The Buzz!

Advertiser Staff

Hitting the drums

Jammarek will be drumming it out at a Contemporary and Traditional West African Drum and Dance Party, 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. (doors open at 9 p.m.) Saturday at Anna Bannana's, 2440 S. Beretania St. The band has invited special guest and taiko specialist Kenny Endo to join them in the thud fest. Tickets for the smoke-free event, which is also a fund-raiser, are $8. Ten percent of the proceeds will go a school in Senegal. For those 21 and older. 259-6326.

Mixing old and new

Known simply as Prasanna, this guitarist and composer of jazz, blues and rock performs the ancient art of South Indian classical music on a contemporary western instrument, the electric guitar. He has entertained audiences worldwide, including in London, Paris and in Brussels, Belgium, and for the first time, he'll be in Honolulu for a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Campus Center Ballroom. Prasanna will be accompanied by Lakshman Mahadevan on the mridangam, a traditional two-headed drum. General admission is $15, $10 for students. Visit www.guitarprasanna.com or call 395-1181, 623-3670.

A classical act

Classical music lovers, mark your calendars: Pianist and former Hawai'i resident Lisa Nakamichi returns to Honolulu from Tokyo for two programs of Mozart piano works, 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Sept. 6 at Doris Duke at the Academy.

Nakamichi, a frequent recitalist and soloist with major orchestras in Japan and a frequent featured soloist with the Honolulu Symphony, will be playing Sonatensatz K. 400 in B flat major, Fantasy K. 475 in C Minor, Sonata K. 457 in C Minor and the Piano Concerto in A Major No. 12 K. 414. Accompanying the piano concerto will be a string quartet with members of the Honolulu Symphony: Claire Sakai Hazzard, Hung Wu, Sandy Wong and Nancy Masaki. General admission is $20, $15 for students and seniors. Call 532-8700.