – but with much greater polish than any of his earlier material. Of particular note are the album’s lead track, Hana Hou, which is already garnering air play on local radio stations, and Young’s personal favorites Amnesia and Puzzle Pieces, the latter of which he co-wrote with Caillat.

“Puzzle Pieces is a song I first started writing four years ago,” he explains. “I had the melody and first verse, and presented it to Colbie. She liked it, and later added the second verse to fit her voice.”

His next album, Mauka, promises to have an edgier, urban sound. Young tells me the plan is to start recording in August and have the CD out before the end of the year.

Here’s what else he told Musical Notes about a particular non-music obsession and his ever-interesting relationship with Caillat:

MN: Besides your songs, you know what I like about you? You’re a Chicago Bears fan. Go Bears!

JY: Yeah, I’ve been a fan since I was about 7. It’s, like, the only time I ever act like an immature baby is when I have to miss a Bears game. Let’s see: I had a bear face tattoo done to me back in 2006, and a couple of years ago for my birthday, Colbie got me a pass to watch the Bears warm up on Soldiers Field before a Monday Night Football game. So, yes, the Bears are an obsession for me.

MN: It’s been about 10 years since you left on a jet plane for L.A. Why did you move away from the Islands?

JY: I just woke up one day and felt this urge to go there. Much of that desire came from seeing an ad promoting an extension entertainment studies program at UCLA. So I enrolled in the program and got a pretty broad education of the business. In fact, (American Idoljudge) Randy Jackson was one of my teachers there.

MN: And then you met Colbie?

JY: Well, not until about a year before she came out with her first album. I actually met her through the girlfriend of a friend, who kept telling me I was the male version of this musician named Colbie Caillat, and that I had to meet her. So I did. Eventually, Colbie’s team had need for another guitarist and backup vocalist, a guy who could hit the higher notes. I auditioned and got the gig. It was scary, though. For the first few months out on tour, I lived in fear of screwing up!

MN: And then last year, you made the decision to leave the band. Why?

JY: Much like when I left Hawaii for L.A., I woke up one day and decided it was time to move on. After five years, I had pretty much hit the ceiling and accomplished everything I could as someone who was totally invested in Colbie’s music. To Colbie’s credit, she was very supportive of my decision.

MN: Any chance the two of you will get back together again?

JY: We’re trying to work things out. What’s nice about our situation is that we started out as best friends and we’re still best friends today.

Small-Kine Notes:

Back in the early 2000s when she was first breaking into the predominantly male-oriented sax business and gigging regularly in L.A. night clubs, contemporary jazz musician Jessy J would not only carry her trusty woodwind instruments on stage with her, but a fake wedding ring as well – just to keep the prowling patron-wolves at bay. “I was kind of getting tired of all (the advances),” admits the Mexican-American artist, born Jessica Arellano. “But I quickly learned how to say no while still acting like a lady. You know, just because you work with men, you don’t have to act like some of them do.” Eventually these patrons, and a host of other people, began noticing that beyond her obvious good looks, Jessy J (the J stands for “Jazz”) could play a pretty mean saxophone, too. Soon, she was out of the night club scene and rubbing shoulders with the industry’s best, performing with The Temptations, Jessica Simpson, Michael Bolton, Neil Diamond - even working with Michael Bublé and producer extraordinaire David Foster in studio. Not a bad group of friends to hang with for this accomplished multi-instrumentalist, who’s also quite smooth as a pianist, flutist and vocalist. “It’s all the same to me,” she says of her musical talents. “I look at music as one big category. Piano was my first love as a child, and I was seriously considering becoming a classical pianist. But I got some great advice early on that playing the saxophone would open up more avenues for me, especially when it comes to getting more studio work. And what I’ve found is that the more versatile you are in this business, the more work you get.” Indeed. Work continues for her at Saturday’s Apaulo Music Productions’ Smooth Jazz Concert at The Hawaii Convention Center-Liliu Theater, where she’ll be joined by fellow sax player Warren Hill. The performance starts at 8 p.m. “It’ll be a fun night,” says Jessy J, who jazz lovers best know for her Billboardand Groove Jazz chart-topping songs Tequila Moonand Tropical Rain. For tickets, visit TIX.com or call (951) 696-0184 … It’s still a few weeks away, but the third annual “Kanikapila Under the Nuuanu Moonlight” concert series will feature a fabulous lineup of local talent, led by Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners Na Hoa, Kuuipo Kumukahi and Kenneth Makuakane. The event is set for July 24 at Queen Emma Summer Palace, but seating is limited and reservations must be made by July 14. Call 595-3167 or reserve your seats online at daughtersofhawaii.org.

The Rule of Three

Loud and Proud

small-kine notes:

Love Of A Lifetime

small-kine notes:

A Star Is Born

A Big Whoppertunity

Gamiao’s Got Game

The Self-Made Man

Brittni Paiva – Built for Speed

In The Name Of Love

In The Name Of Love

Troy is RISING

Here and Now

First Things First

The Party Ain’t Over

The Hour Is Nigh

The Naked Truth

Mo’ Betta Blues

A Sweet Pairing

Killing’Em With Love

The Young View