Jazz: Musicians showcase their sounds

• Who plays when

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

6th Annual Great Hawaiian Jazz BlowOut From noon, Saturday and Sunday Kapono's, Aloha Tower Marketplace $15 for one-day ticket, $25 for two-day ticket; discounts for seniors, military and students; at Bestsellers downtown, Tower Records Kahala Mall and Ke'eaumoku Street, Hungry Ear Kailua, Kapono's; also at the door 734-0397

A mammoth 6th Annual Great Hawaiian Jazz BlowOut, from noon to beyond midnight Saturday and Sunday, unfolds at a new spot (Kapono's at Aloha Tower Marketplace), with a new format (food and drinks to complement the joy of watching and listening) and a new direction (actual pay, however small, for the performers).

"It's still going to be a benefit," said producer Jackie Ward, of the festival's commitment to charity in the past. "But this year, we're finally going to pay our professional musicians. Nobody's going to get rich, but the pay will be a token of respect."

Ward figures that the 22 hours of jazz and its hybrids — from New Orleans blues to Dixieland, from Middle East fusion to be-bop — is plenty to whet the appetite. "There's something for everyone, what a festival should be," she said.

The theory is that the diehards will come early and stay late both days; others will selectively seek out who or what they like, and attend accordingly.

Ward had been staging the annual event at the Mid-Pacific Institute in Manoa. "We were coping with the fact that people just didn't know where Mid-Pac was, so we found ourselves out of the loop," she said. "We gave in to the demands of musicians, who were eager to move the event to somewhere everybody knows."

Enter Kapono's, on the Honolulu waterfront.

"It's a lovely location. We're told there will be a ship (docking) on Sunday morning, so we may get some of the passengers in the audience mix," Ward said. A ship in port also may put a dent on parking availability, so attendees should consider parking at Harbor Square and the Amfac towers, she said.

The Kapono's crew will provide food and drink service from start to finish, so it's possible to have lunch or dinner as part of the jazz experience. Ward has worked out a partnership with the club — the food and drink sales are the restaurant's, the ticket tally helps Ward pay the musicians — so there should be financial gain for both parties.

Clyde Pound, who helped assemble the roster of musicians, said jazz in all its variations gives the BlowOut its character.

"Where else can you hear Dixieland and blues, the beginnings of jazz, down to be-bop and fusion, the later styles?," said Pound, who fronts ATM (short for Anything that Moves), his convention band that wears many hats and plays many styles from standards to pop hits to — expressly for this weekend — swingin' jazz.

"I'm hauling in some guest singers, like Anita Hall, Jimmy Borges and Melveen Leed," said Pound, who praised Borges for his move from San Francisco to Honolulu decades ago.

"We worked together when Jimmy came back home, and we've been here since," he said, recalling early gigs together at the Tiki Broiler, Keone's and sundry other places they have outlived in a changing Waikiki show-biz climate.

ATM has been a convenient easy-to-remember monicker for the five-year-old band, said Pound, who added that it could also stand for Aloha Tower Marketplace and those 'round-the-clock ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) at your favorite bank. By playing a variety of musical styles, Pound has been able to find work outside of the great-but-gone club circuit.

"I remember walking through the International Market Place years ago and counted 22 places that had live music," he said. "No more."

For younger musicians such as John Kolivas, a founder of the Honolulu Jazz Quartet and a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, the BlowOut is an opportunity to showcase new jazz.

"We're going to play some of our originals," said Kolivas. "And I'm hoping to even write some newer music especially for the festival." The Honolulu Jazz Quartet also is inviting Keahi Conjugacion to join its set.

He likes the opportunity to reach a wider audience and mingle with his peers. "It's also a chance to hear what's happening in jazz," said Kolivas. "I think people are using the term 'resurgence.'"

Chris Planas of Third Degree, devotee of electric blues, post-World War II jazz, Chicago and Kansas City jazz, and Texas blues, counts among his influences the likes of Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker. Jazz, he said, is slowly finding a younger audience.

"Events like the BlowOut help," Planas said. "But we've been noticing some interesting things when we play at Haleiwa Joe's in Kane'ohe. There was a group of young people there who'd never heard of this kind of music. They didn't know jazz because no radio stations play jazz consistently and they're not into (Hawai'i Public Radio). They were enthused to enjoy something their parents enjoy. Yes, jazz can be appealing. It just needs exposure."

For BlowOut 2002, Ward is pushing for one of the hallmarks of jazz: improvisation.

"Spontaneity and surprise ... that's what we're hoping for," she said.

Sure, some acts will have formatted sets; some will be capable of taking on participatory jammers.

"The determining factor will be if you know the musician and his capabilities," Pound said.

"But that's the point of improv," Ward said. "You go with the flow, you get on without the practice. It's loose. It's fun."

Ward, who had been the object of community and legal scrutiny because of her regular jazz fests at her Kaimuki home, has been cleared of wrongdoing and continues to stage such programs, albeit without public notices. Her e-mail clientele and word-of-mouth traffic keep the gigs going in her soundproofed performing space. "I won my case with the city, and the whole business was about the perception on somebody's part that what I was doing in my own home was not right. After six years of harassment and citings, I've been cleared. You can't fight a perception."

Jazz, she said, may be endangered, but is not a dying American folk art. "It's a living folk art form, and the experience in Hawai'i is unique," she said. "Isolation gives Hawai'i jazz its own identity, different because of the various cultural backgrounds hurled into the creative work that the musicians do here."

Ward also has noticed a widening demographic among jazz concert audiences. "Earlier, they were mostly middle-aged fans, usually from the Mainland," she said. "Over the years, this has changed notably. The ethnic mix is broad; the coconut wireless has helped trigger interest in jazz. I have a strong feeling that the younger element is rediscovering jazz because they think it's somewhat exotic."

Who plays when

Here's the lineup for the two-day Jazz BlowOut:

SATURDAY

• Noon: Miles Jackson and Milestone Jazz
• 1 p.m.: Jimmy and Corey Funai, with the BlowOut Band, featuring Rob Prester, piano; Ernie Provencher, bass; and Noel Okimoto, drums
• 2 p.m.: Partners in Time, Eastern Jazz fusion, featuring Souren Baronian, clarinet; Kip McActee, guitar; Marcia Kemble, drums; Anita Trubitt, accordion; Ernie Provencher, bass; Larry War, oud
• 2:30 p.m.: Rob Prester, pianist, and band
• 3:30 p.m.: Rea Fox, vocalist, with the BlowOut Band
• 4 p.m.: Swingin' Tradewinds Dixieland Jass Band, with Jack Morse, saxophone; Charlie Rowe, clarinet; Hank Parker, cornet; Dick Bowman, trombone; Carol Morse, keyboards; Wally Yamamoto, bass; Mike Sakamoto, banjo; and Stephen Ambush, drums
• 5 p.m.: Randy Skags Big Island Jazz, with Chuck James, drums
• 6 p.m.: Third Degree blues band, with Chris Planas, guitar; Bailey Matsuda, keyboards; and James Ronstadt, harp; James Ganeko, drums; and Milan Bertosa, bass
• 7 p.m.: Ron and Victoria Artis, piano and vocals; Ernie Provencher, bass; and Lew Maddox, drums
• 7:30 p.m.: Teresa Bright, vocals, with the BlowOut Band
• 8:30 p.m.: Gabe Baltazar, saxophone
• 9:30 p.m.: Honolulu Jazz Quartet, with John Kolivas, bass; Dan Del Negro, piano; Richie Pratt, drums; Tim Tsukiyama, saxophone; and Keahi Conjugacion, vocals
• 10:30 p.m.: Nueva Vida, with Aaron Nelson, keyboards; Phil Bennett, drums; John Kolivas, bass; Brien Matson, trombone; Tim Tsukiyama, saxophone; Robert Shinoda, guitar; and Anita Hall, vocals
• 11:30 p.m.: Hard Drive, with Bob Jones, guitar; Jason Nobriga, guitar; Alvin Cameros, drums; Mike Cueva, tenor saxophone; Roy Williams, trumpet; Ken Keller, trombone; and Mark Tanouye, bass
• 12:30 a.m. (Sunday): Salsaloha, with Aaron Aranita, keyboards and saxophone

SUNDAY

• Noon: Sandy Tsukiyama de Oliveira and her Brazilian Band, with Bob Albanese, piano; Shawn Ishimoto, bass; Aaron Aranita, saxophone; Rogerio Araujo and Carlinhos d'Oliveira, percussion; Zanuck Lindsey, guitar
• 1 p.m.: Les Peetz, piano, with Rachel Gonzales, vocals; Margery Sauve, vocals; Marcel Porter, trumpet; Ernie Provencher, bass; and Scott Shafer, drums
• 2 p.m.: Man Alive, with Scott Shafer, drums; Johnny Kamai, guitar; Dennis McClees, bass; and Amber Ricci, vocals
• 3 p.m.: Tennyson Stephens and the City of Refuge Gospel Choir
• 4 p.m.: Azure McCall, vocals
• 5 p.m.: Phil and Bob Scellato's Big Band
• 6 p.m. ATM (Anything That Moves), with Clyde Pound, keyboards; Steve Jones, bass; Scott Shafer, drums; Bryan Kessler, guitar; Mike Morita, trumpet; Gary Chun, trumpet; Bill Beimes, saxophone; Todd Yukumoto, saxophone; Pat Hennessey, trombone; and Anita Hall, vocals
• 7 p.m.: Pat Hennessey and the University of Hawai'i Jazz Band

Also performing, time to be announced; Bob Albanese, piano; Mary Ann Hurst, vocals; Larry Cook, saxophone and flute; and Rocky Holmes, saxophone and flute