Concert review
Baltazar still making great music

By Dave Bellino
Special to The Advertiser

Fate first made itself known to Gabe Baltazar the day he played a phrase wrong in a McKinley High School band class.

From left, trumpeter Steven White, 18, a graduate of Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, Calif.; trumpeter Andrew Gushiken, 17, who will be a senior at Kalani High School; and drummer Michael Lindsay, 17, who will be a senior at Brethren Christian High School in Orange County, Calif., received $20,000 scholarships at the Hawaii International Jazz Festival to attend the University of Southern California School of Music. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

In performances each night, the audience was given the 20/20 vision of hindsight in seeing and hearing how Baltazar's fire still rages.

Performing together again were Baltazar and other illustrious former members of the Stan Kenton band. Playing with Baltazar were Marvin Stamm and Buddy Childers on trumpet, t-bones Dick "Slyde" Hyde and Eddie Bert, the rhythm section of Steve Jones on bass and Noel Okimoto on drums, with Shelly Berg of USC on keys and the vocals of Jimmy Borges.

Together, they all burned through two informal songs before the concert began. Baltazar was melodic as ever, playing up and down the changes. Berg, whose feet bounce back and forth and side to side as a seemingly unending flow of inspiration flows through his fingertips, was again a humble star.

Stamm is so very fluid and polished that even when he's blowing sixteenth notes he can sound understated. He is the kind of player others aspire to be.

Childers, Bert and Hyde each showed the great sounds of seasoned vets.

Jimmy Borges never disappoints and was as smooth as ever, not to mention Jones and Okimoto who once again receive kudos for their artistry.

When they played "Bye Bye Blackbird" it was straight ahead, not too fast, not too slow. They grooved as if it was late at night with lights way down low — as if the room was full of alcohol and tobacco, a time before we knew any better.

We did not get enough of Baltazar in this festival. It is no wonder that Kenton once called him "the greatest living alto saxophonist in the world today."

The O'ahu Junior Jazz Ensemble was there. It is a band composed of members from different high schools on O'ahu. They played mighty fine. Keep up the good work.

The University of Hawai'i Big Band, directed by Pat Hennessey, is only a few years older than the O'ahu ensemble. But you could hear a quantum leap when the band took the stage. The star in this set was a young man on drums, Abraham Lagrimas. Lagrimas just graduated high school and is on his way to Berkeley School of Music in Boston. He played a tremendous solo in "Caravan," never missing a hit or dropping a beat.

He probably doesn't know it, but he already plays better than 75 percent of the people out there making a living on drums. Twenty-five percent to go, Abraham, 25 percent to go.

The USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra and the San Diego State University Big Band were both great. These bands are different. San Diego is more a classical big band. They exhibited big power. USC is more contemporary. They were impressive as they flawlessly executed heavily syncopated horn stabs on up tempo charts. They both showed how great a college band can be.

Because the festival gave tribute to Stan Kenton this year, we had two nights of big band music. Jazz sub-genres missed were sets of blues, be-bop, fusion and Brazilian.

As in this column, though, time and space are always limited. Hopefully, there will be time for additional acts next year.

Promoter Abe Weinstein did a very fine job and, our lives here in the middle of the biggest ocean on the planet are enriched.

Hana Hou!

Songwriter and arranger Dave Bellino is working on his first Hawaiian music CD.