SHOW BIZ
Taj Mahal CD 'Hula' flavored

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

DREAM-MAKER: Taj Mahal, the blues giant who was a Kaua'i resident from 1981 through 1996, is returning "home" when his latest CD, "Hanapepe Dream," is released June 10. Taj Mahal's follow-up to 1998's "Sacred Island" features 11 tracks of his all-acoustic string band, Hula Blues Band; the disc ventures into slack-key, blues and Pacific-Caribbean sounds.

A Hula Blues U.S. tour kicks off June 20 in Chicago, with Taj Mahal sharing his hybrid sound with the masses. "My perspective is cultural and world-based," he told UPI. "It's always been a global perspective ... I relate to these various traditions that I feel are connected through family, extended family, and influenced by influence." ...

If you're traveling, look for Keola Beamer to open up for Taj Mahal and Hula Blues July 5 at the Britt Festivals in Oregon and July 6 at Zoo Tunes in Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Also coming July 15: a new Keola Beamer CD, "Mohala Hou — Music of the Hawaiian Renaissance." ...

NAMES 'N' PLACES: Brad White, the pan flutist formerly with White-Eisenstein, e-mails from Holland that his music has been airing on the BBC World cable TV channel, a British version of CNN International. The sounds emerged on a high-tech show, "Click Online," that aims at Internet sites, and through the BBC found White's tunes via pan-flute.com. ...

Scruples Beach Club in Waikiki is gearing up for its 20th anniversary celebration May 19-21, and owners Fred Piluso, Dave Schutter and Barry Cannon expect a retinue of celebrities on hand. Larry Manetti (Rick on "Magnum, P.I.") will be here and invitees include Tom Selleck, Tony Curtis, Robert DeNiro and Jim Carrey. ...

David X. Lee, a grad student at Northern Illinois University near Chicago, is home for the next week to conduct interviews with ki ho'alu players, historians and teachers for his master's thesis. Lee, a 1978 Waialua High grad, has an ambitious project, taping in frame-sequential 3-D with four-channel sound, and plans to put out his findings on a DVD. ...

SHORTS OF SORTS: "Alben — Romancing Las Vegas," which recently launched a Monday-only gig at the Orleans Hotel & Casino, features a sansei (third-generation Japanese American) singer born and reared in Honolulu. Alben, who uses a single name, has been doing only charitable and private shows but finally has embarked on a Vegas career. Shows are at 8 p.m. Monday and May 26. He's billed as the first Japanese-American crooner since James Shigeta starred in Sin City decades ago. ... Up from Down Under: Bob Longwell, former general manager of Clear Channel Hawai'i, stopped by the Perry & Price Hanohano Room Show at the Sheraton Waikiki recently. He's now CEO of Clear Channel's Australian Radio Network (12 stations). ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

Reach Wayne Harada' at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.